''Jenny'' is a 1936 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, the first full-length feature by

Marcel Carné Marcel Albert Carné (; 18 August 1906 – 31 October 1996) was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include '' Port of Shadows'' (1938), ''Le Jour Se Lève'' (1939), '' The Devil's Envoys ...

and the first of his successful collaborations with the dialogue writer

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...

and the composer

Joseph Kosma Joseph Kosma (22 October 19057 August 1969) was a Hungarian-French composer. Biography Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Ákos. A maternal relative was the photographe ...

. The leading roles are taken by

Françoise Rosay Françoise Rosay (; born Françoise Bandy de Nalèche; 19 April 1891 – 28 March 1974) was a French opera singer, diseuse,''Design'', Volume 9 1965 p. 24 and actress who enjoyed a film career of over sixty years and who became a legendary figure ...

Albert Préjean Albert Préjean (27 October 1894 in Paris – 1 November 1979 in Paris) was a French actor, primarily in film. He served in World War I, and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d'honneur. With Lysiane Rey, he was the ...

Charles Vanel Charles-Marie Vanel (21 August 1892 – 15 April 1989) was a French actor and director. During his 76-year film career, which began in 1912, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, ...

, and

Lisette Lanvin Lisette Lanvin (1913–2004) was a French film actress.Goble p.6 Selected filmography * ''Student's Hotel'' (1932) * ''Youth'' (1933) * '' Nitchevo'' (1936) * ''Jenny'' (1936) * ''The Kings of Sport'' (1937) * ''The Club of Aristocrats'' (1937) * ...

.Andrews p.355 It tells the story of a middle-aged woman in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

who with underworld support has built up a smart night club, but her life starts falling apart when the young gangster she maintains as her lover falls in love with her daughter. At times the film moves into the realm of

poetic realism Poetic realism was a film movement in France of the 1930s. More a tendency than a movement, poetic realism is not strongly unified like Soviet montage or French Impressionism but were individuals who created this lyrical style. Its leading filmm ...

, where the cinematography, music and dialogue infuse the lives and surroundings of ordinary people with poetry.

Plot

After years working in London, Jenny's daughter Danielle falls out with her boy friend and decides to go back to her mother in Paris. This throws Jenny into confusion, as she has to move out of her elegant house in an exclusive suburb and hastily rent a flat. The house, bought with money from the gangster Benoît who would like to be her lover, is called a night club but is really somewhere for well-off men to meet prostitutes. The last thing Jenny wants is for her daughter to find out about the sordid club or about the young lover she maintains, a gangster called Lucien. Danielle soon becomes puzzled about phone calls and visitors, which lead her to think that the business which keeps her mother out all night may not be wholly legitimate. One evening she turns up at the club alone and from behind a curtain sees enough to understand how her mother makes a living. While hiding she is molested by an over-eager customer, from whom she is rescued by a young man who rushes her outside. This is Lucien, and the two are at once struck with each other. While he admits freely that he is a criminal, neither mentions their link to Jenny. Leaving her mother, Danielle goes to live with Lucien and the two plan to move to London. Lucien then tells Jenny honestly that he is leaving her, which leaves the coast clear for Benoît, whose gangsters beat up Lucien. Jenny visits him in hospital, and has to hide quickly when Danielle comes in. Having lost daughter and lover, Jenny walks home reflecting on life's ups and downs.

Cast

as Jenny Gauthier, night club owner *

as Lucien Dancret, her young lover *

as Danielle Bricart, her daughter *

as Benoît, gangster * Roland Toutain as Xavier, friend of Lucien *

Sylvia Bataille Sylvia Bataille (born Sylvia Maklès; 1 November 1908 – 22 December 1993) was a French actress of Romanian-Jewish descent. When she was twenty, she married the writer Georges Bataille with whom she had a daughter, the psychoanalyst Laurence Bata ...

as Florence, singer at the night club *

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundia ...

as Le Dromadaire, gangster *

Robert Le Vigan Robert Le Vigan (born Robert Coquillaud, January 7, 1900 – October 12, 1972), was a French actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1931 and 1943 almost exclusively in small or supporting roles. He was, according to film academic ...

as L'Albinos, customer at the night club *

Margo Lion Margo Allison Lion (October 13, 1944 – January 24, 2020) was a producer for plays and musicals both on Broadway and off-Broadway, known for her role in producing the stage and screen hit '' Hairspray''. Combined, the works Lion produced won 20 ...

as Madame Vrack, manager of the night club *

as harmonium player

About the film

The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Jean d'Eaubonne Jean d'Eaubonne (March 8, 1903 – July 30, 1971) was a French art director. He received an Oscar nomination in 1951 for his work on Max Ophüls's ''La Ronde''. Selected filmography * '' The Polish Jew'' (1931) * '' Love and Luck'' (1932) * '' M ...

References

Bibliography

* Andrews, Dudley. ''Mists of Regret: Culture and Sensibility in Classic French Film''. Princeton University Press, 1995.

External links

* 1936 films French drama films 1936 drama films 1930s French-language films Films directed by Marcel Carné French black-and-white films Films scored by Joseph Kosma 1930s French films {{1930s-France-film-stub