StudioCanal has detailed its upcoming Blu-ray release of director Marcel Carne's classic film Le Jour se Lève a.k.a. Daybreak (1939), starring Jean Gabin, Jacqueline Laurent, Arletty, and Jules Berry. The release will be available for purchase on October 27th.
Le Jour se Leve was recently restored in 4K by StudioCanal in association with Eclair. The sound was restored by Diapason.
The new 4K restoration was introduced in the Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this summer.
Synopsis: Synopsis: Jean Gabin plays a worker involved with the mistress of a seedy showman (Jules Berry), whom he kills after a jealous struggle over an unfortunate flower girl. As the police close in on him, he barricades himself in a small room, going over the events which led him into such desperate straits. Marcel Carne directed this French classic, which was remade by Hollywood in 1947 as The Long Night.
Special Features: Last Assault on the Popular Front - Documentary film Scenes Censored by the Vichy Government Restoration process and demonstration
France was responsible for many innovative, ground-breaking films during the 1930s. Le Jour Se Leve (1939) is one of the milestones. There are very few restorations of classic French films from the 1930s on blu-ray. This is a most welcome release.
I would like to see hi-def transfers of Julien Duvivier's La Bandera (1935), Jacques Feyder's Le Grand jeu (1935) and, well, so many others. France's greatest decade is vastly under-represented on DVD and blu-ray in the USA.
