''White Nights in Saint Petersburg'' (French: ''Les nuits blanches de Saint-Pétersbourg'') is a 1938 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 ...

directed by Jean Dréville and starring

Gaby Morlay Gaby Morlay (born Blanche Pauline Fumoleau; 8 June 1893 – 4 July 1964) was a film actress from France.

Jean Yonnel Jean Yonnel (21 July 1891 – 17 August 1968) was a Romanian-born French actor. Yonnel was born in Bucharest, Romania as Jean-Estève Schachmann and began his film career in France in the 1910s. Some of his notable performance were in ''Obsession ...

and

Pierre Renoir Pierre Renoir (March 21, 1885 – March 11, 1952) was a French stage and film actor. He was the son of the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and elder brother of the film director Jean Renoir. He is also noted for being the first ...

. It is an adaptation of the 1889 novella ''

The Kreutzer Sonata ''The Kreutzer Sonata'' (russian: Крейцерова соната, ) is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, named after Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9 (Beethoven), Kreutzer Sonata. The novella was published in 1889, and was promptly censored by the Rus ...

'' by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

.Goble p.891 It is sometimes known by this title, and should not be confused with the 1937 German film ''

'' directed by

Veit Harlan Veit Harlan (22 September 1899 – 13 April 1964) was a German film director and actor. Harlan reached the highpoint of his career as a director in the Nazi era; most notably his antisemitic film ''Jud Süß'' (1940) makes him controversial ...

. 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 ...

Lucien Carré Lucien Carré (born 1904) was a French art director Capua p.127 active in the French cinema designing film sets from the late 1920s to the late 1950s. He worked frequently with the director André Hunebelle as well as Julien Duvivier and Anatol ...

Alexandre Lochakoff Alexandre Lochakoff was a Russian-born art director.Phillips p.39 After fleeing following the Russian Revolution in 1917 he settled in France where he worked designing film sets. Selected filmography * ''Heart of an Actress'' (1924) * ''Michel S ...

and

Vladimir Meingard Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

while the costume design was overseen by

Boris Bilinsky Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his d ...

Cast

Gaby Morlay Gaby Morlay (born Blanche Pauline Fumoleau; 8 June 1893 – 4 July 1964) was a film actress from France.

as Helene Voronine *

as Dimitri Pozdnychef *

Jacques Erwin Jacques Erwin (born Herwin Frédéric Roger Follot; 22 December 1908 – 7 April 1957) was a French film and stage actor. Filmography * 1931: '' Moon Over Morocco'' by Julien Duvivier as Midlock * 1931: '' Tossing Ship'' by Jean de La Cour a ...

as Toukatchewsky *

as Ivan Borowsky * Edmonde Guy as Sonia Borowsky * Clara Darcey-Roche as La mère de Pozdnycheff *

Annie Rozanne Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

as Katia Voronine *

André Bervil André Bervil (1905–1972) was a French stage and film actor.Bessy p.192 He was married to the actress Suzanne Grey, and was son-in-law of Denise Grey. Selected filmography * ''My Little Marquise'' (1937) * ''Happy Days'' (1941) * ''Bolero'' (1 ...

as Igor Petrovich * Gisèle Gire as La fleuriste * Georges Paulais as Gouretzki * André Nox as Le directeur *

Marguerite de Morlaye Marguerite de Morlaye (29 January 1870, Saint-Mandé –18 September 1957, Paris) was a French actress. Selected filmography * ''Martyr'' (1927) * '' A Foolish Maiden'' (1929) * '' The Wonderful Day'' (1932) * '' La dame de chez Maxim's'' (1933) ...

as Une admiratrice *

Louis Salou Louis Vincent Goulven Salou (23 April 1902 – 12 October 1948) was a French stage and film actor. Louis was born in Oissel and died in Fontenay-aux-Roses. Selected filmography * ''First Ball'' (1941) * '' The Benefactor'' (1942) * ''Bolero' ...

as Michel * Charles Léger as Le domestique *

Jean-Pierre Thisse Jean-Pierre or Jean Pierre may refer to: People * Karine Jean-Pierre b.1977, White House Deputy Press Secretary for President Joe Biden 2021- * Jean-Pierre, Count of Montalivet (1766–1823), French statesman and Peer of France * Eugenia Pierre ( ...

as Le petit Vassia

References

Bibliography

* Bessy, Maurice & Chirat, Raymond. ''Histoire du cinéma français: encyclopédie des films, Volume 2''. Pygmalion, 1986. * Crisp, Colin. ''Genre, Myth and Convention in the French Cinema, 1929-1939''. Indiana University Press, 2002. * Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Rège, Philippe. ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1938 films French drama films 1938 drama films French historical films 1930s historical films 1930s French-language films French black-and-white films 1930s French films Films directed by Jean Dréville Films based on The Kreutzer Sonata Films set in Russia Films set in the 19th century Films scored by Adolphe Borchard {{1930s-France-film-stub