''Gervaise'' is a 1956
French film directed by
René Clément
René Clément (; 18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter.
Life and career
Clément studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. In 1936, he directed hi ...
based on the 1877 novel ''
L'Assommoir
''L'Assommoir'' , published as a serial in 1876, and in book form in 1877, is the seventh novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series ''Les Rougon-Macquart''. Usually considered one of Zola's masterpieces, the novel — a study of alcoholism
...
'' by
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
. It depicts a working-class woman in the mid-nineteenth century (played by
Maria Schell
Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...
) trying to cope with the descent of her husband (played by
François Périer
François Périer (born François Pillu; 10 November 1919 – 29 June 2002), was a French actor renowned for his expressiveness and diversity of roles.
He made over 110 film and TV appearances between 1938 and 1996, with notable excursion into ...
) into
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
. The film was nominated for the
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
29th Academy Awards.
Schell won the
Volpi Cup
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
for Best Actress at the 1956
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
for her performance. It won the 1957 BAFTA for Best Film and Best Actor.
Cast
*
Maria Schell
Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...
: Gervaise Macquart Coupeau, a patient and courageous
laundrywoman
Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...
*
François Périer
François Périer (born François Pillu; 10 November 1919 – 29 June 2002), was a French actor renowned for his expressiveness and diversity of roles.
He made over 110 film and TV appearances between 1938 and 1996, with notable excursion into ...
: Coupeau, Gervaise's husband, a roofer
*
Suzy Delair
Suzy Delair (born Suzette Pierrette Delaire; December 31, 1917 – March 15, 2020) was a French actress, dancer, singer, comedian and star of vaudeville.
Early years
Growing up in Montmartre, Delair was the daughter of a father who upholstered ...
: Virginie Poisson, an old rival who hates Gervaise
*
Armand Mestral
Armand Mestral (born ''Armand Serge Zelikson''; 25 November 1917 - 17 September 2000) was a French actor and singer. He appeared in more than seventy films from 1945 to 1992.
Filmography
References
External links
*
1917 births
2000 d ...
: Lantier, Gervaise's former lover
*
Jany Holt
Jany Holt (born Ruxandra Ecaterina Vladescu Olt, 13 May 1909 – 26 October 2005) was a Romanian-born actress, who worked principally in the French cinema.
Holt married French actor Marcel Dalio in 1936, divorcing in 1939. In 1940, Holt married ...
: Mme Lorilleux, Coupeau's ill-tempered sister
*
Mathilde Casadesus
Mathilde Casadesus (1921–1965) was a French film actress.Goble p.95
Partial filmography
* '' Box of Dreams'' (1945) - L'Agitée
* ''La part de l'ombre'' (1945)
* ''The Idiot'' (1946) - Adélaïde Epantchine
* ''The Murdered Model'' (1948) - Ma ...
: Mme Boche, the concierge
*
Florelle
Florelle (born Odette Élisa Joséphine Marguerite Rousseau, 9 August 1898 – 28 September 1974) was a French soprano singer and actress. She gained fame as Polly Peachum in the French film ''The Threepenny Opera'', after which she had numero ...
: Maman Coupeau, Coupeau's aged mother
*
Micheline Luccioni
Micheline Luccioni (1930–1992) was a French stage, film and television actress.Cowie & Elley p.127 Her son, José Luccioni, is also an actor.
Partial filmography
* '' Gervaise'' (1956) - Clémence - une blanchisseuse, ouvrière chez Gervaise ...
: Clémence, a laundrywoman who works with Gervaise
*
Lucien Hubert
Lucien is a male given name. It is the French form of Luciano or Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of Lucius.
Lucien, Saint Lucien, or Saint-Lucien may also refer to:
People
Given name
* Lucien of Beauvais, Christian saint
*Lucien, a band member ...
: Monsieur Poisson, a policeman and Virginie's husband
*
Jacques Harden: Goujet, a smith, a friend of Coupeau and Gervaise's
*
Jacques Hilling
Jacques Hilling (26 May 1922 – 16 February 1975) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1949 and 1975.
Selected filmography
* ''Return to Life'' (1949) - Un soldat (segment 4 : "Le retour de René") (uncredite ...
: Monsieur Boche, the concierge's husband
*
Hélène Tossy
Helene or Hélène may refer to: People
*Helene (given name), a Greek feminine given name
*Helen of Troy, the daughter of Zeus and Leda
*Helene, a figure in Greek mythology who was a friend of Aphrodite and helped her seduce Adonis
*Helene (Ama ...
: Mme Bijard
*
Amédée
Amédée is a French masculine forename. Notable people with the forename include:
Persons
* Amédée, stage name of Philippe de Chérisey (1923-1985), French writer, radio humorist, surrealist and actor
*Amédée Artus (1815-1892), French condu ...
