Children of Paradise

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Marcel Carné directs. Roger Hubert behind the camera. Maurice Thiriet scores. Madeleine Bonin cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1At 190 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
• 281 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Marcel Carné, shot by Roger Hubert. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Maurice Thiriet. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Madeleine Bonin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Arletty and Jean-Louis Barrault and Pierre Brasseur carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "AT LAST! The Celebrated French Film.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0037674 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 10 themes, including "pantomime", "anarchist", "count", "love".
• 10Released under 37 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Roger Hubert

Original score

Maurice Thiriet

Editing

Madeleine Bonin

Production design

Alexandre Trauner

Costume design

Mayo

Sound

Jacques Carrère

Runtime

190 min · 3h 10m

Status

Released

Box office

$1,457

Original language

FR

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Children of Paradise (1945) ↗

Also by

Marcel Carné

• 
  Daybreak

  1939 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Port of Shadows

  1938 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Hôtel du Nord

  1938 · ★ 7.1
• 
  Gates of the Night

  1946 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Bizarre, Bizarre

  1937 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Juliette, or Key of Dreams

  1951 · ★ 7.0

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Michael Peyser on CHILDREN OF PARADISE

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  Three Reasons: Children of Paradise

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Children of Paradise - U.S. Re-Release Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2024-05-16
  ★ 7/10

  Told in two acts with a curtain rising on both sections, this is quite a stylish, lavish even, and entertaining tale of a lady of the streets. "Garance" (Arletty) who sometimes uses her real name of "Claire Reine" is actually quite a decent woman who is wrongfully accused of pickpocketing in a busy market. Fortunately, the mime artist "Baptiste" comes to her rescue and quickly falls hook, line and sinker for the beautiful and charismatic woman. His problem is that she has no lack of suitors, and over the next three hours or so we are introduced to the lively and foppish "Lemaître" (Pierre Brasseur); the even more flamboyant but roguish "Lacenaire" (Marcel Herrand) and the aloof and sterile, but very wealthy "Comte de Montray" (Louis Salou). The plot itself isn't especially remarkable. A woman in the flushes of youth and attractiveness being sought after by a diverse collection of men. What makes this stand out is the marvellously applied mixture of heavily scored theatrical and cinematic styles. It's a love story and an adventure. How might things pan out for her as she ages, though? As her outward beauty begins to fade? Will any of them (or anyone else) still want her? Will she want them? The characters are quite roundly developed as director Marcel Carné takes his time to illustrate not just the persona of the heroine, but also those of her suitors whilst offering us a critique of a society in general that in early 19th century France mixed opulence with poverty, violence with tenderness. By using the different genres of theatre performances, Carné creatively provides us with a more subtle conduit between her series of trials and tribulations that allows us to tap into themes of culture and religion as well as human nature in many of it's guises. Arletty is on great form, as is Brasseur and given it was made just as the Nazi occupation was coming to it's own denouement, is quite an astonishingly artistic achievement that shows a nation with a healthy and defiant confidence in it's own identity and credentials.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• SO

  Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma

  FR

Key crew

• EditorMadeleine Bonin
• EditorHenri Rust
• ProducerRaymond Borderie
• ProducerFred Orain
• Costume DesignMayo
• SoundJean Monchablon
• Sound Re-Recording MixerJacques Carrère
• Production ManagerFred Orain
• Production DesignAlexandre Trauner
• Assistant DirectorPierre Blondy
• Sound EngineerRobert Teisseire
• Production DesignRaymond Gabutti
• Production DesignLéon Barsacq
• Additional MusicJoseph Kosma
• Assistant DirectorBruno Tireux
• Art DirectionRaymond Gabutti
• Camera OperatorMarc Fossard
• Art DirectionLéon Barsacq
• Still PhotographerRoger Forster

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• pantomime
• anarchist
• count
• love
• thief
• murder
• mime
• black and white
• false accusations
• hoodlum

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1946-11-15NR

Also known as

International titles

• Los niños del paraísoES
• Amanti perdutiIT
• De kinderen van het paradijsBE
• Paradisets børnDK
• Paratiisin lapsetFI
• Ta paidia tou ParadeisouGR
• Szerelmek városaHU
• KomedianciPL
• Os Rapazes da GeralPT
• Булевард на ПрестъплениятаBG
• Kinder des OlympDE
• O Boulevard do CrimeBR
• 천정좌석의 사람들KR
• 인생유전KR
• 천국의 아이들KR