French Cancan

French Cancan
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJean Renoir
Written by
Produced byLouis Wipf
Starring
CinematographyMichel Kelber
Edited byBorys Lewin
Music byGeorges Van Parys
Production
companies
  • Franco London Film
  • Jolly Film
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 9 April 1955 (1955-04-09) (West Germany)
  • 3 May 1955 (1955-05-03) (France)
  • 22 September 1955 (1955-09-22) (Italy)
Running time
104 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Italy
LanguageFrench
Box office4,075,306 admissions (France)

French Cancan (also known as Only the French Can) is a 1955 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Jean Renoir and starring Jean Gabin, Francoise Arnoul and María Félix. It marked Renoir's return to France and to French cinema after an exile that began in 1940.

Where Renoir's previous film, The Golden Coach (1952), had celebrated the 18th-century Italian commedia dell'arte, this work is a homage to the Parisian café-concert of the 19th century, with its popular singers and dancers. Visually, the film evokes the paintings of Edgar Degas and the Impressionists, including Renoir's own father, Pierre-Auguste Renoir.