Accusée, levez-vous! (1930)
Directed by Maurice Tourneur

Film Review

Having proven himself to be one of the great directors of the silent era (often ranked alongside such giants as D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille during his time in Hollywood) Maurice Tourneur made the transition to sound cinema with effortless grace with this well-oiled courtroom drama, one of the first films of its kind.  Based on a story by the English screenwriter Mary Murillo, Accusée, levez-vous! is a good example of the murder mystery drama that became popular in France in the 1930s, prefiguring the polar (or crime-thriller) that would tend to dominate French cinema in later decades.  Whilst the plot may be unsophisticated by today's standards, Tourneur tackles it with his customary visual flair and, technically, the film is superior to most Hollywood productions of this time.

Accusée, levez-vous! is the film that allowed Maurice Tourneur to get a foothold in French cinema after the acrimonious end to his illustrious career in Hollywood.  After his break-up with Metro Goldwyn, Tourneur left the United States in 1926 but found it hard to resume his career in France on account of his refusal to serve his country in the First World War (he was a staunch conscientious objector).  A hostile press campaign had threatened the completion of L'Équipage (1928) and so it is hardly surprising that his next film was made in Germany, Das Schiff der verlorenen Menschen (a.k.a. The Ship of the Lost Men) (1929), in which Marlene Dietrich had one of her first major screen roles.  The success of this film made it much easier for Tourneur to find work in French film studios.

For his breakthrough French feature, Tourneur was able to call upon the services of two of the most popular actors of the period, Gaby Morlay and Charles Vanel, who would subsequently appear together on the director's next film, Maison de danses (1931).  The charismatic Morlay is as well suited for the role of the slightly hysterical musical hall starlet as Vanel is for the part of the shifty mystery witness, although here they work effectively as part of a fine ensemble that includes some other talented (but now tragically all-but-forgotten) actors, such as André Dubosc (imposing as the president of the tribunal) and Suzanne Delvé (such a pity she had to be the murder victim).

Maurice Tourneur's films are noted for their intense, brooding atmosphere, and Accusée, levez-vous! is no exception.  The lighting and camerawork are particularly effective on this film and help to make up for the shortcomings in the script. Towards the end of the trial, the prosecuting counsel is lit so that he projects a huge shadow onto the rear wall, a striking image that drives home the cold inhumanity of the judicial process and its threat to those innocents who get caught up in it.  Tourneur often used expressionistic shadows in his films to accentuate hidden menace, most potently in La Main du diable (1943), his best-known film.  It is worth mentioning in passing that Tourneur's son Jacques worked as both an assistant director and editor on the film - a decade later, Jacques Tourneur would be one of the most talented and productive filmmakers working in Hollywood, routinely turning out masterpieces such as Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943).

Film Synopsis

André Darbois and Gaby Delange are partners in a popular musical hall act.  Whilst rehearsing their next show in Paris, the couple come up against Yvonne Delys, a far more successful performer who takes an instant dislike to Gaby.  When Yvonne starts to work her feminine charms on André, Gaby becomes consumed with jealousy and, after a fierce argument with her partner one night, she storms out of the theatre and heads back to her lodgings.  Early next morning, the theatre's caretaker comes across Yvonne's dead body - she has been stabbed to death with the very knife that Gaby uses in her act!  The evidence against Gaby is overwhelming but at her trial she protests she is innocent.  Recalling that he saw a strange man skulking about the theatre on the night of the murder, André sets about finding him.  When the stranger is produced at Gaby's trial, and is identified as the victim's estranged husband, events take a dramatic and unexpected turn...