Lilac

Also known as Lilac, this early Anatole Litvak-directed talkie was based on a play by Tristan Bernard and Charles Henry Hirsch. The story bears traces of the Bertold Brecht-Weill piece The Threepenny Opera, with heroine Lilac (Marcelle Romeo) consorting with the criminal scum of Paris. Lilac falls in love with a handsome detective (Andre Luguet), but he doesn't let his emotions stand in the way of his duty, and in the end he reluctantly turns her over to the authorities. At $120,000, Coeur de Lilas was one of the most expensive movies to come out of France in 1931, but it more than made back its cost at the box-office.

• Anatole LitvakDirector
• Serge VeberWriter
• Dorothy FarnumWriter
• Anatole LitvakWriter

• Marcelle RomeeCoeur de Lilas
• André LuguetAndré Lucot
• FréhelLa Douleur
• Jean GabinMartousse
• Lydie VillarsLa Crevette
• FordyceMme Darny
• Marcel DelaîtreMr Darny
• Georges Paulaisle juge d'instruction
• Paul AmiotMerlu
• Fernandelle garçon d'honneur
• Madeleine GuittyMme. Charignoul
• Carlotta ContiMme. Novion