Samson (1936)
Directed by Maurice Tourneur

Film Review

Whilst Samson is far from being director Maurice Tourneur's best work, it is an engaging drama that provides a powerful indictment of the moral failings of France's higher bourgeoisie in the early 1930s. The sins of excessive greed, debauched hedonism and marital infidelity were endemic in the upper strata of French society in the years leading up to WWII, inviting strong criticism from many commentators who saw the destructive consequences of this culture of decadence. Marcel L'Herbier had already had his say in his assault on the world of financial wheeler-dealing, L'Argent (1929), and the notorious Stavisky affair had been alluded to in Pierre Colombier's Ces messieurs de la Santé (1934). Jean Renoir's Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (1936) also shows us the ugly side of capitalism, in Jules Berry's Monsieur Batala, but it also presents a more wholesome alternative, in the form of a workers' cooperative. Samson is grimmer than any of these films, a cogent morality tale that sets out to convince us that decadence is a path that leads to ruin. It was adapted from a stage play by the playwright Henri Bernstein and stars two of the biggest actors in French cinema at the time - Harry Baur and Gaby Morlay.   Today, the film looks like a somewhat dated melodrama and its moralising is painfully unsubtle. However, Baur's performance, skilfully combining villainy and pathos, lends it a dramatic intensity and poignancy which makes it hard not to sympathise with the tragic plight of his character.

Film Synopsis

Wealth is not enough for financier Jacques Brachart.  With his immense fortune, he intends to buy his way into high society to show the world what a great man he is.  He chooses as his wife Anne-Marie d'Andeline, who, coming from an impoverished aristocratic family, can hardly refuse his offer of marriage.  He marries for status, she marries for money, and neither loves the other.  Predictably, Anne-Marie takes a lover, Jérôme Le Govain, a playboy who owes his wealth to Brachart.  When Brachart hears of his wife's infidelity, he is furious and embarks on a terrible revenge, at the risk of ruining himself...