: Mes Bottes, Coupeau's drinking buddy
*
Hubert de Lapparent (as Hubert Lapparent): Monsieur Lorilleux, a chainmaker, Mme Lorilleux' long-suffering husband
*
Rachel Devirys
Rachel Devirys (28 February 1890 - 16 May 1983) was a French film actress born in the Crimea, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). She starred in some 50 films between 1916 and 1956.
Born Rachel Itzkovitz, in 1916 she played "Madelon", the name role ...
: Mme Fauconnier
*
Jacqueline Morane: Mme Gaudron
*
Yvonne Claudie
Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...
: Mme Putois
*
Georges Paulais
Georges Paulais (16 September 1884 – 12 December 1967) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1910 and 1956. He was born in Guimps, Charente, France and died in Chabanais, Charente, France.
Selected filmograph ...
: Father Bru
*
Gérard Darrieu
Gérard Darrieu (1925–2004) was a French actor.
Selected filmography
*1950: ''Three Telegrams'' (directed by Henri Decoin) - Jeune dragueur
*1951: ''Juliette, or Key of Dreams'' - Un prisonnier (uncredited)
*1951: ''Boîte de nuit'' - Le gr ...
: Charles, laundry worker
*
Pierre Duverger: Monsieur Gaudron
*
Marcelle Féry Marcelle may refer to:
*Marcelle, a French feminine version of Marcel
* 1300 Marcelle (1934 CL), a main-belt asteroid
*Groupe Marcelle, a Canadian cosmetics company
See also
* Marcel (disambiguation)
* Marcell (disambiguation)
Marcell may refer ...
: Laundry owner
*
Denise Péronne
Denise may refer to:
* Denise (given name), people with the given name ''Denise''
* Denise (computer chip), a video graphics chip from the Amiga computer
* "Denise" (song), a 1963 song by Randy & the Rainbows
* Denise, Mato Grosso, a municipalit ...
: a laundrywoman
*
Simone Duhart: a fishmonger
*
André Wasley
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...
: Father Colombe
*
Ariane Lancell: Adèle
*
Aram Stéphan: the mayor
*
Georges Peignot
Georges Louis Jean Baptiste Peignot (June 24, 1872 – September 28, 1915) was a French type designer, type founder, and manager of the G. Peignot & Fils foundry until his death in combat during World War I. Father of four children (includi ...
: Monsieur Madinier
*
Max Elbèze: Zidore
*
Jean Relet
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jea ...
: ''Sergent de ville'' (policeman)
*
Roger Dalphin
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
: worker
*
Armand Lurville
Armand refer to:
People
* Armand (name), list of people with this name
*Armand (photographer) (1901–1963), Armenian photographer
*Armand (singer) (1946–2015), Dutch protest singer
*Sean Armand (born 1991), American basketball player
*Armand, ...
: presiding officer at hearing
*
Jean Gautrat
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jea ...
: Bec Salé
*
Christian Denhez
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...
: Étienne, Gervaise and Lantier's younger son, at the age of 8
*
Christian Férez: Étienne at the age of 13
*
Patrice Catineaud: Claude, Gervaise and Lantier's elder son, at the age of 6
*
Chantal Gozzi
Chantal () is a feminine given name of France, French origin. The name Chantal can be traced back to the Old Occitan word ''cantal'', meaning "Rock (geology), stone." It came into popular use as a given name in honor of the Catholic Saint, Catholi ...
: Nana, Gervaise and Coupeau's daughter, at the age of 5
*
Michèle Caillaud: Lalie
*
Gilbert Sanjakian: the Boches' son at the age of 6
*
Yvette Cuvelier: Augustine, apprentice at the laundry, at the age of 13
*
Paul Préboist
Paul Préboist (21 February 1927 – 4 March 1997) was a French actor. He appeared in more than hundred films, mostly in supporting roles, and is best known as a comic actor.
Filmography
Theater
References
External links
*Paul Préboist ...
: member of the audience at the cabaret
* Jacques Bertrand: factory foreman
See also
*
L'Assommoir
''L'Assommoir'' , published as a serial in 1876, and in book form in 1877, is the seventh novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series ''Les Rougon-Macquart''. Usually considered one of Zola's masterpieces, the novel — a study of alcoholism
...
*
*
References
External links
*
*
1956 films
1950s historical drama films
French historical drama films
Films set in the 19th century
1950s French-language films
French black-and-white films
Films directed by René Clément
Films based on works by Émile Zola
Films based on French novels
Films scored by Georges Auric
Best Film BAFTA Award winners
Films with screenplays by Jean Aurenche
Films with screenplays by Pierre Bost
Films about alcoholism
1956 drama films
1950s French films
{{1950s-France-film-stub