''The Chain Breaker'' (French: ''Le briseur de chaînes'') is a 1941 French

comedy drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

directed by

Jacques Daniel-Norman Jacques Daniel-Norman (real name Joseph Jacques Compère 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 ...

, Marcelle Géniat, Blanchette Brunoy and Ginette Leclerc. https://www.unifrance.org/film/11376/le-briseur-de-chaines It was shot at the

Joinville Studios The Joinville Studios were a film studio in Paris which operated between 1910 and 1987. They were one of the leading French studios, with major companies such as Pathé and Gaumont Film Company, Gaumont making films there. A second studio was a ...

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

Lucien Aguettand Lucien Aguettand (19 January 1901 – 14 December 1989) was a French art directorHayward p.205 who designed the sets for over eighty films during his career. Selected filmography * '' Little Devil May Care'' (1928) * ''Checkmate'' (1931) * ...

Cast

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 ...

as Marcus * Marcelle Géniat as Mamouret * Blanchette Brunoy as Marie-Jo * Ginette Leclerc as Graziella * André Brunot as Antoine Mouret * Raoul Marco as Alphonse *

Alfred Adam Alfred Roger Adam (4 April 1908 – 7 May 1982) was a French stage and film character actor, who usually played weak or villainous roles. Selected filmography *''Speedway'' (1929) - Doctor (uncredited) *'' La Kermesse Héroïque'' (1935) - Jos ...

as Guillaume * Gilberte Géniat as Estelle * Ginette Baudin as Gisèle *

Marthe Mellot Marthe Mellot (16 February 1870 – 13 August 1947) was a French film actress. Marthe Mellot was born in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, Nièvre, France, and died in Paris. Selected filmography * '' Feu Mathias Pascal'' (1925) * ''That Scoundrel Morin ...

as Héloïse * René Blancard as Ferdinand * Jeanne Véniat as Armandine * Jean-Henri Chambois as Léonard * Paul Delauzac as Monseigneur Mouret - l'évêque * René Forval as Le curé * Julien Maffre as Titin * Louis Seigner as Le ministre *

Charles Dullin Charles Dullin (; 8 May 1885 – 11 December 1949) was a French actor, theater manager and director. Career Dullin began his career as an actor in melodrama:185 In 1908, he started his first troupe with Saturnin Fabre, the ''Théâtre de Foire, ...

as Esprit Mouret * Georges Rollin as Laurent * Ellen Briand as Victorine * Colette Régis as Madame Ferdinand * Paula Valmond as Madame Alphonse * Andrée Sylvane as Madame Jules * Suzy Yorelle as La cliente * Georges Vandéric as Le préfet * Jacques Derives as Le docteur * Marcel d'Orval as Jules * Maurice Salabert as Edouard * Lucien Dorval as Girard *

Raymond Bussières Raymond Bussières (3 November 1907 – 29 April 1982) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 160 films from 1933 to 1982. He was born in Ivry-la-Bataille and died in Paris. He is buried in Marchenoir. He was married to the actre ...

as Le camelot *

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 Billembois *

Paul Courant Paul N. Courant (born January 5, 1948) is an American economist who is an expert in public goods. His recent research focuses on the economics of universities, the economics of libraries and archives, and the impact of new information technologie ...

as Sonnailles

References

Bibliography

* Rège, Philippe. ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1''. Scarecrow Press, 2009. * Siclier, Jacques. ''La France de Pétain et son cinéma''. H. Veyrier, 1981.

External links

* 1941 films French comedy films 1941 comedy films 1940s French-language films Films directed by Jacques Daniel-Norman French black-and-white films 1940s French films Pathé films Films shot at Joinville Studios French-language comedy films {{1940s-France-film-stub