"Le Grand Jeu" was also one of the films which defined a characteristic mood of romantic despair in the French cinema of the 1930s, a mood shared by films such as "Pépé le Moko", "Hôtel du Nord", "Le Quai des brumes", and "Le jour se lève".Although there is no reason to claim a connection, the theme of a man re-inventing a new lover in the image of his old one was later explored by Alfred Hitchcock in "Vertigo".