Summary
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
Marcel Mouloudji
René Le Guen
Raymond Pellegrin
Gino Bollini
Antoine Balpêtré
Dr. Albert Dutoit
Julien Verdier
Bauchet
Claude Laydu
Philippe Arnaud
Georges Poujouly
Michel Le Guen
Jacqueline Pierreux
Yvonne Le Guen (version française)
Lucien Nat
L'avocat général
Louis Arbessier
L'avocat du tribunal pour enfants
René Blancard
Albert Pichon
Léonce Corne
Le colonel instructeur
Henri Crémieux
L'avocat de Bauchet
Jean Daurand
Girard, l'homme dans la cabine téléphonique
Yvonne de Bray
La chiffonnière
Guy Decomble
Un inspecteur
Monette Dinay
La femme de Charles
Juliette Faber
Francine Saulnier
Paul Faivre
Biribi
Anouk Ferjac
Agnès
Paul Frankeur
Léon
Renée Gardès
La mère Le Guen
Jérôme Goulven
Noblet
Elisabeth Hardy
La mère de la petite fille
François Joux
Saulnier
Charles Lemontier
Le procureur
Roland Lesaffre
Le détenu-coiffeur
Daniel Mendaille
Un gardien
Jacques Morel
Charles
Jean-Paul Moulinot
Le directeur de la Santé
Amedeo Nazzari
Docteur Detouche (version italienne)
Line Noro
Madame Arnaud
Marcel Pérès
Malingré
André Reybaz
Le père Simon
Alexandre Rignault
Le gendarme
Yvonne Sanson
Yvonne Le Guen (version italienne)
Louis Seigner
L'abbé Roussard
Sylvie
Laetitia Bollini
Jean-Marc Tennberg
Fredo
André Valmy
P'tit Louis
François Vibert
Maître Mousset
Henri Vilbert
Mr. Arnaud
Edmond Ardisson
Un garde (uncredited)
René Berthier
Un monsieur (uncredited)
Charles Bouillaud
L'agent (uncredited)