''Barnabé'' is a 1938 French

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Alexander Esway Alexander Esway (20 January 1895 – 23 August 1947) was a Hungarian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer. Life and career Esway was born Sándor Ezry in Budapest. In the late 1920s and early 1930s he worked as a director and screenwri ...

and starring Fernandel,

Marguerite Moreno Marguerite Moreno (born Lucie Marie Marguerite Monceau; 15 September 1871, Paris - 14 July 1948, Touzac, Lot) was a French stage and film actress. On 12 September 1900, in England, she married the writer Marcel Schwob, whom she had met in 18 ...

and

Andrex Andrex is a British brand of toilet roll. It is owned by the United States, American company Kimberly-Clark. The "Andrex Puppy", a Labrador Retriever puppy that appears on the company's television advertisements, is synonymous with the brand. T ...

.Oscherwitz & Higgins p.189 It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in

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 directors

André Barsacq André Barsacq (24 January 1909 – 8 July 1973) was a French theatre director, producer, scenic designer, and playwright. From 1940 to 1973 he was the director of the Théâtre de l'Atelier. He was the brother of Russian production designer Lé ...

and Pierre Schild. It was based on an operetta by Jean Bastia.

Synopsis

Barnabé, a young

flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, arrives at the house of Madame Petit-Durand to perform for the birthday of her daughter. However, he is mistaken by Madame for the Count de Marengo who she plans for her daughter to marry. Barnabé is himself really in love with the

gamekeeper In the United Kingdom, a gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper) is a person who manages an area of countryside (e.g., areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland) to make sure that there is enough Game (hunting), game for hunting, or fish ...

's daughter.

Cast

* Fernandel as Barnabé *

as La marquise de Marengo *

as André Dubreuil * Lucien Callamand as Ricavel * Germaine Charley as Madame Petit-Durand *

Charles Dechamps Charles Dechamps (13 September 1882 – 25 September 1959) was a French stage and film actor. He married the comedian Fernande Albany on 19 November 1925. He died in 1959, and was buried at cimetière du Père-Lachaise. Filmography * 1909: ...

as Adhemar *

Arthur Devère Arthur Devère (; 24 June 1883 – 23 September 1961) was a Belgian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1913 and 1956. Selected filmography * ''L'agent Rigolo et son chien policier'' (1913) * ''Flup chasseur'' (1920) * ' ...

Paulette Dubost Paulette Dubost (8 October 1910 – 21 September 2011) was a French actress who began her career at the age of 7 at the Paris Opera. She appeared in over 250 films and worked with directors such as Marcel Carné, Jean Renoir, Max Ophüls ('' L ...

as Rose * Louis Florencie * Josseline Gaël as Mado * Claude May as Jackie Petit-Durand * Max Rogerys *

Noël Roquevert Noël Roquevert (born Noël Louis Raymond Bénévent; 18 December 1892 – 6 November 1973) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1932 and 1972. Roquevert was born in Doué-la-Fontaine and was married ...

as Hilaire, Le garde-chasse * Roland Toutain as Paul de Marengo * Jean Témerson as Firmin * Victor Vina

References

Bibliography

*Oscherwitz, Dayna & Higgins, MaryEllen. ''The A to Z of French Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1938 films French comedy films 1938 comedy films 1930s French-language films Films directed by Alexander Esway French black-and-white films Films scored by Roger Dumas Films scored by Casimir Oberfeld 1930s French films Films shot at Billancourt Studios Films based on operettas {{1930s-France-film-stub