Lady Killer (1937)

 Jean Gremillon's "Lady Killer"

Another fine example of in the canon of the French poetic realism of the 1930s, Jean Gremillon's "Lady Killer" enlists Jean Gabin in yet another incredible performance. I felt very ambivalent about this one going in, and boy was I certainly caught off guard by how much I was sucked in to this picture. As the 1930s started coming to an end, I feel as though the French poetic realist movement started borrowing a lot more from the German Expressionist movement from the decade prior. It certainly proves effective, as the subject matter, like with "Lady Killer," started to get more and more fatalistic. 

"Lady Killer" stars Jean Gabin as a military under-officer whom everyone knows by the nickname "Gueule d'amour." The reason for this nickname is because he has such an affect over women, and is considered to be a typical 'womanizer.' "Gueule d'amour" also happens to be the name of the original French title of the film. However, I find the English-language title "Lady Killer" to be far more thematically relevant, as I will discuss later. "Gueule d'amour" simply means, "mouth of love." Jean Gabin's Lucien spends a romantic evening with a mysterious Parisienne named Madeleine, whom shirks him at the night's closing. Lucien renounces his military enrollment to go and search for her in Paris. After finding her, he spends many days with her until learning that she has a wealthy benefactor that she is unwilling to give up for him. He leaves and starts his own local bar. His loyal friend, Rene, arrives to see his old friend. After realizing that Rene is seeing Madeleine, and how much Madeleine is once again 'using' another man, Lucien loses it and kills Madeleine. Rene then helps Lucien escape town.

The main thing I noticed in the film was the economic paradigms at play. Madeline is beautiful and lives life in luxury. Her spending habits, her dining habits, and even the way she rolls through relationships is very luxurious. Although he had some 'power' and adoration as a member of the military, Lucien does not have the same luxuries as Madeleine. He wants to be with her and she wants to be with him, but she simply cannot give up her benefactor. She need for wealth and luxury are too important for her in the current climate. However, Lucien doesn't care about money and even lets her have 10,000 francs to spend on gambling at the beginning of the film. Throughout the entire film, their economic divide creates inherent tension. Madeleine is willing to give herself to any man with enough Francs. However, her love for Lucien becomes a moot point in the face of her dependence on her economic security. 

For this reason, the film reminds me somewhat of Jean Renoir's "La Chienne." Both deal with the concept of a new burgeoning capitalist system that renders love and human relationships void if there is no economic component. It is futile for Madeleine to be with Lucien because he doesn't provide her with the economic security she needs. And in both films, the protagonist ends up killing the person he is pining after because of it. This is particularly why I think the English title of the film, "Lady Killer," if far more thematically suitable. Lucien starts off the film getting any woman he wishes, hence being a 'Lady Killer,' while the film ends with him turning into a literal 'lady killer,' due to his present circumstances of attaining the one lady he could never acquire. 

I think far beyond the economic circumstances presented in the film are the more fatalist viewpoints of the lives of these characters. All of the characters are caught in a web of unrequited love. There is something all-consuming about their passions and desires for each other, all of which provides a texture and ambiance of some oncoming tragedy. We tie ourselves to these desires and passions, as Lucien does with his adoration of Madeleine and Madeleine does for her economic security. Lucien even has immense love for his friend Rene, perhaps even romantic love, as it's subtly suggested in the film's closing moments. It is his immense love Rene, Madeleine's disregard for Rene, and his vulnerability and emotion being spat back in his face that causes him to lose control and become a murderer. It is a tragic downfall of a man's soul. It is a tragic downfall of a woman unsure of what she wants. And it is the tragic downfall of a man attempting to be a lover and friend to them both. 

Gremillon was able to capture this mélange of melodrama, fatalism, and even the comic into something completely visually engaging. There are scenes of characters bathed in darkness or in expressionistic light. There are moments of immense visual beauty and poetic tones that capture this pain and frustration of each character. Gremillon films characters caught in traps and uses noir-esque visual textures to paint his images with this melancholy.

Overall, "Lady Killer" was something I was not expecting. However, I think it deserves to be in the conversation of one of the great poetic realist films of the 1930s, right along up there with films from Jean Renoir, Julien Duviver, and Marcel Carne.