Jean Renoir wrote and shot the 40-minute featurette, A Day in the Country (“Une partie de campagne”) in 1936, but it was released a decade later.
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1946 French release poster
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The film is based on the short story “Une partie de campagne” (1881) by Guy de Maupassant, who was a friend of Renoir’s father, the renowned painter Auguste Renoir.
The tale chronicles a love affair over a single summer afternoon in 1860, along the banks of the Seine.
Renoir had never finished filming due to weather problems, but producer Pierre Braunberger turned the material into a release in 1946; Joseph Burstyn released the film in the U.S. in 1950.
Monsieur Dufour (André Gabriello), a shop-owner from Paris, takes his family for a day in the country. When they stop for lunch at the roadside restaurant of Poulain (Jean Renoir), two young men, Henri (Georges D’Arnoux) and Rodolphe (Jacques B. Brunius), take an interest in Dufour’s daughter Henriette (Sylvia Bataille) and wife Madame Dufour (Jane Marken).
Scheming to get the two women off alone with them, they offer to row them along the river in their skiffs, while they divert Dufour and his shop assistant and future son-in-law, Anatole (Paul Temps), by lending them some fishing poles.
Though Rodolphe had arranged beforehand to take Henriette, Henri maneuvers it so that she gets into his skiff. Rodolphe then good-naturedly settles for Madame Dufour.
As Henri rows, Henriette expresses her enthusiasm for the countryside. Henri suggests that she visit again, but Henriette says that her father would never permit it.
Henriette initially resists his amorous advances, but stops struggling after a moment.
A rainstorm occurs, but the party’s return to the inn is not depicted.
Title cards indicate that years have passed and that Henriette has married Anatole. One day, they end up at the place where Henri seduced Henriette. While Anatole dozes, his wife takes a walk, and encounters Henri. With tears in her eyes, she reminisces about their brief time together. Then, when Anatole wakes up, Henri hides until they leave.
Future leading directors Jacques Becker and Luchino Visconti worked as Renoir’s assistant director and set dresser respectively.
Cast
Sylvia Bataille as Henriette
Georges D’Arnoux as Henri
Jane Marken as Madame Dufour
André Gabriello as Monsieur Dufour
Jacques B. Brunius as Rodolphe
Paul Temps as Anatole
Gabrielle Fontan as Grandmother
Jean Renoir as Uncle Poulain
Marguerite Renoir as Waitress
Credits:
Directed by Jean Renoir
Screenplay by Jean Renoir, based on “Une partie de campagne” by Guy de Maupassant
Produced by Pierre Braunberger
Cinematography Claude Renoir
Edited by Marinette Cadix, Marguerite Renoir
Music by Joseph Kosma
Distributed by Joseph Burstyn Inc. (1950 US release)
Release date: May 8, 1946
Running time: 40 Minutes
