À nous la liberté

When Charles Chaplin's Tiempos modernos (1936) premiered, the original distribution company of À nous la liberté, Tobis, wanted to sue. Director René Clair refused to join such a suit, saying that he considered it a compliment if Charles Chaplin based his film on René Clair's, but the suit went ahead nevertheless. Tobis, sued United Artists and Charles Chaplin for plagiarism. The suit, with separate segments in France and in the US, went on for more than a decade, right through WWII. Charles Chaplin, at the request of his lawyers, finally settled, but never admitted to the charge. René Clair stayed aloof from the affair, and he and Charles Chaplin, whom he greatly admired, remained friends.

In 1950 director Rene Clair re-edited and shortened the film based on existing prints (the Nazis had destroyed the negative). Some excisions include the singing flowers and the scene at the Luna Park, the sequence depicting Émile's date with Jeanne.

Featured in Fejezetek a film történetéböl: A francia lírai realizmus (1989)