The Rules of the Game
Initial editing and previews

Renoir edited the film while shooting; his first cut was three hours long. He and editor Marguerite completed a 113-minute final cut of the film in July 1939. Jay hated it and demanded that Renoir make cuts, including the excision of Renoir's entire performance as Octave. Renoir refused to completely omit Octave but agreed to remove 13 minutes from the film.

The Rules of the Game was the most expensive film produced in France when it was released. Its original budget had been 2.5 million francs (which already made it the most expensive French film of that year) and was increased by another 2 million francs, costing over 5 million francs total.

The film had an elaborate advertising campaign that began one week before its release in anticipation of it becoming another hit film for Renoir. This campaign included a promotional crossword puzzle published three days before the film's opening night; the prize for solving the puzzle was free tickets.

The first preview screening of the 113-minute version of The Rules of the Game took place on June 28, 1939. It received a poor reaction from the audience. On June 29, the film was screened for the Minister of National Education and Fine Arts Jean Zay and for the jury of the annual Louis Delluc Prize for the best French film. When the awards were announced 10 days later, Marcel Carne's Le Quai des brumes won the first prize and The Rules of the Game was not a runner-up. Because of the success and popularity of Renoir's previous films, The Rules of the Game was highly anticipated, and Zay had expected to award it the prize. Renoir later said he thought the film would be commercially successful.
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