La Maternelle is a 1933 French film directed and written by Jean Benoit-Lévy and Marie Epstein. It was adapted from Léon Frapié

Léon Frapié

Léon Eugène Frapié was a French novelist.He first contributed to magazines and newspapers, then a few novels....

's Prix Goncourt

Prix Goncourt

The Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...

 winning novel La Maternelle

La Maternelle

La Maternelle is a Prix Goncourt winning novel by French author Léon Frapié. It was adapted to film as La Maternelle...

(1904). In 1935, it was ranked as the 6th best foreign film by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures

National Board of Review of Motion Pictures

The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...

, and has received a 8.4 ranking (out of 10) by 27 reviewers at the Internet Movie Database

Internet Movie Database

Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...

. It has also been noted as one of the earliest French films to use speech.

Plot summary

Rose, a girl from a well off family faces a series of tragic events that leaves her penniless and without a home. She is hired as an attendant at a day-care center in Paris with 150 poor children. She finds herself tenderly caring for them and soon they become very fond of her. One young girl named Marie, who is the abandoned daughter of a prostitute, becomes so attached to Rose that she becomes jealous when anyone else steals her attention. She even tries to kill herself when she learns of her plans to marry Dr. Libois, the school's physician. Despite this, La Maternelle ultimately finds its way to a happy ending.

Cast

• Madeleine Renaud - Rose
• Mady Berry - Mme. Paulin
• Alice Tissot - Superintendent
• Paulette Elambert - Marie Coeuret
• Henri Debain - Dr. Libois
• Edmond van Daele - Pantin
• Alex Bernard - Professor

Critical reviews

In 1935, The New York Times called it "a film of extraordinary insight, tenderness and tragic beauty." And claimed that "Mr. Benoit-Levy presents a heart-breaking cross-section of this tatterdemalion kindergarten in such minor portraits as the little boy who has never learned how to smile."

Also known as

• Children of Montmartre: International (English title)
• La maternelle: Italy (dubbed version)
• Moderhaender: Denmark
• Mutterhände: Germany

Connection to Feminism & French Cinema Studies

The author of the 1996 book To Desire Differently: Feminism & the French Cinema, Sandy Flitterman-Lewis, recently commented "I need to reaffirm that although my book deals with female authorship, the exquisite 1933 film LA MATERNELLE was made by two directors, Jean Benoit-Levy and Marie Epstein. For purposes of my book, I chose to emphasize Epstein's participation in the 11 feature films she made with Benoit-Levy. However, further research has indicated that in fact, Epstein co-directed some films and assisted on others. In this light, I wish to correct the mistaken impression that this is Marie's film alone. While I appreciate the fact that she has gotten much needed attention, I am emphatic about reinstating Jean Benoit-Levy as the primary director of LA MATERNELLE."

External links

• La Maternelle at IMDB