Program – The World's Coolest Movie Star

Thus was the prounouncement of the American Cinemateque last year when it titled it's Jean Gabin festival. They were likely correct. A proto-Bogart, Gabin paved the way for Belmondo, McQueen and other anti-heroes long before the word was in our vocabulary. Both were made in 1938 by Marcel Carne (Port of Shadows) and Jean Renoir (La Bete Humaine), and are classics.

In "Port of Shadows" (French), Gabin played an Army deserter who has to choose between doing the right thing for a young woman victimized by criminals or finding safety by escaping France. Acting, story, photography and lighting are poetic and moody.

Gabin plays a locomotive engineer with a violent nature in "La Bete Humaine" (French). His portrayal is realistic, yet sympathetic.