Starring Jean Gabin

Starring Jean Gabin

9 Episodes

Exuding a gruff, jaded cynicism, Jean Gabin became the defining face of pre–New Wave French cinema, embodying its downtrodden, working-class heroes with a mix of smoldering charisma and sardonic ennui. His renowned collaborations with leading directors like Jean Renoir (GRAND ILLUSION, LA BÊTE HUMAINE) and Julien Duvivier (PÉPÉ LE MOKO) placed him at the center of the burgeoning poetic-realist movement and, inevitably, attracted the attention of Hollywood—which sought to sell his Gallic earthiness to American audiences in the fascinating, if ill-fated, noir MOONTIDE. Returning to France, Gabin took his rightful place as a living, almost mythic symbol of his country’s national cinema, reuniting with Renoir for the spectacular period musical FRENCH CANCAN and teaming up with his next-generation successor, Jean-Paul Belmondo, in the alcohol-soaked seriocomedy A MONKEY IN WINTER.

Subscribe Share
Starring Jean Gabin

9 Episodes

  • Starring Jean Gabin Teaser
    01:11
    Starring Jean Gabin Teaser
    Episode 1

    Starring Jean Gabin Teaser

    Episode 1

  • The Lower Depths
    1:32:51
    The Lower Depths
    Episode 2

    The Lower Depths

    Episode 2

    Directed by Jean Renoir • 1936 • France
    Starring Jean Gabin, Louis Jouvet, Suzy Prim

    Jean Renoir’s fascinating adaptation of Maxim Gorky’s classic proletariat play softens the bleak social realism of the source material thanks to the director’s gently humanist, distinctly Gallic touch. Comedy an...

  • Pépé le moko
    1:35:40
    Pépé le moko
    Episode 3

    Pépé le moko

    Episode 3

    Directed by Julien Duvivier • 1937 • United States
    Starring Jean Gabin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre

    The notorious Pépé le moko (Jean Gabin, in a truly iconic performance) is a wanted man: women long for him, rivals hope to destroy him, and the law is breathing down his neck at every turn. On ...

  • La bête humaine
    1:41:25
    La bête humaine
    Episode 4

    La bête humaine

    Episode 4

    Directed by Jean Renoir • 1938 • France
    Starring Jean Gabin, Simone Simon, Julien Carette

    Based on the classic Emile Zola novel, Jean Renoir’s LA BÊTE HUMAINE was one of the legendary director’s greatest popular successes, and earned star Jean Gabin a permanent place in the hearts of his country...

  • Remorques
    1:24:38
    Remorques
    Episode 5

    Remorques

    Episode 5

    Directed by Jean Grémillon • 1941 • France
    Starring Jean Gabin, Madeleine Renaud, Michèle Morgan

    Poet Jacques Prévert cowrote this atmospheric tale of the romantic trials of a tugboat captain, played by the iconic French star Jean Gabin. For André (Gabin) and the other members of the Cyclone’s c...

  • Le plaisir
    1:38:02
    Le plaisir
    Episode 6

    Le plaisir

    Episode 6

    Directed by Max Ophuls • 1952 • France
    Starring Danielle Darrieux, Jean Gabin, Simone Simon

    Roving with his dazzlingly mobile camera around the decadent ballrooms, bucolic countryside retreats, urban bordellos, and painter's studios of late nineteenth-century French life, Max Ophuls brings his a...

  • French Cancan
    1:43:58
    French Cancan
    Episode 7

    French Cancan

    Episode 7

    Directed by Jean Renoir • 1955 • France, Italy
    Starring Jean Gabin, Françoise Arnoul, María Félix

    Nineteenth-century Paris comes vibrantly alive in Jean Renoir’s exhilarating tale of the opening of the world-renowned Moulin Rouge. Jean Gabin plays the wily impresario Danglard, who makes the canc...

  • A Monkey in Winter
    1:44:13
    A Monkey in Winter
    Episode 8

    A Monkey in Winter

    Episode 8

    Directed by Henri Verneuil • 1962 • France
    Starring Jean Gabin, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Suzanne Flon

    French screen icons Jean Gabin and Jean-Paul Belmondo star opposite each other in this captivating, booze-soaked comedy based on a novel by Antoine Blondin. Years earlier, inn owner Albert (Gabin) ma...

  • Any Number Can Win
    2:01:41
    Any Number Can Win
    Episode 9

    Any Number Can Win

    Episode 9

    Directed by Henri Verneuil • 1963 • France, Italy
    Starring Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Viviane Romance

    This ice-cool crime caper bridges two generations of French cinema by bringing together longtime national screen icon Jean Gabin with hotshot rising star Alain Delon. Gabin is the career ex-con de...

×