La B%C3%AAte Humaine (film)

La Bte Humaine English The Human Beast and Judas Was a Woman is a 1938 French film directed by Jean Renoir, with cinematography by Curt Courant. The picture features Jean Gabin, and is loosely based on the novel of the same name by mile Zola.

The solitary Lantier, who drives a locomotive between Paris and Le Havre, is liable to go into a murderous fit if alone with a woman he desires. The only time he feels safe is on the footplate with his fireman Pecqueux. However, he cannot fail to notice Sverine, the sexy wife of Roubaud, the deputy stationmaster at Le Havre. She in the past had an affair with the rich and influential Grandmorin, and the jealous Roubaud forces her to meet him on a train, There he robs and kills his rival, but by chance the offduty Lantier is a witness. Because he is attracted to Sverine, he says nothing to the police, for which one night she rewards him. Then she starts suggesting to Lantier that he should get rid of her husband, but he fails the test. Instead, calling on her one night, he has a fit and kills her. Next day, after confessing to Pecqueux, he jumps to his death from the speeding train.Jean Gabin wanted to star in a film about locomotives and wrote a screenplay called Train dEnfer, that was originally to be directed by Jean Grmillon. Dissatisfied with the script, Grmillon suggested an adaptation of La Bte humaine. After his success starring in Renoirs Grand Illusion 1937, Gabin preferred to work with Jean Renoir again, and hired him instead of Grmillon. Renoir eventually wrote the script over a period of eight to fifteen days. After its completion, Renoir read the screenplay to Gabins producer Robert Hakim, who asked for trifling modifications. ........

Source: Wikipedia