One of the lost masterpieces of French cinema, popular at the time, (it was released in 1939), but not much seen since. It was directed by the great Julien Duvivier, perhaps the most underrated of all the early French masters, (he also did "Pepe Le Moko" and "Un Carnet de Bal"), and the setting is a retirement home for aging actors and it stars three of the greatest actors of European cinema, Michel Simon, Victor Francen and Louis Jouvet.
Jouvet is the vain newcomer to the home, a matinee idol with a large female following and the one-time seducer of the wife of another resident, (Victor Francen, who may have been a great actor but who was never popular), and who may have been responsible for the suicide of Francen's wife. Simon is the home's resident rogue and life and soul of the place and the film is a love letter to French theatre and the art of acting. Often very funny and deeply moving and magnificently played by the three leads.
No comments:
Post a Comment