Monsieur Vincent

From VincentWiki
Scene from Monsieur Vincent

"Monsieur Vincent" is the title of a film released in 1947 which was based on the life of Vincent de Paul. It examines Vincent's efforts to bring about justice and increase relief of poverty in 17th century France. It was released in France on 5 November 1947 and in the United States on 20 December 1948. Its running time is 111 minutes.

The film was directed by documentary filmmaker Maurice Cloche and the screenplay written by Jean Bernard-Luc and Jean Anouilh (screenplay and dialog).

Main cast members were: Pierre Fresnay as Vincent de Paul; Aimé Clariond as Le cardinal de Richelieu; Jean Debucourt as Philippe-Emmanuel de Gondi, comte de Joigny; Lise Delamare as Françoise Marguerite de Silly, comtesse de Joigny; Germaine Dermoz as La reine Anne d'Autriche; Gabrielle Dorziat as La présidente Groussault; Pierre Dux as Le chancelier Séguier; Yvonne Gaudeau as Louise de Marillac; Michel Bouquet as Le tuberculeux; Jean Carmet as L'abbé Pontail; Gabrielle Fontan as La vieille sourde du presbytère de Châtillon; Robert Murzeau as Monsieur Bénier; Marcel Pérès as La Fouille; Marcel Vallée as L'administrateur des hospices; Francette Vernillat as La petite fille; Georges Vitray as Le comte de Châtillon.

The film was produced by Viscount George de la Grandiere; Jean-Jacques Grünenwald composed an original soundtrack. Cinematography was by Claude Renoir. Its format is black and white.

In 1949, the Academy Board of Governors honored the film with a special Academy Award as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States in 1948.

Pierre Fresnay, who played Vincent, was awarded Best Actor at the 1947 Venice Film Festival. The film was nominated for "Best Film from any source" in the 1949 BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards) and it was also nominated in 1950 for a Golden Globe as "Best Film Promoting International Understanding".


VHS tape cover

Recently excerpts from the film were published in YouTube by one of its users and are available under these links (however quality of published clips is not sufficient):

"Monsieur Vincent" part 1

"Monsieur Vincent" part 2

"Monsieur Vincent" part 3

Complete film is available at stock at Amazon.com