• Trending
    • Certified Fresh & Verified Hot
    • TV Premier dates
    • New horror Movies
    • Best Movies of All Time
  • Movies
    • Movies In Theaters
    • Movies at Home
  • TV Shows
    • New TV
    • Most Popular TV
  • News
    • What to Watch
    • Guides
    • RT News
    • Awards
  • Games
    • Find Your Next Horror Watch
  • Video
  • Showtimes
  • Fanstore
  • About Rotten Tomatoes
  • Critics
  • Download the App Now
  • Logout
Rotten Tomatoes
Suggestions will appear as you start typing. Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App New News Showtimes

Gervaise

Play trailer Poster for Gervaise 1957,  1h 56m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 80% 5 Reviews Tomatometer 74% 100+ Ratings Popcornmeter
80% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Gervaise Macquart (Maria Schell) is a beautiful Parisian laundress and mother whose lover, Lantier (Armand Mestral), walks out on her. She eventually marries Henri Coupeau (François Perier), a roofer who has an unfortunate accident. As her now crippled husband descends into alcoholism, Gervaise tries to make ends meet on her own. Life becomes even more complicated when Lantier returns and befriends Henri. Meanwhile, the man she really loves, Goujet (Jacques Harden), is sent to prison.

Critics Reviews

View More
Mark Le Fanu Sight & Sound Jul 10, 2018
Without ever making a big deal of it, Clment's film has a physical sparkle and a pervasive sensual undercurrent. Go to Full Review
Arlene Croce Film Culture Mar 30, 2022
As a film version of Zola’s L’Assommoir, Gervaise emerges as the finest rendering of a literary classic the cinema has given us since David Lean’s Dickens films. Go to Full Review
Stanley Kauffmann The Reporter Dec 16, 2021
The best compliment one can pay the new French film Gervaise is to say that it represents faithfully the Zola novel on which it is based. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Feb 26, 2009
B
Grim period film of 19th century Paris that encompasses the human condition. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Dec 29, 2008
B+
Maria Schell (sister of Maximillian) givs a touching performance in Rene Clement's screen version of Emile Zola's grim social-realist novel, which was nominated for an Oscar in 1956. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews
Gervaise

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

René Clément

Director

Maria Schell

Gervaise Macquart Coupeau

François Perier

Henri Coupeau

Suzy Delair

Virginie Poisson

Armand Mestral

Auguste Lantier

Jacques Harden

Goujet

More Like This

View All
Dodsworth 91% 86% Dodsworth Watchlist And Now My Love 71% 81% And Now My Love Watchlist The Snake Pit 100% 84% The Snake Pit Watchlist Vacation From Marriage 65% Vacation From Marriage Watchlist Two English Girls 89% 82% Two English Girls Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Gervaise

Gervaise (1956) Gervaise (1956) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Gervaise Macquart (Maria Schell) is a beautiful Parisian laundress and mother whose lover, Lantier (Armand Mestral), walks out on her. She eventually marries Henri Coupeau (François Perier), a roofer who has an unfortunate accident. As her now crippled husband descends into alcoholism, Gervaise tries to make ends meet on her own. Life becomes even more complicated when Lantier returns and befriends Henri. Meanwhile, the man she really loves, Goujet (Jacques Harden), is sent to prison.
Director
René Clément
Producer
Agnès Delahaie
Screenwriter
Jean Aurenche, Pierre Bost
Distributor
Continental Distributing Inc.
Genre
Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 11, 1957, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Sep 15, 2009
Runtime
1h 56m
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings