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La Fin du jour
1939 Drama
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Credits
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Director: Julien Duvivier
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Script: Julien Duvivier, Charles Spaak
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Photo: Alex Joffre, Christian Matras, Armand Thirard
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Music: Maurice Jaubert
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Cast: Victor Francen (Marny),
Michel Simon (Cabrissade),
Louis Jouvet (Raphaël Saint Clair),
Madeleine Ozeray (Jeannette),
Alexandre Arquillière (Monsieur Lucien),
Arthur Devère (Le régisseur),
Sylvie (Madame Tusini),
Joffre (Philémon),
Charles Granval (Deaubonne),
Pierre Magnier (Laroche),
Mme Lherbay (Madame Philémon),
Jean Coquelin (Delormel),
Auguste Bovério (Le curé),
Jean Aymé (Victor),
Tony Jacquot (Pierrot),
Gaby André (Danielle),
Gaston Jacquet (Lacour),
Gaston Secrétan (Montfaucon),
Maurice Schutz (Verneuil),
Camille Beuve (Berthelin),
Fernand Liesse (Marcel),
Gabrielle Fontan (Madame Jambage),
Marthe Marty (Madame Chavanot),
Emilie Lindey (Madame Varenne),
Louise Marquet (Madame Marcellin),
Henriette Morey (Madame Verdun),
Zélie Yzelle (Madame Berger),
Blanche Denège (Madame Laroche),
François Périer (Le journaliste),
Martial Rèbe (Fernand),
Gabrielle Dorziat (Madame Chabert)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 108 min; B&W
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Aka: The End of a Day; The End of the Day
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Summary
A one-time popular actor Raphael Saint-Clair takes up residence in a home for retired
actors, where he meets up with a former rival, Marny. The inmates revive past glories
and failures, even old jealousies. Another resident, the has-been Cabrissade, demands
rights for his fellow inmates, but is humiliated when the director informs him that the
owners of the home have run out of money. It looks as if Cabrissade and his fellow
suffers will be dispersed into state-run asylums...
Review
This is a very sombre film which offers an uncompromising depiction of the humiliation
and bitterness that accompanies the end of an actor’s life. Even the great actor
Raphael Saint-Clair has to share the same fate as the failed non-entity, Cabrissade (played
superbly by Michel Simon). All perish in the end, the great, the good and the mediocre.
It is difficult not to be moved by the fate of the collection of old people that populates
Duvivier’s film, knowing that in their youth they each enjoyed some fame and success as
actors and actresses. Some seek solace in their memories, playing tunes on the piano,
singing long-forgotten ballads, or laughing about old times. It is a sad reminder
of our own mortality and the cruel injustice of ageing. For an actor, the brutality
of this outcome is all the more acute - for he has tasted glory, but in the end it earns
him nothing.>
A sad film whose impact is heightened by Duvivier’s sober direction and Maurice Jaubert’s
melancholic musical score. Also, seeing Jouvet and Simon (both actors at the height
of their popularity) playing characters who were much older than themselves adds a certain
tragic poignancy.
© James Travers 2000
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