From director Jean Renoir (Partie De Campagne/A Day in the Country, La Règle Du Jeu/The Rules of the Game), this was another film, in the French language, that I would would never have known about unless in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book. Basically Boudu (Michel Simon) is the tramp who thinks he has nothing to live for and attempts suicide by drowning in the river Seine, but he is rescued by gentle and good bookseller Monsieur Édouard Lestingois (Charles Granval). Boudu seems unhappy to have been saved, but Édouard wants to help him as much as possible, starting with letting him stay in the family house, and slowly they try to reform him into proper middle class society. As time goes by, and the tramp becomes more presentable, with shaving and better clothes, he does not show good courtesy, he takes advantage of his newfound better life, and has no good manners while eating and living in the house. The worst of it comes when he starts trying to take advantage of the maid, but much worse is when he makes advances towards Édouard's wife Madame Emma Lestingois (Marcelle Hainia). Boudu has good luck when he wins big on the lottery, and he is given permission to marry the housemaid, after presumably being forgiven for his attempted misdemeanours, but in the end, at the wedding party, they are in a boat that capsizes, and Boudu decides to swim away to become a free spirit again. Also starring Sévérine Lerczinska as Chloë Anne Marie, Jean Dasté as Student, Max Dalban as Godin and Jean Gehret as Vigour. Simon, a character actor, gives a very appealing performance as the lazy, rude, ill-mannered and troubled tramp brought out of his shell, it is an interesting story about people trying to change one that may not usually be given a chance, which obviously creates some quite funny scenarios, a likable comedy. Good!
Review of Boudu Saved from Drowning
