The Great Hope

Scenes and images from the French Communist Party's (PCF) 1937 Congress in Arles. La Grande Espérance highlights some of the PCF's new concerns under the Popular Front: a warning against international fascism, a desire for organic unity, and the defense of national heritage and regional cultures. It also reveals the first signs of a cult of personality surrounding Maurice Thorez. La Grande Espérance was screened (and possibly re-edited) after the Liberation. A commentary was then added to the credits emphasizing the continuity of the Communist Party’s political line and the sacrifice of its activists during the war. Today, only this post-1945 version exists.

• Jacques BeckerDirector

• Maurice ThorezHimself
• Marcel CachinHimself
• Jacques DuclosHimself
• Danièle CasanovaHerself
• Benoît FrachonHimself
• Georges PolitzerHimself
• Marie PolitzerHerself
• Joseph RamierHimself
• Martha DesrumeauxHerself
• Pierre SemardHimself
• Julien RacamondHimself
• Jean-Richard BlochHimself