When I think back to the many conversations I had with Allan about film, I think most fondly about our discussions about the French 1930s. We both shared an affinity for the period, and we had remarkably similar tastes and shared some favorite filmmakers. Of course Renoir was a typical topic, especially when it was announced the La Chienne would be joining the Criterion Collection, but our conversations seemed to gravitate more to the obscure. Julien Duvivier was the director that came up the most.
It is no secret among friends that Allan was often critical of The Criterion Collection. He was a champion of obscure filmmakers that might not be popular with the mainstream (unlike Renoir), and felt that Criterion sat on the rights of quality films because there would not be an audience. He had a good argument, one in which I could not altogether defend, but he also gave praise when needed. When Criterion announced that they were releasing the Eclipse Set, Duvivier in the 1930s, he was elated. He knew these four films and credited Criterion for bringing attention to a nearly forgotten director, with selections that were near his career peak.
My first experience with Duvivier was years ago when I saw La Belle Equipe on a YouTube stream (since removed). I later saw Un Carnet du Bal, again online through a stream (also removed), and finally saw his most celebrated noir and realist classic, Pépé le Moko on Criterion disc. With all three, I was enraptured by the richly drawn characters, the fantastic performances from stars like Jean Gabin and Harry Baur, and the use of surreal film language to punctuate such brilliantly romantic and often tragic tales. Why this filmmaker was not considered to be near the top of the decade was mind boggling, and why his work was largely unavailable was frustrating.
The Eclipse set is a delight, if not quite the director’s best work. We see the trajectory of his career and how he became a master. David Golder is a character study about the perils of capitalism and family greed, featuring arguably the best performance from Harry Baur in a Duvivier film. Poil de Carotte is in part a coming of age tale, yet also a portrait of abuse in a small, bucolic French community. La tête d’un homme was a lesser work, yet still an engaging cat and mouse crime drama penned by the prolific George Simenon. The masterpiece of the grouping, Un Carnet de Bal, is as Allan puts it, “seems like something out of step with French cinema of its time.” It is at once a celebration of life and coming to terms with regret, as Christine visits her former lovers.
Duvivier’s true masterpieces are the aforementioned Pépé le Moko, La Belle Equipe and La Fin du Jour. As it turns out, Allan had shared with me the French Pathé release of the latter two films. Both of these had new restorations, region B with English subtitles. Upon his recommendation, I purchased both of these treasures, but we lost Allan before I had the chance to share my love for these films. Few things thrilled him more than a friend falling in love with his recommendations. Allan, you got this one right. They are absolute masterpieces.
Allan included many Duvivier films in his Cinematic Pantheon, including two of the four that were contained in the Eclipse set — Un Carnet du Bal and Poil de Carotte. David Golder was on his honorable mentions list. La Belle Equipe, La Fin du Jour, Pépé le Moko, and the post-war noir Panique were all among his favorites.
Unfortunately many of the films are not readily available online as they used to be.
La Bandera, also an honorable mention from Allan, is available on YouTube but with a Spanish dub. Even without being able to speak the language, it is still worth watching key scenes just to see Duvivier’s visual style.
Golgotha is available in French without English subtitles:
Allan may not have endorsed the FilmStruck service since it is not available outside of the USA, but with a trial subscription, many of the films that he loved are available. Login and follow the links below.
Poil de Carotte
Un Carnet du Bal
Pépé le Moko
Allan, miss you buddy, but I know that you would be happy hearing how much I adore Duvivier. Since your passing, I’ve shared my love for him with many others, and I’ve yet to hear anything short of glowing. He’s an artist worthy of rediscovery, and hopefully thanks to your efforts, that will one day happen.
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Typically for Allan, though now I yearn for a reprise of some mildly contentious conversation, he wasn’t entirely willing to award me the satisfaction after the announcement of the Eclipse Duvivier, as he felt they were supposed to go the blu ray route on separate releases. I remember laughing when he greeted me with that disclaimer after I triumphantly sent him the e mail bragging about the release. Yes in his final years Allan was super critical of Criterion for the reason you reveal here – that they were sitting on releases – and that in audaciousness they were in his view elipsed by Arrow in the U.K. While I adore Arrow (and Masters of Cinema, BFI and Second Run and generally acquire all their new releases) I felt then and still do that Criterion is tops in terms of quantity, quality and wide reaching rights, but there is no question they do sometimes take their sweet time in bringing the catalog out. I too am a huge fan of Duvivier, and had the great fortune of seeing a batch of his masterpieces at the Film Forum’s Golden Age of French Films Festival a few year’s back. I was chided by Allan for my “undeserved luck” at the time, but I did subsequently obtain blu rays from France as well as this superlative Eclipse set. I have seen La Bandera (wonderful) but need to see Golgotha, both of which I commend you for posting here in this glorious presentation, featuring one of the all-time great directors as part of an appreciation of Allan’s incomparable influence. I saw David Golder from Cave of Forgotten Films, and both Allan and I thought it was not top-drawer Duvivier, but still worth seeing.
