La rue sans joie

"Rue Sans Joie" is the talkie remake of Pabst's "Die Freundlose Gasse".The proper nouns were Frenchified ,the plot is vaguely similar.Of course it can't be compared to the silent movie.

Half of André Hugon's work is silent and even his talkies ,with a few exceptions ("Gaspard De Besse" ) are nowhere to be found or watched.

The French "Rue Sans Joie" is a clichéd melodrama ,partly saved by the cast.Dita Parlo is touching as the innocent victim,with a whole family in her care .Parlo was fluent in French but her slight German accent is sometimes embarrassing .Albert Préjean is the noble rescuer .But the two stand-outs are the villains:Marguerite Deval shines in her part of a madam,-a role not unlike the one she played in Gremillon's "Gueule D'Amour" - ;her servant,singer Frehel ,has a cynical song which goes on repeating " A man does not love a woman for herself but for himself";Préjean's final speech looks like an answer to her lament. And Pierre Alcover as the fat man who tries to rape the heroine is really scary with his brute strength.