Paul Olivier Movies
- 1947
Originally released in France under the title Le Silence est D'Or, Man About Town is set in the Paris of the early 1900s. Maurice Chevalier plays a director of silent films (whose working conditions are recreated with remarkable accuracy), while Marcelle Derien is an actress whom Chevalier hopes to turn into a film star. She falls in love with her younger leading man (Francois Perier), and Chevalier, after putting up a gentle struggle, bows to the inevitability of young romance. The first postwar US/France coproduction, Man About Town won several international prizes. Unfortunately, its American version was hampered by a misguided translation device: Rather than dub the actors' voices or utilize subtitles, the American distributor chose to have Maurice Chevalier narrate the film in English and comment upon its action. The resultant effect took the audience "out" of the picture when it should have been involved with the plot, and this clumsy translation technique was never used again. The best moment in the Americanized Man About Town was Chevalier's opening musical number, directed not by Le Silence Est D'Or's Rene Clair but by RKO film editor Robert Pirosh--who also trimmed the film by 17 minutes for U.S. audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Marcelle Derrien, (more)
- 1934
Accused by his critics of ignoring the social ills of the world, director Rene Clair responded with Le Dernier Milliardaire, a "relevant" satirical comedy somewhat reminiscent of the much later Being There and Forrest Gump. Max Dearly stars as Monsieur Banco, the richest man in the world. On the verge of revolution, the bankrupt kingdom of Casinaria begs Banco to pay a visit and offer financial advice. Alas, upon his arrival our hero is accidentally hit on the head, and he later awakens as a babbling imbecile. But the parliamentary leaders of Casinaria, seeing only the man and not his condition, regard Banco's lunatic ramblings as pure genius -- and act upon them accordingly! A sheer delight when seen today, Le Dernier Milliardaire was an enormous flop when first released, forcing Rene Clair to go into a lengthy professional exile. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marthe Mellot, Sinoel, (more)
- 1932
Quatorze Juliet translates to "July 14th"--and if you know your French history, you'll know that July 14th is Bastille Day. This Rene Clair films deals not with the tumultuous events of the French Revolution, but with a 1932 celebration of that particular French holiday. Clair made the film hoping to capture the freewheeling, anecdotal style of his earlier Under the Roofs of Paris. The hero, George Rigaud, is a Parisian cabdriver; the heroine, Annabella, is a flower peddler. As the Bastille Day festivities stretch on into the night, the young lovers come in contact with several of Paris' more eccentric citizens. Director Clair felt that Quatorze Juliet was better in parts than in sum total; modern audiences will most likely enjoy the film as a whole, excusing the weaknesses of its structure while revelling in its music and atmosphere. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Annabella, Raymond Cordy, (more)
René Lefèvre and Annabella are sheer delights, as is everything else in Le Million, René Clair's bright and winning early sound comedy. Clair has his actors sing their dialogue in a blithe and breezy way and utilizes a succession of surrealistic and Dadaesque touches to chronicle this lighthearted extended chase, concerning an artist racing through the streets of Paris (an amazing studio set constructed by Lazare Meerson) in order to retrieve a winning lottery ticket left in the pocket of a discarded jacket. Many of Clair's comic embellishments (like the dubbed-in sound effects of a football game over a portion of the chase) have been used endlessly in comedies ever since, but in Clair's hands, the old jokes still look fresh and magical. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- René Lefèvre, Annabella, (more)
À Nous la Liberté is an early talkie from French filmmaker René Clair. Louis (Raymond Cordy) and Emile (Henri Marchand) are a pair of convicts whose lives take decidely different paths after prison. Emile works his way up the ladder of capitalism, becoming a phonograph factory boss, a job that finds him overseeing a bleak outfit of automatous drones. Louis, on the other hand, lives the life of a poverty-stricken vagabond. Despite their contrasting lots, the pair meet up again later in life. À Nous la Liberté is perhaps best remembered for being the main inspiration for Charlie Chaplin's 1936 classic Modern Times. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Henri Marchand, Raymond Cordy, (more)
Rene Clair's Under the Roofs of Paris is one of the first French films shot in sound. The film is a relaxed melodrama where a Parisian street singer (Albert Prejean) and his friend (Edmond Greville) pursue the love of the same woman (Pola Illery). Clair chose to use sound only when needed, preferring to tell the story through his visuals as well as through his dialogue. The result is a striking film, boasting beautiful photography and sets, as well as a moving story. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Albert Prejean, Pola Illery, (more)
- 1927
Eugene Labiche and Marc Michel's effervescent French farce An Italian Straw Hat was gracefully adapted for the screen by director René Clair. Albert Prejean plays a well-meaning fellow who is on the way to his wedding. While en route, Prejean's horse has the bad manners to eat the expensive hat of a lovely young woman. The girl is beside herself, so Prejean gallantly offers to postpone his wedding until he can locate an identical chapeau, thereby setting in motion an endless series of comic misunderstandings. More than one historian has noted that Albert Prejean is made up to look like American two-reel comedian Charley Chase, most of whose "Imagine my embarrassment!" films were constructed pretty much along the same lines as An Italian Straw Hat. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marise Maia, Olga Tschechowa, (more)
- 1925
One of actor/director René Clair's earliest successes, the silent Le Fantome du Moulin Rouge follows in the French cinema tradition of moody, atmospheric, morbid fantasies that began with the Les Vampires serials and continued through Jacques Tourneur's Cat People. In Le Fantome, a ghost wreaks havoc on the streets of Paris while policemen and doctors search for the dead man to whom the ghost's spirit once belonged. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Milovanoff, Madeleine Rodrigue, (more)
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