La Grande Illusion
The title of "Picnic on the Grass" is taken from the painting "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" (1863) by Édouard Manet. Renoir wrote seven versions of the screenplay. He made the film through his own production company, Compagnie Jean Renoir; it was the last time he did so, as annoyances about logistics during the production made him decide to never produce his own films again. Financial backing was provided by Pathé and the UCIF, to whom Renoir also offered 50% of his earnings from "La Grande Illusion" (1937) as a reimbursement guarantee, to a limit of 10 million francs.