''We Are All Murderers'' (french: Nous sommes tous des assassins, also known as ''Are We All Murderers?'') is a 1952 French film written and directed by André Cayatte, a former attorney. It tells the story of René, a young man from the slums, trained by the French Resistance in World War II to kill Germans. He continues to kill long after the war has ended, as it is all he knows. It was entered into the

1952 Cannes Film Festival The 5th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1952. As in the previous three festivals, the entire jury of this festival was made up of French persons, with Maurice Genevoix as the Jury President. The Grand Prix of the Festival w ...

and won the Special Jury Prize.

Plot

René Le Guen ( Marcel Mouloudji) is a former resistance fighter trained as a young man as a professional killer. After World War II, he has no qualms in applying these skills and is arrested for murder. Convicted and condemned to death, he is held in a prison cell with other murderers sentenced to death. Men to be guillotined are taken out at night, so they wait in fear and only sleep after dawn. While Le Guen's lawyer (

Claude Laydu Claude Laydu (; 10 March 1927 – 29 July 2011) was a Belgian-born Swiss actor on stage and in films. He was renowned for his performance in his film debut in the role of the young priest in Robert Bresson's ''Diary of a Country Priest'' (1951), ...

) tries to achieve a

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

for his client, three of Le Guen's fellow inmates are executed, one by one, in the course of the film. Cayatte used his films to reveal the inequities and injustice of the French system, and protested against capital punishment.

Cast

* Marcel Mouloudji - René Le Guen *

Raymond Pellegrin Raymond Pellegrin (1 January 1925 – 14 October 2007) was a French actor. Born in Nice, Pellegrin made his screen debut in the 1945 French feature '' Naïs''. He was also famous in France for dubbing Jean Marais for the voice of Fantômas i ...

- Gino Bollini *

Antoine Balpêtré Antoine Balpêtré (3 May 1898 – 28 March 1963) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1933 and 1963. Partial filmography * '' The Agony of the Eagles'' (1933) - Le commandant Thiéry * '' The House ...

- Dr. Albert Dutoit *

Julien Verdier Julien Verdier (13 January 1910 - 15 July 1999) was a French actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1949 to 1994. Filmography References External links * 1910 births 1999 deaths French male film actors {{Fran ...

- Bauchet *

- Philippe Arnaud *

Georges Poujouly Georges Poujouly (20 January 1940 in Garches, Hauts-de-Seine – 28 October 2000 in Villejuif, Val-de-Marne) was a French actor who gained international acclaim as a child for his performance in the award-winning film ''Forbidden Games''. I ...

- Michel Le Guen *

Jacqueline Pierreux Jacqueline Pierreux (15 January 1923 – 10 March 2005) was a French film and television actress.Philip Mosley p.105 From the early 1970s onwards she also enjoyed success as a producer. She was the wife of screenwriter Pierre Léaud and the mothe ...

- Yvonne Le Guen (version française) * Lucien Nat - L'avocat général * Louis Arbessier - L'avocat du tribunal pour enfants *

René Blancard René Blancard (12 March 1897 – 5 November 1965) was a French film actor. He appeared in 80 films between 1922 and 1965. Selected filmography * ''The Mysteries of Paris'' (1922) - Bras-Rouge * ''Montmartre'' (1925) - Frédéric Charanço ...

- Albert Pichon *

Léonce Corne Léonce Charles Corne (18 March 1894 – 31 December 1977) was a French film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1974. Selected filmography * ''The Girl and the Boy'' (1931) * ''Luck'' (1931) * ''The Premature Father'' (1933) ...

- Le colonel instructeur *

Henri Crémieux Henri Crémieux (19 July 1896 – 10 May 1980) was a French actor. He appeared in more than a hundred films between 1930 and 1980. Selected filmography External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cremieux, Henri 1896 births 1980 deaths Male ac ...

- L'avocat de Bauchet * Jean Daurand - Girard, l'homme dans la cabine téléphonique * Yvonne de Bray - La chiffonnière *

Guy Decomble Guy Decomble (1910–1964) was a French film and television actor. A character actor he played in a number of supporting parts in postwar cinema. One of his better known roles is as the teacher in ''The 400 Blows'' by François Truffaut.Paietta p ...

- Un inspecteur *

Liliane Maigné Liliane Maigné (1 March 1928 – 20 December 2004) was a French actress. Biography Liliane Maigné was born 1 March 1928. Her father was André Maigné (1903–1936), her mother Madeleine Paroissien (1908–1983). She married Jean-Charles Tacche ...

– Rachel

Honors

It won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952.

References

External links

* 1952 films French black-and-white films 1952 drama films Films directed by André Cayatte French drama films 1950s French-language films 1950s French films {{1950s-France-film-stub