Port of Shadows

"Tender... frankly adult. Filled with almost every emotion known to man"

1938 1h 33m FR

👍

7.4

SOLID

🔥

97%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.4TMDB · 317🍅97%Rotten Tomatoes★7.7IMDB · 10,663

RomanceDramaCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean, an army deserter looking for another chance to make good on life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, as acts of both revenge and kindness render him front-page news.

“Tender... frankly adult. Filled with almost every emotion known to man”

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Cast

Jean Gabin
Jean
Michel Simon
Zabel
Michèle Morgan
Nelly
Pierre Brasseur
Lucien
Édouard Delmont
Panama
Raymond Aimos
Quart Vittel
Robert Le Vigan
The Painter
René Génin
The Doctor

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Marcel Carné
Writers: Jacques Prévert
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

88 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Marcel Carné, shot by Eugen Schüfftan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Maurice Jaubert. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor René Le Hénaff shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jean Gabin and Michel Simon and Michèle Morgan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Tender... frankly adult. Filled with almost every emotion known to man".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0030643 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Marcel Carné directs. Eugen Schüfftan behind the camera. Maurice Jaubert scores. René Le Hénaff cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
3Directed by Marcel Carné, shot by Eugen Schüfftan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Maurice Jaubert. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor René Le Hénaff shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jean Gabin and Michel Simon and Michèle Morgan carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Tender... frankly adult. Filled with almost every emotion known to man".
8IMDB entry: tt0030643 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Eugen Schüfftan
Original score: Maurice Jaubert
Editing: René Le Hénaff
Production design: Alexandre Trauner
Costume design: Coco Chanel
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: FR
IMDB: Port of Shadows (1938)
Rotten Tomatoes: 97% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 10,663 votes
MPAA: Not Rated
US box office: $27,389

Awards

6 wins & 2 nominations total

National Board of Review Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Louis Delluc Prize

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Marcel Carné

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-02-13
★ 7/10
Marcel Carné packs quite a lot into ninety minutes in this superior wartime thriller. It centres around the deserting soldier "Jean" (Jean Gabin) who arrives in Le Harve intending to seek a ship to some far flung neutral port. He needs clothes, though, and money, and food - and he is lucky to meet up with the teenage "Nelly" (Michèle Morgan). She is worldy beyond her years - she has grown up the hard way and is frequently the object of unwanted attention. Fortunately she has the solid "Zabel" (Michel Simon) to keep an eye on her and shield her from the excesses of the local spiv-turned-gangster "Lucien" (Pierre Brasseur). "Jean" is torn. His brain tells him to have nothing to do with this girl - she is trouble. His heart initially pities but soon falls for her and he determines that she, too, ought to find a berth on his freedom voyage. It's a story of love and self preservation this. Even those more unsavoury here are all trying to thrive in an environment forced upon them by war. "Jean" is no coward, he has a courage but it is, initially at any rate, a selfish one. The film illustrates his transformation effectively and there is a gradual evolution of chemistry between Gabin and Morgan that draws us all too willingly into their predicament. Brasseur is perhaps not as menacing - he is a bit too good looking, but the rest of the cast deliver plausibly a story of humanity with all it's hope and vulnerabilities. Will they escape? Well that's no dead cert....

Production companies