July 7, 1939 –
Jean Renior’s prescient masterpiece, Rules of the Game (La Règle Du Jeu,) starring Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, and Paulette Dubost, opened in Paris, France on this date (because of World War II, the film did not officially open in the US until 1950.)
The fact the movie was a complete failure when it came out in 1939 is partly a myth. The Distributor (Gaumont) was uncomfortable with the theme even before the premiere. Attendance was low, but it was summer in Paris. There was turmoil around the movie, conducing to public violent reception of it – whistling, booing, fighting among spectators, one viewer lighting matches to a newspaper trying to burn the theater down, and threats to other theaters. Renoir himself thought it was a complete flop, mainly impressed by a few hostile reactions he saw first hand during the projections.
