Fanny (1932 film)

Fanny is a 1932 French romantic drama film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Orane Demazis, Raimu and Alida Rouffe. It is based on the 1931 play by Marcel Pagnol. It is the second part of the Marseillaise film trilogy that begins with Marius (1931) and concludes with César (1936). Like Marius, the film was a box office success in France and is still considered to be a classic of French cinema. It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris and on location in Marseille. The film's sets were designed by the art director Gabriel Scognamillo.

Plot
The story takes place in Marseille. Marius, the son of barkeeper César, has a romance with Fanny, a neighbourhood girl and daughter of the fish salesman in the harbor. Marius follows his dream by sailing away to travel the seven seas. Fanny then discovers she is pregnant by Marius, a shameful position in the community since she's a single mother with a father unable to secure the future of her and her child. She acquiesces to her mother's advice to marry a more prosperous salesman in the harbor, Honoré Panisse, who is 30 years older than she is. A few months after the marriage and the birth of the baby, Marius returns and tries to win back Fanny.

Cast

 * Orane Demazis as Fanny Cabanis
 * Raimu as César Olivier
 * Alida Rouffe as Honorine Cabanis
 * Charpin as Honoré Panisse
 * Robert Vattier as Albert Brun
 * Auguste Mourriès as Félix Escartefique
 * Milly Mathis as Claudine Foulon
 * Marcel Maupi as Mangiapan
 * Édouard Delmont as Félicien Venelle
 * Louis Boulle as Elzéar Bonnegrâce
 * Odette Roger as Fortunette
 * Annie Toinon as Amélie
 * André Gide and Pierre Prévert have cameos

Cast recordings
An audio cast recording of select scenes, with minor rewritings, was made at the studios Pelouze in Paris on 2 and 14 December 1933 for Columbia Records by the main cast (Fresnay, Demazis, Raimu, Charpin, Henri Vilbert), except for Escartefigue, who was played by Paul Dullac as on stage, and for M. Brun, who was played by Auguste Mourriès, who in the film had replaced Dullac. It was later re-issued on compact disc.

In 1961, Pagnol’s distribution company, the Compagnie méditerranéenne de films, published the film soundtrack on disc, interspersed with narrative comments and descriptions spoken by Pagnol. In complement came a reading of his preface to the play written for the publication of his complete works, later collected in the volume Confidences in 1981; and of recollections about the production of the film, later published as part of the augmented edition of his 1934 essay Cinématurgie de Paris. It was re-issued on CD by Frémeaux & Associés, in their “Librairie sonore” series.

In popular culture

 * The famed restaurateur and founder of California cuisine, Alice Waters, was so taken by this film that she named her Berkeley restaurant "Chez Panisse". The café located above the restaurant is decorated with posters from the films Marius, Fanny and César.
 * The main characters from the films Marius, Fanny, and César make a cameo appearance in the 1965 Asterix comic book Asterix and the Banquet. The pétanque playing scene in the comic book is a reference to a similar scene in this film.