Cashier Maurice Legrand is married to the wretched Adele. By chance, he meets Lucienne, 'Lulu', and makes her his mistress. He thinks he has finally found love, but Lulu is a streetwalker, still in love with her pimp.
Direction
Renoir's first sound film, already weaponizing silence.
Acting
Michel Simon's face: a tragedy in real time.
Director
Jean Renoir
Michel Simon
Maurice Legrand
Janie Marèse
Lucienne 'Lulu' Pelletier
Georges Flamant
Andre 'Dédé' Govain
Magdeleine Bérubet
Adèle Legrand
Roger Gaillard
Adjutant Alexis Godard
Jean Gehret
Monsieur Dugodet
Max Dalban
Bernard, the colleague
Jane Pierson
Philomène, concierge
Alexandre Rignault
Hector Langelard, art critic (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Janie Marèse and Georges Flamant were actually having an affair during filming; Renoir allegedly encouraged the tension. Marèse died in a car crash shortly after release, making her final scenes eerily prophetic.
The film was banned in several countries for 'immorality'—not the sex work, but the unflinching portrayal of a man's complete erasure of self. Pre-Code Hollywood couldn't touch this honesty.
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