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The Great Hope

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Scenes and images from the French Communist Party's (PCF) 1937 Congress in Arles. La Grande Espérance highlights some of the PCF's new concerns under the Popular Front: a warning against international fascism, a desire for organic unity, and the defense of national heritage and regional cultures. It also reveals the first signs of a cult of personality surrounding Maurice Thorez. La Grande Espérance was screened (and possibly re-edited) after the Liberation. A commentary was then added to the credits emphasizing the continuity of the Communist Party’s political line and the sacrifice of its activists during the war. Today, only this post-1945 version exists.

Cast & crew

Georges Politzer · Danièle Casanova · Benoît Frachon · Jacques Duclos · Martha Desrumeaux · Maurice Thorez · Joseph Ramier · Marie Politzer · Marcel Cachin · Jacques Becker · Pierre Semard

Studios & networks

Ciné France · Les films populaires