Le Million (1931)
(Le million)
Country: FR
Technical: bw/1.19:1 91m
Director: René Clair
Cast: René Lefèvre, Annabella, Jean-Louis Allibert, Paul Ollivier, Raymond Cordy
Synopsis:
An impoverished painter is temporarily freed from his creditors by the news that he has won the lottery. However, the ticket is in the pocket of his jacket, which he has left with his girlfriend, who has given it to a fugitive thief, etc.
Review:
The director's flair for complex pursuits and figural arrangements of his actors (cf. An Italian Straw Hat) sees further flowering here with the addition of sound. Highlights include an operatic duet doubled by the young lovers, obscured behind a chunk of set, and an improvised rugby match over the sports jacket in the corridor of the opera house, which needs only the roar of the crowd over the top. Much of the dialogue is sung, lending proceedings the double allure of a Marx Brothers vehicle, and we again begin (as in Sous les toits...) above the roofs of Paris in an ingenious shot that combines a to-scale set with a miniaturised, faux-perspective skyline. On the debit side, as often with Clair the characters are mere ciphers to be manipulated, meaning that the subplots involving girlfriend and best friend lack any real emotional conviction; and, though pacy, the action does become a tedious delaying of the inevitable, as a framing device for no good reason determines that the story is told in flashback. Nevertheless, it remains an impressive work, coming so early after the advent of the new technology.
(Le million)
Country: FR
Technical: bw/1.19:1 91m
Director: René Clair
Cast: René Lefèvre, Annabella, Jean-Louis Allibert, Paul Ollivier, Raymond Cordy
Synopsis:
An impoverished painter is temporarily freed from his creditors by the news that he has won the lottery. However, the ticket is in the pocket of his jacket, which he has left with his girlfriend, who has given it to a fugitive thief, etc.
Review:
The director's flair for complex pursuits and figural arrangements of his actors (cf. An Italian Straw Hat) sees further flowering here with the addition of sound. Highlights include an operatic duet doubled by the young lovers, obscured behind a chunk of set, and an improvised rugby match over the sports jacket in the corridor of the opera house, which needs only the roar of the crowd over the top. Much of the dialogue is sung, lending proceedings the double allure of a Marx Brothers vehicle, and we again begin (as in Sous les toits...) above the roofs of Paris in an ingenious shot that combines a to-scale set with a miniaturised, faux-perspective skyline. On the debit side, as often with Clair the characters are mere ciphers to be manipulated, meaning that the subplots involving girlfriend and best friend lack any real emotional conviction; and, though pacy, the action does become a tedious delaying of the inevitable, as a framing device for no good reason determines that the story is told in flashback. Nevertheless, it remains an impressive work, coming so early after the advent of the new technology.
(Le million)
Country: FR
Technical: bw/1.19:1 91m
Director: René Clair
Cast: René Lefèvre, Annabella, Jean-Louis Allibert, Paul Ollivier, Raymond Cordy
Synopsis:
An impoverished painter is temporarily freed from his creditors by the news that he has won the lottery. However, the ticket is in the pocket of his jacket, which he has left with his girlfriend, who has given it to a fugitive thief, etc.
Review:
The director's flair for complex pursuits and figural arrangements of his actors (cf. An Italian Straw Hat) sees further flowering here with the addition of sound. Highlights include an operatic duet doubled by the young lovers, obscured behind a chunk of set, and an improvised rugby match over the sports jacket in the corridor of the opera house, which needs only the roar of the crowd over the top. Much of the dialogue is sung, lending proceedings the double allure of a Marx Brothers vehicle, and we again begin (as in Sous les toits...) above the roofs of Paris in an ingenious shot that combines a to-scale set with a miniaturised, faux-perspective skyline. On the debit side, as often with Clair the characters are mere ciphers to be manipulated, meaning that the subplots involving girlfriend and best friend lack any real emotional conviction; and, though pacy, the action does become a tedious delaying of the inevitable, as a framing device for no good reason determines that the story is told in flashback. Nevertheless, it remains an impressive work, coming so early after the advent of the new technology.