''Marius'' is a 1931 French drama film directed by
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)play of the same title by
Marcel Pagnol
Marcel Paul Pagnol (; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie française. Although his work is less fashionabl ...
. The film is a part of the Marseille Trilogy which includes the films '' Fanny'' (Marius's ex-fiancée) and '' César'' (Marius's father). The film was selected to be screened in the Cannes Classics section of the
2015 Cannes Film Festival
The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...
. The restored film was also given a limited re-release in the United States by
Janus Films
Janus Films is an American film distribution company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstei ...
on 4 January 2017, first premiering at
Film Forum
Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Kare ...
.
The film was made by Korda for the French subsidiary of
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. A separate Swedish-language version '' Longing for the Sea'' by John W. Brunius was also released in 1931 and a German-language version '' The Golden Anchor'', also directed by Korda, was released the following year.
Synopsis
The film takes place mostly in the waterfront bar of César, Marius's father. Marius works in the bar and his good friend since childhood, Fanny, works outside the bar selling cockles. Marius has a hidden desire to travel to exotic places with the ship crews that depart from the docks of Marseille. This desire becomes exposed when a rich older man (Panisse) proposes to Fanny and Marius gets jealous. Marius' jealousy of Panisse is the first indication of the secret feelings that he has for her, but much to his surprise, the feelings are reciprocated by Fanny. She confesses that she loves Marius prompting him to reveal his plans of traveling the world to her, noting that being the wife of a man at sea is not a desirable life. After a few nights, it is discovered that they have slept together and Marius's father and Fanny's mother convince him to marry her. Marius becomes noticeably melancholy after proposing to Fanny until a few days later, the date of departure of a boat on which Marius was supposed to crew. Fanny, realizing that Marius is not truly happy being with her, decides to encourage him to leave. She helps distract his father while Marius sneaks onto the boat.
Cast (in credits order)
*
Raimu
Jules Auguste Muraire (18 December 1883 – 20 September 1946), whose stage name was Raimu, was a French actor. He is most famous for playing César in the 'Marseilles trilogy' ('' Marius'', '' Fanny'' and '' César'').
Life and career
Born in T ...
as César Olivier
*
Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay (4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor.
Biography
Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. He joined the company a ...
as Marius
*
Orane Demazis
Orane Demazis (4 September 1894 – 25 December 1991) was a French actress.
Biography
Born Henriette Marie Louise Burgart in Oran, French Algeria, in a family of Alsatian origin, Demazis entered the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur d'A ...
as Fanny
*
Fernand Charpin
Fernand Charpin (30 May 1887 – 6 November 1944) was a French actor. He is known for his role as Honoré Panisse in Marcel Pagnol's Marseille trilogy, beginning with '' Marius'' in 1931.
Selected filmography
* '' Marius'' (1931)
* '' Fanny'' ( ...
as Honoré Panisse
*
Alida Rouffe
Alida Rouffe (1874–1949) was a French actress.
Joséphine Marie Rouffe was born on 20 March 1874 in Bordeaux. Her father was mime artist Louis Rouffe (1849-1885).
She spent most of her career on stage in the south of France, and like her ...
as Honorine Cabanis
*
Paul Dullac
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
as Félix Escartefigue
*
Alexandre Mihalesco
Alexandre Mihalesco (; born Alexandru Mihăilescu, ; 19 October 1883 – 28 December 1974) was a Romanian film actor who largely appeared in French productions.Goble p.2
Selected filmography
* ''The Independence of Romania'' (1912)
* ''On the W ...
as Piquoiseau
*
Robert Vattier
Robert Vattier (2 October 1906 – 9 December 1982) was a French actor.
He was the father of the comedic actress Bérangère Vattier.
Selected filmography
* '' Marius'' (1931) - Albert Brun
* '' Fanny'' (1932) - Albert Brun
* ''Vers l'abîme ...
as Albert Brun
*
Édouard Delmont
Édouard Delmont (5 December 1883 – 22 November 1955) was a French actor born Édouard Marius Autran in Marseille. He died in Cannes at age 72.
Filmography
*1930 : '' L'Arlésienne'' de Jacques de Baroncelli
*1930 : ''Maison de danses'' de ...
as Le Goelec
*
Milly Mathis
Milly Mathis (September 8, 1901 – March 30, 1965) was a French actress who appeared in more than 100 films during her career. Born on September 8, 1901, as Emilienne Pauline Tomasini in Marseilles, France, she made her film debut with a small, ...
as Tante Claudine Foulon
*
Marcel Maupi
Marcel Maupi, stage name of Marcel Louis Alexandre Barberin or Maupi, (6 November 1881, Marseille – 4 January 1949, Antibes) was a French actor.
Selected filmography
* ''Dance Hall'' (1931)
* '' Marius'' (1931)
* '' Fanny'' (1932)
* '' The Iro ...
as Innocent Mangiapan Le Chauffeur Du Ferry-Boat
*
Lucien Callamand
Lucien Callamand born Lucien Marie Pascal Eugène Callamand (April 1, 1888, in Marseille – December 3, 1968, in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes) was one of the earliest French film actors whose career spanned six decades of French cinema. Between 1909 ...
as Le Quartier-Maitre Du Ferry-Boat
* Queret as Felicite
*
Valentine Ribe
A valentine is a card or gift given on Valentine's Day, or one's sweetheart.
Valentine or Valentines may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Valentine (name), a given name and a surname, including a list of people and fictional char ...
as Un Client / A Customer
* Vassy as Un Arabe
In popular culture
*''
Port of Seven Seas
''Port of Seven Seas'' is a 1938 drama film starring Wallace Beery and featuring Frank Morgan and Maureen O'Sullivan. The movie was written by Preston Sturges based on the plays of Marcel Pagnol and the films based on them, and was directed by ...
'' is
James Whale
James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fran ...
's remake of ''Marius'' and ''Fanny''.
*The famed restaurateur and founder of California cuisine,
Alice Waters
Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...
, was so taken by this film that she named her Berkeley restaurant "
Chez Panisse
Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California, restaurant, known as one of the originators of the style of cooking known as California cuisine, and the farm-to-table movement. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has develo ...
". The café upstairs from the restaurant is decorated with posters from the films ''Marius'', ''Fanny'', and ''César.''
*The main characters from the films ''Marius, Fanny'' and ''César'' make a cameo appearance in the
Asterix
''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, wi ...
comic book ''
Asterix and the Banquet
''Asterix and the Banquet'' (, "Asterix's Tour of Gaul") is the fifth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was first serialized in ''Pilote'' magazine, issues 172–213, in 196 ...
''. The card playing scene in the comic book is a reference to a similar scene in this film.
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...