- Country: France
- Genres: Drama
- Release:
- Director: Jean de Marguenat
- Writers: Roger Ferdinand , André Legrand , Georges Ohnet , Jean de Marguenat
- Language: French
- Stars: Fernand Ledoux , Jean Chevrier , Ginette Leclerc , Micheline Francey , Pierre Larquey , Raymond Cordy , Henri Nassiet , Pierre Magnier , Hubert de Malet , Albert Duvaleix
- Runtime: 92 min
- Awards: N/A
- AKA: Foresta tragica (Italy) , La grande marnière (Belgium) , La grande marnière , La grande marnière (France, French Republic)
- Plot: A very interesting melodrama ,reflecting the ideology of the dark hours of the government of Vichy.A remake of silent movie (1912)based on a forgotten writer ,Georges Ohnet (1885) , whose contemporary colleagues do not speak highly of; Jules Lemaitre , notably,gave a perfect depiction of the writer's young hero: a brilliant commoner with a string of academic titles.That's exactly what Pascal is : a lawyer who, in the trial scenes , is larger than the courthouse ;generally , in the occupation years ,it's the story of the bad boy (or the bad gal) ;here, and it gets off the beaten track : father and son reverse the roles ; the papa (Fernand Ledoux , true to form) is a nouveau riche ,hard on his fellow men ,who bears the chatelaine a grudge ,and whose greatest desire is to do away this noble family he despises from their valuable property "la grande Marnière "; this marquis is also a scientist and should be Pascal 's father.A double romance : Pascal falls in love with the noble daughter (Micheline Francey)whereas her brother Robert has a crush on a poacher's daughter (Ginette Leclerc,par excellence the bad gal of the French cinema at the time,here cast against type as a sexy but wise peasant girl). When she's strangled , Robert is arrested on a charge of murder ;so for Pascal ,the fresh daring chivalrous lawyer,opportunity knocks ,and it pits him against his father-usurer ; the boy will teach a lesson or two in morality to his wicked papa and show him the significance of the family. The first part of the trial ,almost treated as a comedy , is very pleasant to watch :the witnesses (in the pay of the nouveau riche) are so dumb and so ludicrous ,that it looks like a travesty of trial ,which it is, anyway. The old (noble) auntie steals the show during her intervention.Besides the rebuilding of a family ,and the union with another one, the film praises the virtues of the field labor (it's almost a mini-doc inside the action) which is followed by the harvest fete ,with the crowning of Queen Harvest.Like "le val d'enfer' or "le voile bleu" ,it's dated ,but dated works are sometimes enticing.
- IMDB:tt0199571
La grande marnière Cast · · · ALL
Jean de Marguenat
Director
Fernand Ledoux
Carvajan
Jean Chevrier
Pascal Carvajan
Ginette Leclerc
Rose
Micheline Francey
Antoinette de Clairefont
Robert Le Vigan
Fleury
Marguerite Deval
Mademoiselle de Saint-Maurice
Pierre Larquey
Malaizot
Pierre Magnier
Monsieur de Clairefont
Raymond Cordy
Courtois
Henri Nassiet
Le président du tribunal
Sinoël
Chassevent
Camille Bert
Le juge d'instruction
Marthe Mellot
Sophie
Albert Duvaleix
Tendeur
Philippe Richard
L'avocat général
Solange Varenne
Madeleine
Martine de Breteuil
La paysanne
Léon Larive
Le greffier (uncredited)
Marcel Loche
Le paysan (uncredited)
Yette Lucas
La mère de la paysanne (uncredited)
Madeleine Rousset
(uncredited)
André Roussin
(uncredited)