L'etrange Monsieur Victor
(Strange Mr. Victor)
Directed by Jean Grémillon.
With Raimu, Pierre Blanchar, Madeleine Renaud.
France, 1938, 35mm, black & white, 103 min.
French with English subtitles.
With Raimu, Pierre Blanchar, Madeleine Renaud.
France, 1938, 35mm, black & white, 103 min.
French with English subtitles.
Like Gueule d’amour, this intriguing drama about the double life of a shopkeeper was made for the Ufa studios in Berlin. Victor (Raimu) is an upright and admired man by day but a gangland leader by night. His neighbor Bastien (Blanchar) has been wrongly imprisoned for a murder committed by Victor himself, but his escape unleashes the truth. The most notable product of Grémillon’s Ufa years, L’étrange Monsieur Victor is anchored by the director’s masterful sculpting of the performance by Raimu, one of France’s monstres sacrés.