As to La Belle Equipe, La Fin du Jour, Pépé le Moko, and the post-war noir Panique, these are all STAGGERING MASTERPIECES of the cinema. As I told Allan back in late July after watching the pristine French blu ray of LA FIN DU JOUR (with English titles) it is my all-time favorite Duvivier.
Just a fantastic piece here Aaron, and a yeoman sponsorship of one of the cinema’s most brilliant humanist artists
Yes, Allan would dig into his positions and not give much ground. That much is for sure! It is interesting how his tone on the same subject was different with you than it was with me. He seldom praised Criterion, but it happened. I remember him praising A Brighter Summer Day and La Chienne, among a few others. He was a big fan of BFI as well, and he turned me into quite a few releases that I may not have overwise heard of. Over the past year, it seems like the boutique Region B labels have fallen a step behind and Criterion has maintained its consistency. I wonder if releases like Stalker, Marseilles Trilogy and WCP 2 would have changed his opinion.
I envy your being able to see Duvivier at Film Forum! I’m still watching the calendar of August 3-8th and hoping something decent will be playing, but pretty unlikely I’ll get that lucky.
Thanks for letting me participate, Sammy.
He got to see the restoration of the Marseilles Trilogy at least through the Blu Ray release in France last year which has English subs, hopefully the La Femme du Boulanger will be out soon too. Criterion have been on a roll recently though, he was thrilled to see El Verdugo.
That’s right and I remember he was thrilled about Berlanga. He did see the Marseilles Trilogy and convinced me to buy the French release. I’ll be buying it twice, so that was sort of a waste of money, but we were skeptical of a Criterion release at the time. Really wish he was still around to talk film. Even though he was firm and dug into his opinions, he always had tremendous insights.
This sounds like a mouthwatering set, Aaron, and your account of it likewise. Like most people, I imagine, I first came across Duvivier through the tremendous Pépé le Moko. I then moved on to items like La Tête d’un Homme (which I like I think rather better than you do, although this may be because I’m a bit of a Maigret fanboy) and Panique. Of the various others that have come my way, I have a curious affection for Marie-Octobre, not because it’s any great shakes but simply because it appeals to that part of me that responds to low-budget, limited-setting talky offerings. In contrast, I adored L’Affaire Maurizius, despite its flaws, because of the complexity of its telling.
I’d agree with you that it’s about time Duvivier became better recognized. So much good stuff there.
Marie-Octobre is on my short list for Region B purchases. Overall Duvivier’s later work hasn’t really compared to his 30s output with some exceptions — Panique being the most notable. I hope I didn’t sound too down on Homme. I mostly gave it short shrift because Allan didn’t list it in his book, so I don’t think he was a fan. I adore Baur in the role of Maigret, and I think the character is exceptional although I’ll never read the series given the dozens of titles that Simenon wrote.
I’ve seen Pepe le Moko, but the others I guess I’ve missed. This is a major gap for me! Adding to my list to watch.
Aaron, a fine piece of writing and a wonderful tribute to our film festival honoree. Duvivier is a particular favorite of mine, and I have an interesting anecdote about La belle equipe. My cousin, who lives in Paris, went an outdoor screening of the film, which has two versions – one with the happy ending most of us know and one in which Gabin kills his rival, the preferred ending of the director. She saw the sad version, and lamented to me that she would have preferred the sunnier ending, but “the French prefer to feel depressed” or words to that effect. It has made me look at Duvivier’s catalog in a different way. I apparently have much more viewing to do, as I don’t think I’ve seen even one of the films in this collection. Thanks for the heads-up.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! I have seen both endings. In fact when I saw this streaming, they showed the happy ending first and the second, darker ending immediately afterward. The French Blu-Ray only has the unhappy ending, so I am guessing that was Duvivier’s preferred. It also makes more sense given the parallels between La Belle Equipe and the rise/fall of the Popular Front.
I agree with the consensus that it is an absolute masterpiece. There are so many magical scenes, such as the scene on the rooftops with the friends helping stop the roof from leaking.
I’m not at all familiar with Duvivier, having seen only three of his films, Pépé le Moko (1937), Lydia (1941), and Au bonheur des dames (1930). I’m particularly fond of Au bonheur des dames, one of the late silents, a visually striking work featuring a delightful Dita Parlo.
What a great contribution to this festival and a welcome reminder of a filmmaker that often gets overlooked. I really need to take the time and at least check out Allan’s favorites. Thanks.