This is yet another 'domestic' entry from the first decade of Sound in French Cinema and it's no better and no worse than the majority though hardly in the same league as the high quality stuff being turned out by the likes of Pagnol, Duvivier, L'Herbier, Prevert-Carnet etc, for whilst those talents turned out, these bread-and-butter directors churned out. The movie offers yet another glance at the young Arletty which has to be worth the price of admission alone, Pierre Blanchar on the other hand, who kick-starts the plot by getting in hock to some wise guys and has to make good by 1) stealing some potentially embarrassing letters and 2) topping the girl who is holding them is more or less ho hum but Michel Simon was incapable of turning in a bad performance and he and Arletty lift this one out of the rut.
3 Reviews
A very good mixture of comedy, drama and crime.
mamouth0079 July 2002
A young ruined man (Pierre Blanchar) accepts a special mission from gangsters for money.
An actress is in possession of compromising letters and she can make big troubles to them.
Pierre Blanchar have to bring back the letters and kill the girl.
She's pretty and he falls in love with her.
What is he going to do ?
It's a very good movie with comedy, drama and thrilling moments.
The actors are also very good (Pierre Blanchar, Michel Simon and Arletty).
I highly recommend this movie.
An actress is in possession of compromising letters and she can make big troubles to them.
Pierre Blanchar have to bring back the letters and kill the girl.
She's pretty and he falls in love with her.
What is he going to do ?
It's a very good movie with comedy, drama and thrilling moments.
The actors are also very good (Pierre Blanchar, Michel Simon and Arletty).
I highly recommend this movie.
Bad influence
dbdumonteil5 December 2016
A well-meaning young man is ruined and forced to sell all his goods in an auction sale ;then he gets together with shady persons who almost get him to commit a crime.
After his two masterpieces ,"Les Croix De Bois"(remade as "the road to glory" by Howard Hawks)and "Les Miserables" ,the best version ever of Hugo's classic ,he made two comedies "Tartarin De Tarascon" from Daudet and this movie,two much less ambitious works,even though Raimu was lauded for his portrayal of Tartarin.
The best of this rather slow-moving comedy is to be found in its beginning : the usurers ,attending the auction sale ,and realizing that all the stuff will never pay the young dandy's debts and concluding:"we have got to marry him";some scenes have even a real contemporary feel : the graduate -which at the time was pretty rare -being not able to find even a work-hand job,cause there are already ten of them in the place ;the scene in the job center where he can't be considered an unemployed person for he has never worked .The scene when Blanchar and his pal are hired as extras is also a good moment ("I'm going to be in the torture scene!")
Pierre Blanchar is a little miscast ,he was not a comedy actors ,and unlike Michel Simon ,he was not a good all-rounder;the latter appears at the 17th min ,then Arletty two minutes later:cause for celebration? not really ,cause they do not play together for Arletty's appearance is much too short ,and in the second part ,Florelle is no match for her.
The scenes which take place in the casino and in the luxury hotel were funnier in the later "Je Suis Une Aventurière" (Bernard remade as "Le Septieme Commandement" );here the movie drags on and Blanchar ,very impressive in dramas,is inefficient in light comedy.
After his two masterpieces ,"Les Croix De Bois"(remade as "the road to glory" by Howard Hawks)and "Les Miserables" ,the best version ever of Hugo's classic ,he made two comedies "Tartarin De Tarascon" from Daudet and this movie,two much less ambitious works,even though Raimu was lauded for his portrayal of Tartarin.
The best of this rather slow-moving comedy is to be found in its beginning : the usurers ,attending the auction sale ,and realizing that all the stuff will never pay the young dandy's debts and concluding:"we have got to marry him";some scenes have even a real contemporary feel : the graduate -which at the time was pretty rare -being not able to find even a work-hand job,cause there are already ten of them in the place ;the scene in the job center where he can't be considered an unemployed person for he has never worked .The scene when Blanchar and his pal are hired as extras is also a good moment ("I'm going to be in the torture scene!")
Pierre Blanchar is a little miscast ,he was not a comedy actors ,and unlike Michel Simon ,he was not a good all-rounder;the latter appears at the 17th min ,then Arletty two minutes later:cause for celebration? not really ,cause they do not play together for Arletty's appearance is much too short ,and in the second part ,Florelle is no match for her.
The scenes which take place in the casino and in the luxury hotel were funnier in the later "Je Suis Une Aventurière" (Bernard remade as "Le Septieme Commandement" );here the movie drags on and Blanchar ,very impressive in dramas,is inefficient in light comedy.
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