First on the Rope (French: Premier de cordée) is a 1944 French drama film directed by Louis Daquin and starring Irène Corday, André Le Gall and Lucien Blondeau.[1][2] It is an adaptation of the 1941 novel of the same title by Roger Frison-Roche. It was a faithful adaptation of the novel, which began shooting in June 1943 during the German Occupation of France. Despite being directed by Daquin, a French Communist, it was considered to demonstrate a Pétainist ideology possibly even containing elements of Nazism.[3]

First on the Rope
Directed byLouis Daquin
Written byAlexandre Arnoux
Louis Daquin
Jacqueline Jacoupy
Paul Leclercq
Based onFirst on the Rope by Roger Frison-Roche
Produced byJacqueline Jacoupy
StarringIrène Corday
André Le Gall
Lucien Blondeau
CinematographyPhilippe Agostini
Edited bySuzanne de Troeye
Music byHenri Sauguet
Production
company
Pathé Consortium Cinéma
Distributed byPathé Consortium Cinéma
Release date
  • 23 February 1944 (1944-02-23)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

The film's sets were designed by the art director Lucien Aguettand. Location shooting took place around Mont Blanc in the French Alps.

Synopsis

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The son of a veteran mountain climber succeeds his father as "the first on the rope", leading expeditions into the mountains. However, after nearly losing his life during a climb he develops vertigo and abandons his position to take over as a hotel manager. Two years later when his father is persuaded by a Norwegian tourist to take him on a trip into the mountains, his son is forced to come to their rescue when they run into a trouble during a storm.

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ Crisp p.94
  2. ^ Nord p.292
  3. ^ Crisp p.94-95

Bibliography

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  • Crisp, Colin. French Cinema—A Critical Filmography: Volume 2, 1940–1958. Indiana University Press, 2015.
  • Nord, Philip. France's New Deal: From the Thirties to the Postwar Era. Princeton University Press, 2012.
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