Continental Films: French Cinema under German Control by Christine Leteux (review)

Reviewed by: Continental Films: French Cinema under German Control by Christine Leteux Richard Neupert Leteux, Christine. Continental Films: French Cinema under German Control. UP of Wisconsin, 2022. ISBN 978-0299339807. Pp. 253. The author has translated her own lively, fine-grained history of Continental Films. Originally published in French (La Tour Verte, 2017), Continental Films explains that studio's context, including the complex personal, artistic, political, and economic conditions of filmmaking in France during the Occupation. Christine Leteux does not impose a simple thematic narrative of good vs. evil participants, but rather acknowledges from the beginning that the social forces at work within Continental, like those throughout French society, were complicated, often contradictory, and always potentially deadly. She describes how this strange new studio, created by the German producer Alfred Greven, came to dominate French production and create some of France's most famous films. Leteux's chronicle details why some of France's top talent became involved with Continental productions, often despite their misgivings or even total disdain for working with Greven, which meant collaborating with the Nazis. Major stars such as Raimu, Danielle Darrieux, Fernandel, Harry Baur, and Viviane Romance are featured. The central organizing structure of Continental Films is built around the fascinating figure of Alfred Greven, who held near total control over the studio's operations, from supervising scripts and twisting the arms of reluctant writers, actors, and directors, to fleeing to Germany just before the Liberation. This is a history full of revealing personal, sometimes painfully insightful stories, including much primary documentation and valuable perspectives on the "purification" trials following the Occupation. As the late Bertrand Tavernier explains in the Preface, Leteux overturns many of our preconceptions and even clichés about this company, this era, and the major players in French cinema of the Occupation. Continental Films provides a detailed account of the individuals, institutions, and cultural forces behind French filmmaking of the Occupation, including some of Continental's most controversial and surprising films, such as Les Inconnus dans la maison (Decoin, 1942), Le Corbeau (Clouzot, 1943), and La Main au diable (Tourneur, 1943). Christine Leteux's Continental Films reveals a nation and industry in turmoil, but it never reduces any institution or person to a simple summary or limited set of traits. The Occupation was a horribly messy affair and Leteux presents it in new light with her spell-binding historical study. End Page 171 Richard Neupert University of Georgia Copyright © 2024 American Association of Teachers of French