''The Tunnel'' (french: Le Tunnel) is a 1933 French-German

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstel ...

directed by

Curtis Bernhardt Curtis Bernhardt (15 April 1899 – 22 February 1981) was a Jewish film director born in Worms, Germany, under the name Kurt Bernhardt. He trained as an actor in Germany, and performed on the stage, before starting as a film director in 1924, wi ...

and starring

Jean Gabin Jean Gabin (; 17 May 190415 November 1976) was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films including ''Pépé le Moko'' (1937), '' La grande illusion'' (1937), ''Le Quai des brumes'' ...

Madeleine Renaud Lucie Madeleine Renaud (; 21 February 1900 – 23 September 1994) was a French actress best remembered for her work in the theatre. She did though appear in several films directed by Jean Grémillon including '' Remorques'' (''Stormy Waters' ...

and

Robert Le Vigan Robert Le Vigan (born Robert Coquillaud, January 7, 1900 – October 12, 1972), was a French actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1931 and 1943 almost exclusively in small or supporting roles. He was, according to film academic ...

. It was the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...

version of the German film '' The Tunnel'', with a different cast and some changes to the plot. Both were followed in 1935 by an English version. Such

Multiple-language version A multiple-language version film, often abbreviated to MLV, is a film, especially from the early talkie era, produced in several different languages for international markets. To offset the marketing restrictions of making sound films in only one ...

s were common in the years immediately following the introduction of

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...

, before the practice of dubbing had come to dominate international releases. Germany and France made a significant number of films together at this time. The film is an adaptation of

Bernhard Kellermann Bernhard Kellermann (4 March 1879, Fürth, Kingdom of Bavaria – 17 October 1951) was a German author and poet. Life Bernhard Kellermann enrolled in 1899 at Technical University Munich initially in general studies, but later focused on Ge ...

's 1913 novel '' Der Tunnel'' about the construction of a vast

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

under the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

connecting Europe and America. The film's

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

director Bernhardt had fled Germany following the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

takeover, but returned briefly to shoot exterior scenes after being granted special permission by the German government.Phillips p.51

Cast

as Allan Mac Allan *

as Mary Mac Allan *

as Brooce, un ouvrier félon *

Edmond Van Daële Edmond Van Daële (11 August 1884, in Paris – 11 March 1960, in Grez-Neuville, Maine-et-Loire, France) was a Dutch- French film actor. Born as Edmond Jean Adolphe Minckwitz, he appeared in the 1923 silent film '' Coeur fidèle'', directed by ...

as Le contremaître *

André Nox André Nox (1869–1946) was a French film actor.Goble p.28 Selected filmography * '' The Jackals'' (1917) * ''Vertigo'' (1917) * ''Sharks'' (1917) * '' The Fugitive'' (1920) *'' After Love'' (1924) * ''Count Kostia'' (1925) * '' The Nude Woman'' ...

as Lloyd *

Pierre Nay Pierre Nay (1898–1978) was a French film actor who appeared in 42 French films between 1928 and 1940.Jung & Schatzberg p.223 Selected filmography * '' Le Roi des resquilleurs'' (1930) * ''Venetian Nights'' (1931) * '' 77 Rue Chalgrin '' (1931) * ...

as Hobby * Gustaf Gründgens as Woolf *

André Bertic André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...

as Gordon * Philippe Richard as Harryman *

Raymonde Allain Raymonde Allain (22 June 1912 – 27 July 2008) was a French model and actress. She was Miss France in 1928. Her participation in the Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States ...

as Ethel Lloyd *

Victor Vina Victor Vina (1885–1961) was a French film actor.Goble p.331 He was born Victor Emanuel Jules Vinatieri in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France and died in Paris. Selected filmography * '' The Portrait'' (1923) * '' Faces of Children'' (1925) * '' C ...

as L'orateur *

Henri Valbel Henri Valbel (1885–1956) was a French film actor.Goble p.121 Selected filmography * '' Simone'' (1918) * '' Madonna of the Sleeping Cars'' (1928) * '' The Divine Voyage'' (1929) * '' The Tunnel'' (1933) * ''Forces occultes'' (1943) * ''Girl with ...

as Un ouvrier *

Alexandre Arnoux Alexandre Arnoux (27 February 1884, Digne-les-Bains - 4 January 1973, Boulogne-Billancourt) was a French screenwriter and novelist.Powrie & Rebillard p.135 Selected filmography * '' Tillers of the Soil'' (1923) * '' Misdeal'' (1928) * ''The Fa ...

* William Burke *

Henry Trévoux Henry Trévoux or Henri Trévoux, real name Henri Maurice Séraphin Mathieu, (31 march 1880, Grenoble – 16 July 1943, Paris) was a French stage and film actor. Filmography * 1929: ''C'est par amour pour vous Madame'' by Henry Lepage (short fi ...

References

Bibliography

* Phillips, Alastair. ''City of Darkness, City of Light: Émigré Filmmakers in Paris, 1929-1939''. Amsterdam University Press, 2004.

External links

* 1933 films Films of the Weimar Republic French science fiction films German science fiction films French black-and-white films 1930s science fiction films 1930s French-language films Films directed by Curtis Bernhardt Films based on German novels Films based on works by Bernhard Kellermann French multilingual films German black-and-white films 1933 multilingual films 1930s French films 1930s German films {{1930s-France-film-stub

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links