''Chéri-Bibi'' 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Léon Mathot Léon Mathot (5 March 1886, Roubaix, Nord-Pas-de-Calais - 6 March 1968, in Paris) was a French film actor and film director best known perhaps for playing Edmond Dantes in ''The Count of Monte Cristo (1918 series), The Count of Monte Cristo'' se ...

and starring

Pierre Fresnay Pierre Fresnay (; 4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor. Biography Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. He joined the company ...

Jean-Pierre Aumont Jean-Pierre Aumont (born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons; 5 January 1911 – 30 January 2001) was a French film and theatre actor. He was a matinée idol and a leading man during the 1930s, but his burgeoning career was interrupted by the Second ...

and

Marcel Dalio Marcel Dalio (born Marcel Benoit Blauschild; 23 November 1899 in Paris – 18 November 1983) was a French movie actor. He had major roles in two films directed by Jean Renoir, '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) ...

.Bessy & Chirat p.200 It was based on the ''Chéri-Bibi'' series of novels by

Gaston Leroux Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (; 6 May 186815 April 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (, 1909), which has been made int ...

. 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 ...

Robert Gys Robert Gys (1901–1977) was a French art director.O'Shaughnessy p.238 Selected filmography * '' Imperial Violets'' (1924) * '' The Phantom of the Moulin Rouge'' (1925) * ''Miss Europe'' (1930) * ''Dance Hall'' (1931) * '' The Dream'' (1931) * '' ...

. The character had previously appeared in the 1931 American film '' The Phantom of Paris'' and would return in a 1955 French film '' Chéri-Bibi'' and a 1974 television series of the same title.

Synopsis

Chéri-Bibi is sentenced to serve time in

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, but plots a mutiny and an escape with his fellow prisoners.

Cast

as Francis dit Chéri-Bibi *

as Raoul Palas *

as Le donneur *

Suzet Maïs Suzette Charlotte Marie Mathilde Roux (January 31, 1908 – January 24, 1989), screen name "Suzet Maïs", was a French stage and film actress. Selected filmography References External links * 1908 births 1989 deaths French film actre ...

as Ginette *

Thomy Bourdelle Thomy Charles Bourdelle (20 April 1891 – 27 June 1972) was a French actor. Bourdelle was born in Paris and died in Toulon, Var, France. Selected filmography *'' Roger la Honte'' (1922) * '' The Red Inn'' (1923) * '' Surcouf'' (1925) * '' ...

as Fric-Frac *

Lucien Dalsace Lucien Dalsace (14 January 1893 – 30 July 1980) was a French film actor.Goble p.322 Selected filmography * '' Ferragus'' (1923) * '' Prince Jean'' (1928) * ''In Old Stamboul'' (1928) * ''Temptation'' (1929) * '' Chéri-Bibi'' (1938) * '' The Re ...

as Le vieux Georges *

René Navarre René Navarre (8 July 1877 – 8 February 1968) was a French actor of the silent era. He appeared in 109 films between 1910 and 1946, and was often credited simply as Navarre. His most famous role was probably the master criminal Fantômas. ...

as Monsieur Charles *

Georges Péclet Prosper Désiré "Georges" Péclet (27 July 1897 – 11 January 1974) was a French actor, director, and screenwriter. Career Between 1919 and 1957, Péclet played in ninety-five films (including several short films). He was an assistant directo ...

as Duroc *

Colette Darfeuil Colette Darfeuil (born Emma Henriette Augustine Floquet, 7 February 1906 – 15 October 1998) was a French actress whose film career began at age 14 in 1920 and continued through the early 1950s. Darfeuil made her screen debut in at age 14 ...

as Viviane *

Raymond Aimos Raymond Aimos (4 February 1889 – 22 August 1944) was a French film actor.Capua p.127 He was shot and killed as a FFI combatant during the liberation of Paris. Selected filmography * '' Accused, Stand Up!'' (1930) * ''Under the Roofs of Paris'' ...

as La Ficelle *

Georges Fels Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia *Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 1977 ...

as Théo *

Maurice Humbert Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...

as Le sourd-muet *

Victor Vina Victor Vina (1885–1961) was a French film actor.Goble p.331 He was born Victor Emanuel Jules Vinatieri in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France and died in Paris. Selected filmography * '' The Portrait'' (1923) * '' Faces of Children'' (1925) * ''Car ...

as Coranti *

Liliane Lesaffre Liliane is a given name for women, most often used where French is spoken, a variant of Lillian and Lily. People with this name *Liliane Ackermann (1938–2007), French writer of a Jewish family *Liliane Bettencourt (1922–2017), the second ri ...

as Mademoiselle Roger *

Robert Ozanne Robert Ozanne (February 13, 1898 – September 14, 1941) was a French film actor.Youngkin p.466 Selected filmography * ''The Three Musketeers'' (1932) * '' The Oil Sharks'' (1933) * '' Miquette'' (1934) * '' The House on the Dune'' (1934) * ''The ...

as Le Lorrain * Jean Marconi as Freddy * Adolf E. Licho as Boris * Max Doria as Émile * Alex Potino as Blanchette *

Gérard Landry Landry Fernand Charles Marrier de Lagatinerie (16 October 1912 – 18 September 1999), known professionally as Gérard Landry, was an Argentine actor. He began acting in 1932 with his first movie ''Mirages de Paris'', acted for over fifty ye ...

as Gérard

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 Léon Mathot Films based on French novels Films based on works by Gaston Leroux Films scored by Paul Misraki {{1930s-France-film-stub