La Bete Humaine

Paris: Paris Film, 1938. Vintage oversize black-and-white double weight still photograph from the 1938 film, a strong image of Jean Gabin in full train engineer regalia. Shot by acclaimed portrait photographer Sam Levin, who worked with Renoir on several other productions, including "La Grande Illusion" (1937) and "The Rules of the Game" (1939), and whose early photographs of Brigitte Bardot helped create her image as a "sex kitten."

Based on Zola's social realist novel, Renoir's film remains true to the proletarian source material, while grafting on elements of film noir and his own humanist philosophy. One of the director's biggest commercial successes, with a powerful lead performance by Jean Gabin. Remade in the US by Fritz Lang in 1954 as "Human Desire."

11.5 x 12 inches. Near Fine.

Criterion Collection 324.

[Book #131891]