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The History of French Cinema: 1936

24/1 -

Jean Renoir’s Le Crime de Monsieur Lange is released.   Filmed in just 25 days, it is adapted from a Jean Castanyer story by Jacques Prevert and stars Rene Lefevre and Florelle. [ADD]

17/2 -

The Pathe-Natan company is pronounced bankrupt, creating a major scandal.   Eventually, Charles Pathe and Bernard Natan will be imprisoned, and Natan will die in a German concentration camp after being deported by the Nazis. [ADD]

29/2 -

Anatole Litvak’s version of Mayerling, adapted by Joseph Kessel from the Claude Anet novel, is released.   The film stars Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux. [ADD]

31/3 -

Marcel Carne begins filming Francoise Rosay, Lisette Lanvin, Albert Prejean and Charles Vanel in Jenny, his first feature-length film.  [ADD]

15/5 -

The Mogador holds its first premiere screening – Sylvia Scarlett, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. [ADD]

Jun -

Major strikes are staged in protest at the closure of cinemas due to poor cinema attendance. [ADD]

6/6 -

Workmen on strike in Joinville stage free screenings at the studios to pass the time. [ADD]

20/7 -

Marlene Dietrich arrives in France en-route to England to film Knight Without Armour with Robert Donat. [ADD]

Jul -

The Prix Louis Delluc is inaugurated by a group of journalists in memory of the film critic. [ADD]

25/8 -

Jean Renoir completes the troubled shoot of Partie de Compagne.   However, the film isn’t edited or released until 1946. [ADD]

2/9 -

Henri Langlois founds the non-profit Cinematheque Francaise, with headquarters at Paul-Auguste Harle’s La Cinematographique Francaise, to preserve France’s silent films.   Harle is President, while Harle and co-Cercle du Cinema founder Georges Franju act as joint general secretaries. [ADD]

2/10 -

Sacha Guitry’s Le Roman d’un tricheur (The Story of a Cheat) is released.   He also stars in this adaptation of his own novel. [ADD]

Oct -

Pierre Colombier’s Le Roi (The King), starring Victor Francen, Gaby Morlan, Raimu and Elvira Popesco is released. [ADD]

7/12 -

Erich von Stroheim travels to France to appear in Raymond Bernard’s Marthe Richard with Edwige Feuillere. [ADD]

7/12 -

Abel Gance’s Un Grand amour de Beethoven (The Life and Loves of Beethoven)  receives a gala premiere in Paris.   The film, starring Harry Baur as the composer, receives a lukewarm reception. [ADD]

22/12 -

Jean Renoir’s Les Bas-fonds (The Lower Depths) wins the first Prix Louis Delluc, beating Marcel Carne’s Jenny by three votes.   The judges for this new prize created by the Young Independent Critics include Marcel Archard, Maurice Bessy, Claude Aveline, Pierre Bost, Henri Jeanson and Georges Altman. [ADD]

– Domestic films acquire a 50% share of home box office for the first time in eighteen years. [ADD]

– The Union des Directeurs de Théâtre Cinématographique (Union of Cinema Theatre Directors) is founded, uniting 300 owners of 400 screens. [ADD]

Other Key French Films of 1936

La Belle Equipe (Julien Duvivier) [ADD]

Cesar (Marcel Pagnol) [ADD]

Drôle de drame (Marcel Carné) [ADD]

Les Maisons de la misere (Henri Storck) [ADD]

La tender ennemie (Max Ophuls) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1936