Released:
1937-12-31

Overview:
Scenes and images from the French Communist Party's (PCF) 1937 Congress in Arles. La Grande Espérance highlights some of the PCF's new concerns under the Popular Front: a warning against international fascism, a desire for organic unity, and the defense of national heritage and regional cultures. It also reveals the first signs of a cult of personality surrounding Maurice Thorez. La Grande Espérance was screened (and possibly re-edited) after the Liberation. A commentary was then added to the credits emphasizing the continuity of the Communist Party’s political line and the sacrifice of its activists during the war. Today, only this post-1945 version exists.

Director:
Jacques Becker

Runtime:
0h 29min

Genre:
Documentary

• Cast:
• 
  Maurice Thorez
  as
  Himself
• 
  Marcel Cachin
  as
  Himself
• 
  Jacques Duclos
  as
  Himself
• 
  Danièle Casanova
  as
  Herself
• 
  Benoît Frachon
  as
  Himself