''President Haudecoeur'' (French: ''Le président Haudecoeur'') is a 1940 French
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Jean Dréville
Jean Dréville (20 September 1906 – 5 March 1997) was a French film director. He directed more than 40 films between 1928 and 1969.
Selected filmography
* '' Autour de L'Argent'' (1928)
* ''A Man of Gold'' (1934)
* ''The Chess Player'' ( ...
and starring
Harry Baur
Harry Baur (12 April 1880 – 8 April 1943) was a French actor.
Initially a stage actor, Baur appeared in about 80 films between 1909 and 1942. He gave an acclaimed performance as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the biopic ''Beethoven's Gr ...
,
Betty Stockfeld and
Marguerite Deval
Marguerite Deval (19 September 1866 – 18 December 1955) was a French singer and actress.
Born Marguerite Hippolyte Juliette Brulfer, she was a comedian, opera chanteuse, and actress of stage and film. She was born in Strasbourg and died in Pa ...
.
[Rège p.278] It was shot at the
Marseille Studios of
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 fashionable ...
in
Southern France
Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...
. 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 ...
Roland Quignon
Roland Quignon (1897–1984) was a French art director.Crisp p.151 He designed the sets for more than fifty films during his career. He also directed four films.
Selected filmography
* ''The Dying Land'' (1936)
* ''The House Across the Street'' ( ...
.
Synopsis
A
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
in
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
rules his family tyrannically and forbids his son to marry the girl he loves as he wants him to marry a wealthy
heiress. However, his ordered life is thrown upside down when he encounters a charming
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
lady.
Cast
*
Harry Baur
Harry Baur (12 April 1880 – 8 April 1943) was a French actor.
Initially a stage actor, Baur appeared in about 80 films between 1909 and 1942. He gave an acclaimed performance as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the biopic ''Beethoven's Gr ...
as Le président Haudecoeur
*
Betty Stockfeld as Mrs. Betty Brown
*
Marguerite Deval
Marguerite Deval (19 September 1866 – 18 December 1955) was a French singer and actress.
Born Marguerite Hippolyte Juliette Brulfer, she was a comedian, opera chanteuse, and actress of stage and film. She was born in Strasbourg and died in Pa ...
as Mme Bergas-Larue
*
Robert Pizani
Robert Pizani (26 April 1896 – 17 June 1965) was a French stage and film actor whose 45-year career encompassed leading roles in numerous plays, revues and operettas as well as dozens of films.
In operetta
Pizani's roles in operetta and musical ...
as L'abbé Margot
*
Cecil Grane as Pierre Haudecoeur
*
Georges Chamarat
Georges Chamarat (30 March 1901 – 21 November 1982) was a French actor. He appeared in more than 100 films and television shows between 1929 and 1981. He starred in the film '' The Adventures of Arsène Lupin'', which was entered into the ...
as Le cousin Alexis
*
Jean Témerson
Jean Témerson (1898–1956) was a French actor.
Selected filmography
* ''The Lover of Madame Vidal'' (1936) - Guillaume - le domestique
* '' With a Smile'' (1936) - Cam (uncredited)
* ''Pépé le Moko'' (1937) - Gravère
* ''Blanchette'' (193 ...
as Capet
*
André Numès Fils
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 o ...
as Brouillon
*
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 Iron ...
as Le jardinier
*
Sonia Gobar as Antoinette
*
Jeanne Provost
Jeanne Provost (1887–1980) was a French stage and film actress.Goble p.38 She was a member of the Comédie-Française from 1907 to 1912. In 1928 she appeared in the original cast of Marcel Pagnol's play '' Topaze''.
Selected filmography
* '' Af ...
as Angéline Haudecoeur
References
Bibliography
* Rège, Philippe. ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.
External links
*
1940 films
1940 comedy films
French comedy films
1940s French-language films
Films directed by Jean Dréville
French black-and-white films
1940s French films
{{1940s-France-film-stub