''A Man Has Been Stolen'' (French: ''On a volé un homme'') is a 1934 French

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...

and starring

Lili Damita Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress, singer, and dancer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937. Early life and education Lili Damita was born in Blaye, France, ...

, Henri Garat and

Raoul Marco Raoul Marco (22 November 1892 – 3 April 1971) was a French film actor.Phillips p.215 Partial filmography * ''Bric à Brac et compagnie'' (1931) - Monsieur Verly * ''Le gendre de Monsieur Poirier'' (1933) - Le premier créancier * '' The Red Ro ...

. It was shot at the

Joinville Studios The Joinville Studios were a film studio in Paris which operated between 1910 and 1987. They were one of the leading French studios, with major companies such as Pathé and Gaumont Film Company, Gaumont making films there. A second studio was a ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Max Heilbronner. The film was produced by

Erich Pommer Erich Pommer (20 July 1889 – 8 May 1966) was a German-born film producer and executive. Pommer was perhaps the most powerful person in the German and European film industries in the 1920s and early 1930s. As producer, Erich Pommer was involved ...

, recently escaped from Nazi-controlled Germany, for the European subsidiary of

Fox Film The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox. It was the corporate successor to his earlier Greater Ne ...

. Many of the filmmakers employed were refugees from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Pommer also produced another film simultaneously ''

Liliom ''Liliom'' is a 1909 play by the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. It was well known in its own right during the early to mid-20th century, but is best known today as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1945 musical ''Carousel''. P ...

'', a romance film directed by

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

. Ophüls later suggested that he felt that the two directors had each been assigned to the wrong production "had we exchanged the films Lang most likely would have made an extraordinary mystery and I a very good romantic comedy". Neither film was very successful at the box office. It is now a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

Synopsis

A millionaire is kidnapped, but begins to fall in love with the woman keeping him prisoner.

Cast

as Annette * Henri Garat as Jean de Lafaye *

as Inspector * Charles Fallot as Victor *

Lucien Callamand Lucien Callamand born Lucien Marie Pascal Eugène Callamand (1 April 1888 in Marseille – 3 December 1968 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes) was one of the earliest French film actors whose career spanned six decades of French cinema. Between 1909 and 1 ...

as Legros *

Nina Myral Nina Myral, stage name of Eugénie, Hortense Gruel, (26 June 1884 – 30 March 1975) was a 20th-century French actress, dancer and singer. Filmography * 1916: ''Paris pendant la guerre'' by Henri Diamant-Berger * 1917: ''Ils y viennent tous a ...

as Old Woman *

Pierre Labry Pierre Labry (1885–1948) was a French stage actor, stage and film actor.Capua p.122 He was active in the French film industry between 1920 and 1948, appearing in more than a hundred films. Selected filmography * ''La croisade'' (1920) * ''Gigo ...

as Balafre *

Fernand Fabre Fernand Fabre (1899–1987) was a French stage, television and film actor.Goble p.49 Selected filmography * '' Knock'' (1925) * '' Miss Helyett'' (1928) * ''The Queen's Necklace'' (1929) * '' The Indictment'' (1931) * ''Luck'' (1931) * '' The For ...

as Robert * Robert Goupil as Legros *

Pierre Piérade Pierre Piérade (born Pierre Émile Gaston Adelgeist; 14 November 1884 – 1 August 1937) was a French comedian, music hall performer, and stage and film actor.Hardt p.242 Selected filmography * '' Little Lise'' (1930) * ''American Love'' (1931) ...

as Remy *

Guy Rapp Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an uninc ...

* André Siméon

References

Bibliography

* Hardt, Ursula. ''From Caligari to California: Erich Pommer's Life in the International Film Wars''. Berghahn Books, 1996. * Williams, Alan L. ''Republic of Images: A History of French Filmmaking''. Harvard University Press, 1992.

External links

* French comedy thriller films 1934 lost films 1930s French-language films Films directed by Max Ophüls Fox Film films Films shot at Joinville Studios 1930s comedy thriller films French black-and-white films 1934 comedy films 1930s American films 1930s French films Films scored by Walter Jurmann Films scored by Bronisław Kaper Lost French films Lost American films {{1930s-France-film-stub