We Are All Murderers
Nous sommes tous des assassins
Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We Are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.
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Cast
Alexandre Rignault
as Le gendarme
Georges Tabet
as Le pianiste
Henri Vilbert
as Mr. Arnaud
Edmond Ardisson
as Un garde (uncredited)
Elisabeth Hardy
as La mère de la petite fille
François Joux
as Saulnier
Claude Laydu
as Philippe Arnaud
Juliette Faber
as Francine Saulnier
Paul Faivre
as Biribi
Paul Frankeur
as Léon
Jérôme Goulven
as Noblet
Yvonne Sanson
as Yvonne Le Guen (version italienne)
Anouk Ferjac
as Agnès
Yvonne de Bray
as La chiffonnière
Julien Verdier
as Bauchet
Jacqueline Pierreux
as Yvonne Le Guen (version française)
Monette Dinay
as La femme de Charles
Marcel Mouloudji
as René Le Guen
Henri Crémieux
as L'avocat de Bauchet
Amedeo Nazzari
as Docteur Detouche (version italienne)
Solange Sicard
as La mère d'Agnès
François Vibert
as Maître Mousset
René Berthier
as Un monsieur (uncredited)
Antoine Balpêtré
as Dr. Albert Dutoit
Jean-Paul Moulinot
as Le directeur de la Santé
Line Noro
as Madame Arnaud
Louis Seigner
as L'abbé Roussard
Jean-Marc Tennberg
as Fredo
Lucien Nat
as L'avocat général
Léonce Corne
as Le colonel instructeur
André Reybaz
as Le père Simon
Renée Gardès
as La mère Le Guen
Raymond Pellegrin
as Gino Bollini
Louis Arbessier
as L'avocat du tribunal pour enfants
René Blancard
as Albert Pichon
Guy Decomble
as Un inspecteur
Marcel Pérès
as Malingré
Sylvie
as Laetitia Bollini
Charles Bouillaud
as L'agent (uncredited)
Roland Lesaffre
as Le détenu-coiffeur
Daniel Mendaille
as Un gardien
Jacques Morel
as Charles
André Valmy
as P'tit Louis
Georges Poujouly
as Michel Le Guen
Jean Daurand
as Girard, l'homme dans la cabine téléphonique
Yvette Etiévant
as L'épouse de Bauchet
Charles Lemontier
as Le procureur
