If I Were Boss (French: Si j'étais le patron) is a 1934 French comedy film directed by Richard Pottier and starring Fernand Gravey, Max Dearly and Mireille Balin.Crisp p.109Bessy & Chirat p.517 The film's sets were designed by the art director Jacques Krauss. The depiction of a struggling business has been regarded as a metaphor for the wider state of French industry at the height of the Great Depression. It was produced the same year as a number of financial scandals hit French firms.Crisp p.109
Synopsis Henri an employee at a car factory develops a revolutionary new improvement but his views are rejected as he faces the sack as a troublemaker. However the failing business is backed by an eccentric investor on the condition that Henri is appointed as manager of the firm. His new invention rescues the company, propelling it to success.
Cast Fernand Gravey as Henri Janvier Max Dearly as M. Maubert Mireille Balin as Marcelle Charles Dechamps as Sainclair Madeleine Guitty as Mme Pichu Pierre Palau as Archibald Torrington Pierre Larquey as Jules Georges Vitray as M. Leroy Jane Pierson as Une actionnaire Claire Gérard as Mme Villiers André Dubosc as Un actionnaire Anthony Gildès as M. Triangle Pierre Darteuil as Villiers Christian Argentin as Sicaud Pierre Huchet as Un actionnaire
References
Bibliography Bessy, Maurice & Chirat, Raymond. Histoire du cinéma français: 1929-1934. Pygmalion, 1988. Crisp, Colin. French Cinema—A Critical Filmography: Volume 1, 1929-1939. Indiana University Press, 2015. Rège, Philippe. Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1. Scarecrow Press, 2009.
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