Top 7 Movies Starring Jean Gabin

Marlene Dietrich called Jean Gabin “the true love of my life”. Here’s a look at the top films starring the great French actor, recently designated The World’s Coolest Movie Star in an award-winning book by Charles Zigman.

Gangster in Love

Pépé le Moko Julien Duvivier, 1937

With 23 films behind him, Gabin was no debutant when he starred in Pépé Le Moko. But Duvivier’s poetic-realist thriller made him a star. Pépé, an elegant Parisian gangster, is hiding from the French police in the Casbah of Algiers, where he has become an underworld king. But he falls in love with a beautiful French tourist and follows her back to Paris, knowing the risk he incurs.

Prisoner of War

La Grande Illusion (The Grand Illusion) Jean Renoir, 1937

Renoir’s masterpiece is probably Gabin’s best-known film in the United States. The story, based on the director’s war experience, follows a trio of French prisoners through several German POW camps, and it’s said that Gabin, playing a working-class lieutenant, wore Renoir’s actual uniform. One of the most powerful antiwar movies of all time, this tale of camaraderie among soldiers from different countries and social backgrounds stars a remarkable ensemble cast, including Pierre Fresnay, Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette and Erich von Stroheim.

Mysterious Deserter

Le Quai des Brumes (Port of Shadows) Marcel Carné, 1938

Written by poet Jacques Prévert, this is one of the darkest and most pessimistic films Gabin ever made, and the role consolidated his tragic romantic hero persona. Hoping to escape to South America, a military deserter arrives in the port of Le Havre, where he falls in love with a beautiful woman who causes his downfall. The woman is played by Michèle Morgan, with whom Gabin formed one of France’s legendary screen couples.

Gentleman Gangster

Touchez Pas au Grisbi (Hands off the Loot) Jacques Becker, 1954

Gabin returned from combat in World War II to find his career at a low point. He made a dozen movies before recovering his star status with this classic film noir, in which the charismatic Gabin plays Max, a tough but placid middle-aged Parisian gangster who has just pulled off a last, spectacular heist so he can retire comfortably. When his best friend’s girlfriend Josy (newcomer Jeanne Moreau) betrays them to the head of a younger gang (newcomer Lino Ventura), Max must choose between his friendship and his loot.

Hilarious Comic

La Traversée de Paris (Four Bags Full) Claude Autant-Lara, 1956

One of Gabin’s very few comedies, La Traversée de Paris shows an unexpected facet of his talent. In German-occupied Paris, two men must transport suitcases full of black market pork across town, but nothing goes accordingly to plan. Beloved actors Gabin and Bourvil make an outrageous comic duo, and the film, despite its cynical portrayal of the French during the war, was a big hit.

Stoic Lawyer

En Cas de Malheur (Love Is My Profession) Claude Autant-Lara, 1958

Yvette, a prostitute who has just robbed a store (newcomer Brigitte Bardot), wants to hire acclaimed lawyer Maître Gobillot (Gabin). Gobillot is not interested but changes his mind after being seduced by Yvette. It has been said that Gabin “can do more with one glance than most stars can with 10 pages of script,” and indeed, in the famous seduction scene where Bardot shows him her legs, his silent face says it all.

Family Patriarch

L’Affaire Dominici (The Dominici Affair) Claude Bernard-Aubert, 1973

In this movie based on a famous unsolved triple-murder case in the south of France in 1952, Gabin plays Gaston Dominici, the man condemned to death and then pardoned by President Charles de Gaulle. When the film was released, Gabin was already a legend in his own time, the godfather of French cinema, and it is fitting that his last great performance was as a patriarch.

Tied For Eighth

La Belle Equipe (They Were Five) Julien Duvivier, 1936. Drama.

La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast) Jean Renoir, 1938. Drama.

Le Jour Se Lève (Daybreak) Marcel Carné, 1939. Drama.

French Cancan (Only the French Can) Jean Renoir, 1954. Drama/romance.

Voici le Temps des Assassins (Deadlier Than the Male) Julien Duvivier, 1956. Crime/drama.

Mélodie en Sous-sol (Any Number Can Win) Henri Verneuil, 1963. Crime/drama.

Le Pacha (Pasha) Georges Lautner, 1968. Crime/drama.

Le Clan des Siciliens (The Sicilian Clan) Henri Verneuil, 1969. Crime/drama.

Le Chat (The Cat) Pierre Granier-Deferre 1971. Drama

Deux Hommes dans la Ville (Two Men in Town) José Giovanni, 1973. Crime/drama.

L’Année Sainte (Holy Year) Jean Girault, 1976. Comedy.

 

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Originally published in the December 2009 issue of France Today.