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Rene Clair became fascinated with a structural defect in the ‘Faust’ legend, wondering what would happen if, instead of forcing Faust to sign his soul away in exchange for happiness and knowledge, the Devil were to ask for nothing, and simply assume that Faust would sign the contract at a later date. Since Hiroshima, the nuclear threat was a constant source of concern, and Clair’s film was released in a Cold War climate in which Faust regains his soul only after rejecting the thought of owning limitless powers.
Credits: Producers, Salvo d’Angelo, Rene Clair ; director, Rene Clair ; writers, Rene Clair, Armand Salacrou ; photography, Michel Kelber ; music, Roman Vlad ; assistant director, Michel Boisrond ; costumes, Mayo.
Cast: Michel Simon, Gerard Philipe, Simone Valere, Nicole Besnard, Carlo Ninchi, Paolo Stoppa, Raymond Cordy, Gaston Modot.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000007
Languages
English
French
Subject category
Foreign language films
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)