Le tunnel

Retrospective 2017

Philanthropic engineer Mac Allan is planning to build an undersea tunnel connecting the US and Europe. At a meeting of wealthy investors in a New York hotel, his idea receives unanimous support. However, speculator Mr Woolf has his own interests at heart and, as the president of the tunnel syndicate, he embezzles large sums of money. Three years later, a leak that lets in water leads to unrest among the tunnel-building crew. Mac Allan fails to realise that Woolf has hired agents provocateurs in an effort to halt construction. In trying to cover up his financial crimes, the syndicate boss does not even stop at a bomb attack ... The film was shot at Bavaria Studios near Munich in both a German and a French version. Establishing shots of New York’s skyscrapers lent legitimacy to the technical optimism that tunnelling under the Atlantic might be possible in the not-too-distant future; the equipment could be considered modern. The film’s forward-looking thrust was also reinforced by the appearance of Mac Allan’s adversary, who blocked progress dressed in costumes that were strikingly “yesterday” – top hat, spats, tailcoat and white tie.

by Kurt Bernhardt
with Jean Gabin, Madeleine Renaud, Edmund van Daële, Gustaf Gründgens, André Nox, Raymonde Allain, Robert Le Vigan, André Bertic France / Germany 1933 French 76’ Black/White

With

Jean Gabin
Madeleine Renaud
Edmund van Daële
Gustaf Gründgens
André Nox
Raymonde Allain
Robert Le Vigan
André Bertic

Crew

Director	Kurt Bernhardt
Screenplay	Kurt Bernhardt, Reinhart Steinbicker adapted from the novel “Der Tunnel” (1913) by Bernhard Kellermann
Dialogue	Alexandre Arnoux
Cinematography	Carl Hoffmann
Editing	Rudi Fehr
Music	Walter Gronostay
Set Construction	Karl Vollbrecht, Heinz Fenchel
Make-Up	Heinrich Beckmann, Max Rauffer

Produced by

Vandor Films/Bavaria-Filmkunst

Additional information

Copy: Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin