''The Gutter'' or ''The Stream'' (French: ''Le ruisseau'') 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

Maurice Lehmann Maurice Lehmann (1895–1974) was a French actor, director and producer of the stage and screen. He starred in the 1923 film '' Koenigsmark'' in which he played the title role. In 1956 he was appointed President of the Jury in the Cannes Film Fe ...

and

Claude Autant-Lara Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director and later Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Biography Born at Luzarches in Val-d'Oise, Autant-Lara was educated in France and at London's Mill Hill Sc ...

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 ...

Michel Simon Michel Simon (; 9 April 1895 – 30 May 1975) was a Swiss-French actor. He appeared in many notable French films, including ''La Chienne'' (1931), ''Boudu Saved from Drowning'' (1932), ''L'Atalante'' (1934), '' Port of Shadows'' (1938), '' The H ...

Gaby Sylvia Gaby Sylvia (March 24, 1920 – July 26, 1980) was an Italian actress who appeared in many French films and television series.Goble p.37 Partial filmography * ''Le ruisseau'' (1938) - Denise * ''Behind the Façade'' (1939) - Madeleine Martin * ...

and

Ginette Leclerc Ginette Leclerc (born Geneviève Lucie Menut; February 9, 1912 – January 2, 1992) was a French film actress. She appeared in nearly 90 films between 1932 and 1978. Her last TV appearance was in 1981. She was born in Ile-de-France, France ...

. Rège p.622 It is based on the 1907 play of the same title by

Pierre Wolff Pierre Wolff (1 January 1865, in Paris – 1944) was a French playwright. Biography Pierre Wolff was a Jewish writer, who wrote numerous plays, as well as some libretti for operettas. He was the nephew of journalist Albert Wolff. His dramas wer ...

. It was shot at the

Epinay Studios The Epinay Studios are film production studios located in Epinay in northern Paris. It was a complex with two distinct and separate structures. The earliest was built in 1902 by Eclair Film. A second studio was controlled by the French subsidia ...

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 ...

and on location around

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. 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 ...

René Renoux René Renoux (1904–2000) was a French art director.Buache p.162 Selected filmography * ''The Pure Truth'' (1931) * '' Topaze'' (1933) * '' Prince Jean'' (1934) * ''Speak to Me of Love'' (1935) * ''You Can't Fool Antoinette'' (1936) * '' The Bur ...

. The play had previously been adapted as a 1919 American silent film ''

The Virtuous Model ''The Virtuous Model'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Albert Capellani and starring Dolores Cassinelli, Helen Lowell, and May Hopkins. The film's sets were designed by the French art director Henri Ménessier. Cast * Dolores ...

'' and a 1929 French silent '' The Gutter''.

Cast

as Régina Berri *

as Le comte Edouard de Bourgogne dit 'L'Escargot' *

as Denise *

as Ginette *

Georges Lannes Georges Lannes (27 October 1895 – 8 July 1983) was a French film actor who appeared in more than a hundred films during his career including '' André Cornélis'' (1927).Goble p.50 Selected filmography * '' The Mysteries of Paris'' (1922) * '' ...

as Ricardo *

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 Paul Prébant *

Bernard Blier Bernard Blier (11 January 1916 – 29 March 1989) was a French character actor. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time. Life and career His rotund features an ...

as Le chauffeur de taxi * Yves Deniaud as Le garçon de cabaret

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. * Rège, Philippe. ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1938 films French drama films 1938 drama films 1930s French-language films French black-and-white films 1930s French films Films directed by Claude Autant-Lara French films based on plays Sound film remakes of silent films Films shot in Normandy Films shot at Epinay Studios Films scored by Vincent Scotto {{1930s-France-film-stub