Harry-Baur was,along Raimu and Jean Gabin ,the best French actor of the thirties; Directed by great directors such as Duvivier ("David Golder", " Poil De Carotte" )or Raymond Bernard ("ls misérables",the best Valjean that ever was) he was unforgettable .
He was tortured by the Gestapo who thought he was a Jew (the fact that he played two Jewish bankers : "David Golder " and "Rothschild "fueled the false rumors .); when he was released ,he was dying .It was a major loss for the French cinema.
Actually,Baur did not portray the famous banker,but a tramp ,who,urged by a ruined businessman , lets him use his name to make a new bank ;hence the alternate title ,which is used in the cast and credits: "un nom qui rapporte " (= a profitable name");the wealhy family was probably not elated to see their prestigious name given to what is primarily a satire,a spoof on the power of money. Every door is open to a person who is mistaken for a millionaire ; when they learn the patronym,every hostile man is at his beck and call .
The comedy sometimes verges on drama , for the tramp is smarter than he seems ; he soon realizes nobody really likes him ,and that his lovely secretary is the only one who , born destitute , is not part of this snob elite .
Remade in America two years later,with George Arliss.
He was tortured by the Gestapo who thought he was a Jew (the fact that he played two Jewish bankers : "David Golder " and "Rothschild "fueled the false rumors .); when he was released ,he was dying .It was a major loss for the French cinema.
Actually,Baur did not portray the famous banker,but a tramp ,who,urged by a ruined businessman , lets him use his name to make a new bank ;hence the alternate title ,which is used in the cast and credits: "un nom qui rapporte " (= a profitable name");the wealhy family was probably not elated to see their prestigious name given to what is primarily a satire,a spoof on the power of money. Every door is open to a person who is mistaken for a millionaire ; when they learn the patronym,every hostile man is at his beck and call .
The comedy sometimes verges on drama , for the tramp is smarter than he seems ; he soon realizes nobody really likes him ,and that his lovely secretary is the only one who , born destitute , is not part of this snob elite .
Remade in America two years later,with George Arliss.
