''God Needs Men'' (French: ''Dieu a besoin des hommes'') is a 1950 French historical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Jean Delannoy and starring

Pierre Fresnay Pierre Fresnay (4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor. Biography Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. He joined the company a ...

Madeleine Robinson Madeleine Robinson (born Madeleine Svoboda; 5 November 1917 – 1 August 2004) was a French actress. She was born to a French mother and Czech father near Paris. She was orphaned at the age of 14, and worked to support herself and her two younge ...

and

Daniel Gélin Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin (19 May 1921 – 29 November 2002) was a French film and television actor. Early life Gélin was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, the son of Yvonne (née Le Méner) and Alfred Ernest Joseph Gélin. When he was ten, ...

. The film is based on a 1944 novel ''Un recteur de l'Île de Sein'' by Henri Queffelec. It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...

took place on the

Île de Sein The Île de Sein is a Breton island in the Atlantic Ocean, off Finistère, eight kilometres from the Pointe du Raz (''raz'' meaning "water current"), from which it is separated by the Raz de Sein. Its Breton name is ''Enez-Sun''. The island, ...

off

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

René Renoux René Renoux (1904–2000) was a French art director.Buache p.162 Selected filmography * ''The Pure Truth'' (1931) * '' Topaze'' (1933) * '' Prince Jean'' (1934) * '' Speak to Me of Love'' (1935) * '' You Can't Fool Antoinette'' (1936) * '' The ...

. It was originally due to be the French entry at the 1950 Venice Film Festival but it was withdrawn due to fears that its subject might offend the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. However, due to its popularity, including amongst Catholics, it was accepted for screening at the Festival anyway.Johnson p.295 At the 1951 Berlin Film Festival it won the Special Prize for an Excellent Film Achievement.

Plot

On a rugged, poverty stricken island off the coast of

many of the inhabitants spend their time as wreckers preying on shipwrecks. Their wildness forces the

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

to take refuge on the mainland. A

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or rec ...

steps forwards to take his place and tries to uphold religion on the island.

Cast

as Thomas Gourvennec *

as Jeanne Gourvennec *

as Joseph le Berre * Antoine Balpêtré as Le père Gourvennec, un pêcheur *

Germaine Kerjean Germaine Kerjean (1893–1975) was a French stage and film actress.Crisp p.306 She spent a decade with the Comédie-Française. In films she frequently played character role A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesti ...

as Mme Kerneis * Sylvie as Coise Karbacen * Jean d'Yd as Corentin Gourvennec *

Daniel Ivernel Daniel Ivernel (3 June 1920 – 11 November 1999) was a French film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1947 and 1981. Filmography References External links * 1920 births 1999 deaths French male film actors People from Versai ...

as François Guillen *

Raphaël Patorni Raphaël Patorni (1911–1986) was a French film actor.Hayward p.439 Selected filmography * '' The Mysteries of Paris'' (1943) * ''The Island of Love'' (1944) * '' Jericho'' (1946) * '' Barry'' (1949) * '' Doctor Laennec'' (1949) * '' The Martyr ...

as Jules *

Lucienne Bogaert Lucienne Bogaert (born Lucienne Jeanne Gabrielle Lefebvre; 6 January 1892 in Caudry, Nord – 4 February 1983 in Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine) was a French actress. She started her career in theatre, but later also worked in film. After she divo ...

as Anaïs Le Berre *

Marcel Delaître Marcel Delaître (1888–1963) was a French film and stage actor.Crisp p.94 Selected filmography * '' Happy Hearts'' (1932) * '' Poliche'' (1934) * ''Street Without a Name'' (1934) * ''Crime and Punishment'' (1935) * '' Girls of Paris'' (1936) ...

as M. Kerneis * Fernand René as Yves Lannuzel *

Charles Bouillaud Charles Bouillaud (1904–1965) was a French actor. Selected filmography {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouillaud, Charles 1904 births 1965 deaths French male stage actors French male film actors French male television actors 20th-century French male ...

as Le gendarme *

René Génin René Génin (25 January 1890 – 24 October 1967) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1931 and 1965. Selected filmography * ''The Brighton Twins'' (1936) * ''27 Rue de la Paix'' (1936) * '' Nights ...

as Le père d'Yvon *

Jean Brochard Jean Brochard (12 March 1893 – 17 June 1972) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1933 and 1966. Selected filmography * '' A Man's Neck'' (1933) - Petit rôle (uncredited) * ''Boubouroche'' (1933) * ''La ...

as L'abbé Kerhervé, le recteur de Lescoff *

Jean Carmet Jean Carmet (25 April 1920 – 20 April 1994) was a French actor. Life and career Jean Carmet began working on stage and then in film in the early 1940s becoming a very popular comedic actor in his native country. He is best known internatio ...

as Yvon * Andrée Clément as Scholastique Kerneis *

Marcelle Géniat Marcelle Géniat (1881-1959) was a French film actress.Goble p. 121 She was born Eugénie Pauline Martin in St. Petersburg, Russia, to French parents. Partial filmography * ''Le retour du passé'' (1916) * ''L'imprévu'' (1917) - Hélène Rav ...

as La mère Gourvennec * Jérôme Goulven as Le brigadier * Cécyl Marcyl as La vieille * Albert Michel as Le Bail *

Jean-Pierre Mocky Jean-Pierre Mocky (6 July 1929 – 8 August 2019), pseudonym of Jean-Paul Adam Mokiejewski, was a French film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. Life and career Mocky was born in Nice, France to Polish immigrant parents, Jeanne Zylinska ...

as Pierre * Pierre Moncorbier as Un pêcheur

References

Bibliography

*Johnson, William Bruce. ''Miracles & Sacrilege: Roberto Rossellini, the Church and Film Censorship in Hollywood''. University of Toronto Press, 2008.

External links

* 1950 films 1950s historical drama films French historical drama films 1950s French-language films Films directed by Jean Delannoy French black-and-white films Films with screenplays by Jean Aurenche Films with screenplays by Pierre Bost Films shot at Billancourt Studios Films set in Brittany Films set in the 1850s 1950s French films {{1950s-France-film-stub