''Gas-Oil'' is a 1955 French

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Gilles Grangier Gilles Grangier (5 May 1911 – 27 April 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 50 films and several TV series between 1943 and 1985. His film ''Archimède le clochard'' was entered into the 9th Berlin Inter ...

and starring

Jean Gabin Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé (born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé), known as 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 ...

Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau (; 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017) was a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director, and socialite. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. Mo ...

, Gaby Basset and

Ginette Leclerc Ginette Leclerc (born Geneviève Lucie Menut; February 9, 1912 – January 2, 1992) was a French film actress. She appeared in nearly 90 films between 1932 and 1978. Her last TV appearance was in 1981. She was born in Ile-de-France, France and ...

. It was shot at the

Epinay Studios The Epinay Studios are film production studios located in Epinay in northern Paris. It was a complex with two distinct and separate structures. The earliest was built in 1902 by Eclair Film. A second studio was controlled by the French subsidiar ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and on location at a variety of places. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Jacques Colombier. It was one of a number of films portraying tough

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

s made in the wake of the success of the 1953 film ''

The Wages of Fear ''The Wages of Fear'' () is a 1953 thriller film directed and co-written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, and starring Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck and Véra Clouzot. The film centres on a group of four down-on-their-luck European men w ...

''. It was the first of many films in which Gabin appeared in written by his fellow

ian Michel Audiard.Harriss p.174

Synopsis

While driving home one night after meeting his girlfriend, trucker Jean Chape encounters a dead body lying in the road. He reports it the police but they suspect that he is responsible.

Cast

as Jean Chape *

as Alice * Gaby Basset as Camille Serin *

as Mme Scoppo * Simone Berthier as Annie, une serveuse *

Charles Bouillaud Charles Bouillaud (11 May 1904 – 12 June 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-cen ...

as Le gendarme dactylographe * Marcel Bozzuffi as Pierrot Ragondin *

Robert Dalban Robert Dalban (born Gaston Barré; 19 July 1903 – 3 April 1987) was a French actor. His work included stage acting, roles in TV shows and dubbing American stars. Moreover, he was a fixture in French cinema for many decades. Selected filmogra ...

as Félix * Albert Dinan as Émile Serin * Gilbert Edard as Un commissaire * Camille Guérini as Lucien Ragondin * Guy Henry as Jojo, un routier *

Roger Hanin Roger Hanin (born Roger Levy, 20 October 1925 – 11 February 2015) was a French actor and film director, best known for playing the title role in the TV police drama, '' Navarro''. Career Roger Hanin was born in 1925 in Algiers, Algeria as Rog ...

as René Schwob * Bob Ingarao as Un gangster *

Jean Lefebvre Jean Marcel Lefebvre (3 October 1919Some sources indicate he was born in 1922. – 9 July 2004) was a French film actor. His erratic studies were interrupted by World War II. Taken prisoner and then requisitioned as a laborer, he escaped to joi ...

as Le chauffeur de car * Lisette Lebon as Mauricette, une serveuse *

Jacques Marin Jacques Marin (9 September 1919 – 10 January 2001) was a French actor on film and television. Marin's fluency in English and his instantly recognisable features made him a familiar face in some major American and British productions ('' Ch ...

as Un gendarme au commissariat * Germaine Michel as Maria Ragondin, la mère de Pierrot *

Albert Michel Albert Michel (1909–1981) was a French stage, film and television actor.Paietta p.40 Selected filmography * ''Je chante'' (1938) - Un laitier (uncredited) * ''Ne bougez plus'' (1941) - Clanpinet * ''Chèque au porteur'' (1941) * ''Fièvres' ...

as Le facteur *

Marcel Pérès Marcel Pérès (born 15 July 1956, Oran, Algeria) is a French musicologist, composer, choral director and singer, and the founder of the early music group Ensemble Organum. He is an authority on Gregorian and pre-Gregorian chant. Pérès was ...

as Le barbier * Jean-Marie Rivière as Un gangster *

Henri Crémieux Henri Crémieux (19 July 1896 – 10 May 1980) was a French actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1930 to 1980. Selected filmography External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cremieux, Henri 1896 births 1980 deaths Male actors from ...

as Le premier commissaire

References

Bibliography

* Frey, Hugo. ''Nationalism and the Cinema in France: Political Mythologies and Film Events, 1945-1995''. Berghahn Books, 2014. * Harriss, Joseph. ''Jean Gabin: The Actor Who Was France''. McFarland, 2018.

External links

* 1955 films French crime drama films 1950s French-language films 1955 crime drama films Films directed by Gilles Grangier Films shot at Epinay Studios Films based on French novels Films with screenplays by Michel Audiard French black-and-white films 1950s French films Films scored by Henri Crolla French-language crime drama films {{1950s-France-film-stub