In the Carné canon, Hôtel Du Nord is usually eclipsed by films such as Le Quai Des Brumes, Le Jour Se Lève and Les Enfants Du Paradis, largely because of Prevert's absence. Jeanson's dialogue is indeed broader, the film more comic. In this respect, Hôtel Du Nord is 'theatrical realism' rather than 'poetic realism'. But in the interaction of set, camerawork and Maurice Jaubert's restrained, moody music, Hôtel Du Nord is typical of poetic realism. It is in the casting that the film really takes shape, with great actors like Arletty as the prostitute Raymonde and Louis Jouvert's pimp and gangster Edmond greatly playing up secondary roles that would overshadow the romantic leads of Annabella's Renée and Jean-Pierre Aumont's Pierre.
