Heartbeat (1938 film)

Heartbeat
Heartbeat
Directed by	Marcel Pagnol
Written by	Marcel Pagnol
Produced by	Marcel Pagnol
Starring	Fernandel ; Orane Demazis ; Fernand Charpin
Cinematography	Willy Faktorovitch
Edited by	; Suzanne de Troeye
Music by	Casimir Oberfeld
Production; company	Les Films Marcel Pagnol
Release date	15 April 1938
Running time	160 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

Heartbeat (French: Le schpountz) is a 1938 French comedy film directed by Marcel Pagnol and starring Fernandel, Orane Demazis and Fernand Charpin.^[1] It was remade in 1999 as Le schpountz, directed by Gérard Oury.

It tells the story of an unhappy young grocer's assistant who dreams of becoming a grand dramatic actor, but when he gatecrashes a film studio they realise he is a natural comic.

Plot[]

Irénée lives and works in the little grocery shop of his childless uncle, who brought him up, and dreams of becoming a famous and rich film actor with an exotic car. One day a film crew stops in the village and he attempts to interest them in his undiscovered talents. They play along with his obsession, calling him the village idiot or schpountz, and even give him a fake contract. His uncle ridicules his naïvety and the sympathetic Françoise, a member of the team, warns him not to take it seriously. But Irénée withdraws his savings and, taking a train to Paris, arrives at the studio, from which he is repeatedly thrown out. Taking pity on him, Françoise gets him a job as a props assistant.

However the jokers who first ensnared him then use him in another trick to ruin the take of a pompous actor, Galubert, under an even more pompous director. Sending him on to the set results in chaos, but some realise that he is actually funny rather than pitiable and he is given a part. The film is a success, with the public preferring the comedy of Irénée to the grandeur of Galubert. The head of the studio gives him a real contract, which he will not sign until he also gets a Peugeot 601 Éclipse convertible, and on the strength of this he proposes to Françoise. Once married, the two drive down to his uncle's village, where he enters the shop alone in the clothes in which he left, telling his uncle that his dream of fame has proved false and asking to come home again. The uncle is delighted to be proved right, and Irénée then brings in his wife. The uncle is delighted to have someone else to work in the shop, until Irénée tells him to look at the car outside and so reveals the truth.

Cast[]

Fernandel as Irénée Fabre, 'le Schpountz'
Orane Demazis as Françoise
Fernand Charpin as L'oncle Baptiste Fabre (as Charpin)
Léon Belières as Meyerboom
Enrico Glori as Bodigar Glazunoff
Robert Vattier as Astruc
Marcel Maupi as Le barman
as Charlet
Henri Poupon as Galubert
as Dromart
Charles Blavette as Martelette
as Casimir Fabre
as L'avoué
as Adolphe, le portier du studio
as Le pape
Jacques B. Brunius as L'accessoiriste
as Nick
as Lucien
Beretta as Le chef de plateau
Jean Weber as Le cantinier
Alida Rouffe as Grocery Customer
as Rita Camelia
as La tante Clarisse Fabre
Pierre Brasseur as Cousine
Robert Darène as Un aide
Louis Ducreux
as Cousine II
André Roussin as Roussin

References[]

^ Lanzoni p.8

Bibliography[]

Rémi Fournier Lanzoni. French Comedy on Screen: A Cinematic History. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

External links[]

Heartbeat at IMDb

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[1] Lanzoni p.8

[1]

v t Marcel Pagnol
Literature	Topaze Marius Fanny Souvenirs d'enfance My Father's Glory My Mother's Castle Le Secret du Masque de fer The Water of the Hills
Films directed	Jofroi (1935) Angèle (1934) Merlusse (1935) César (1936) Topaze (1936) Harvest (1937) The Baker's Wife (1938) Heartbeat (1938) The Well-Digger's Daughter (1940) The Pretty Miller Girl (1949) Topaze (1951) Letters from My Windmill (1954)