''The Chess Player'' (french: Le joueur d'échecs) is a 1938 French

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

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 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

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 ...

Conrad Veidt Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German film actor who attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and ''The Man Who Laugh ...

and

Bernard Lancret Bernard Lancret (4 September 1912 – 5 September 1983) was a French film actor. He appeared in over thirty films between 1935 and 1956 in a mixture of leading and supporting roles. He played the composer Franz Schubert in the 1940 film '' Sér� ...

.Soister p.281 It is a remake of the 1927 silent film ''

The Chess Player ''The Chess Player'' (french: Le Joueur d'échecs) is a 1927 French silent film directed by Raymond Bernard and based on a novel by Henry Dupuy-Mazuel. It is a historical drama set in the late 18th century during the Russian domination of Pol ...

'', itself based on the 1926 novel of the same title by Henry Dupuy-Mazuel. The film takes place in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

during the reign of

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

. It was shot at the

Cité Elgé Cité Elgé were French film studios located in Paris. They were constructed in 1905 in the Buttes-Chaumont area of the city by the Gaumont Film Company The Gaumont Film Company (, ), often shortened to Gaumont, is a French film studio headq ...

studios 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 ...

. 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 Aguettand Lucien Aguettand (28 January 1901 – 14 February 1989) was a French art directorHayward p.205 who designed the sets for over eighty films during his career. Selected filmography * ''Little Devil May Care'' (1928) * ''All That's Not Worth Love' ...

and

Marcel Magniez Marcel Magniez (born 1888) was a French art director who designed the sets for around forty film productions from the late 1920s to the early 1950s. Soister p.281 Selected filmography * '' Parisian Pleasures'' (1927) * '' My Aunts and I'' (1937 ...

. It was released by Compagnie Française Cinématographique in France and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

in the United States

Cast

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

as Le baron de Kempelen *

as Le prince Serge Oblonsky *

Micheline Francey Micheline Francey (October 19, 1919 – January 1, 1969) was a French film actress.Hayward p.115 Selected filmography * ''The Chess Player'' (1938) * ''The Phantom Carriage'' (1939) * ''Le Corbeau'' (1943) * ''Madly in Love'' (1943) * ''A Cage o ...

as Sonia Vorowska *

Paul Cambo Paul Cambo (1908–1978) was a French stage and film actor.Goble p.508 Selected filmography * ''Ramuntcho'' (1938) * ''Heroes of the Marne'' (1938) * '' The Gutter'' (1938) * ''The Chess Player'' (1938) * ''Sing Anyway'' (1940) * '' The Village o ...

as Le prince Boleslas Vorowsky *

Jacques Grétillat Jacques Marie Gaëtan Grétillat (26 August 1885 – 19 December 1950) was a French actor and film director. Grétillat was born in Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), and died in Paris. Partial filmography * ''Hamlet'' (1908, Short) - Hamlet * ...

as Potemkine *

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 Stanislas, le roi de Pologne * Edmonde Guy as Wanda Zalewska, la danseuse *

Gaston Modot Gaston Modot (31 December 1887 – 20 February 1970) was a French actor. For more than 50 years he performed for the cinema working with a number of great French directors. Biography Modot lived in Montmartre at the beginning of the 20th cen ...

as Major Nicolaieff

References

Bibliography

* Crisp, Colin. ''Genre, Myth and Convention in the French Cinema, 1929-1939''. Indiana University Press, 2002.

External links

* 1938 films French historical drama films 1930s historical drama films 1930s French-language films Films directed by Jean Dréville Films set in Poland Films set in the 1770s Remakes of French films Sound film remakes of silent films Cultural depictions of Catherine the Great Columbia Pictures films French black-and-white films Films about chess 1938 drama films 1930s French films {{1930s-France-film-stub