La Bête Humaine (film)

La Bête Humaine
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJean Renoir
Screenplay byJean Renoir
Denise Leblond
Based onLa Bête humaine
1890 novel
by Émile Zola
Produced byRaymond Hakim
Robert Hakim
StarringJean Gabin
Simone Simon
Fernand Ledoux
Blanchette Brunoy
CinematographyCurt Courant
Edited bySuzanne de Troeye
Marguerite Renoir
Music byJoseph Kosma
Production
company
Paris Film
Distributed byLux Compagnie Cinématographique de France
Paris Films Location
Release date
  • December 23, 1938 (1938-12-23) (France)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

La Bête Humaine (English: The Human Beast and Judas Was a Woman) is a 1938 French crime drama film directed by Jean Renoir, with cinematography by Curt Courant. The picture features Jean Gabin and Simone Simon, and is loosely based on the 1890 novel La Bête humaine by Émile Zola.

La Bête Humaine is partially set "on a train that may be thought of as one of the main characters in the film." Although generally listed as a romantic drama, it is sometimes thought to foreshadow the film noir genre. Fritz Lang directed an adaptation of the same source material as Human Desire 16 years later in the U.S. for Columbia Pictures. The latter film falls more properly within the film noir genre.