For his fifth film, Marcel Pagnol turned to his own story L’infâme truc (published in “Fortunio” magazine in 1922) and shot both interiors and exteriors in Thiers school in Marseille, where he had studied as a boy. It is not the only autobiographical element: the character of the teacher and supervisor Blanchard has recently arrived in the school after 24 years working in Digne, Toulon, Montpellier and Aix, the same places where Pagnol had taught English as a young man. The chilly interiors of the school become the setting for a “moral” tale about how appearances can be deceptive and the importance of mutual understanding and respect. At Christmas time, several students are unable to return to their families and are forced to remain in the school. The headmaster assigns Blanchard the task of looking after them, both in class and in the dorms, even though he knows that he is unpopular amongst the students. In fact, Blanchard is detested because he is strict, looks sinister (a war injury left him with a glass eye) and has an unpleasant odour reminiscent of fish, which earns him the nickname “Merlusse” (cod). However, Pagnol’s characters are always complex in their humanity: struck by their unhappiness, and without saying anything, “Merlusse” decides to surprise them with presents. The students re-evaluate him and repay his generosity. Pagnol carefully depicts their behaviour, gradually revealing their true nature and capturing the feelings of solidarity that arise out the pain of loneliness (Merlusse also feels excluded and abandoned).
Acting as his own producer, Pagnol shot the film, with direct sound, during the 1934 Christmas holidays, but he was dissatisfied with the quality of the soundtrack and so he reshot it in the summer of 1935, then distributed it in France together with another of his films, Cigalon, which also runs a little over an hour. It provided the basic inspiration for Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers (2023).

Roberto Chiesi