The million
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The million |
| Original title | Le Million |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 81 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | René Clair |
| script | René Clair |
| production | Frank Clifford |
| music |
Armand Bernard , Philippe Parès , Georges van Parys |
| camera |
Georges Périnal , Georges Raulet |
| cut | René Le Hénaff |
| occupation | |
| |
The Million (original title: Le Million ) is a French comedy film with musical elements from 1931. The director and screenwriter René Clair used a play by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemaud as a literary model .
action
Paris 1930: the artist Michel Bouflette is in financial difficulties. However, this does not stop him from flirting with the American Vanda and tricking her into believing that he is wealthy and has a servant. His fiancée Béatrice, who lives in the same house, doesn't like to see it and runs away angrily. But Vanda also lets him off. When his creditors gather in his house and finally want their money, he goes to Béatrice to hide with her. However, his pursuers stay close on his heels. An elderly man, who calls himself grandfather Tulipe, is also persecuted and finds refuge with Béatrice. He puts on an old Michel jacket and asks Béatrice to keep it.
Meanwhile, Michel learns to his great relief that he has won a million guilders in the Dutch lottery . His lot, however, is in the pocket of his jacket, of all places, with which Grandfather Tulipe is sneaking out of the house. Meanwhile, Béatrice goes to the theater to rehearse a performance as a ballerina. When she returns home, she meets Vanda, who rushed to see Michel after hearing that he had become a millionaire. Michel then learns that his jacket is no longer in Béatrice's apartment. His friend Prosper wants to help him find the jacket, but insists that Michel share the profit with him. Béatrice finally remembers the address her grandfather gave Tulipe, should he one day be able to return the favor for her help.
Grandfather Tulipe has sold the jacket to the opera singer Ambrosio Sopranelli, who wants to wear it in a performance of Les Bohémiens . When Michel visits grandfather Tulipe and demands the jacket back, he is mistaken for the criminal Tulipe by a police officer and arrested. When Prosper shows up at the police station to identify Michel, he pretends not to know Michel. While Prosper goes to Vanda and tells her that he will soon be very rich, Michel is released from custody. He goes to the opera with Béatrice to steal Sopranelli's jacket and lottery ticket. Prosper and Vanda also try their hand at it. However, neither Vanda nor Béatrice manage to get to the jacket in Sopranelli's dressing room without the tenor noticing. When Vanda approaches Michel, Béatrice runs away again. Michel follows her and they both land on the stage as the performance begins. They spontaneously hide behind a prop, where they reconcile with each other while Sopranelli performs a duet with his partner.
Grandfather Tulipe also appears behind the scenes and promises Béatrice to get the jacket for her. In a dramatic scene of the performance, when Sopranelli takes off another jacket, Michel, Prosper and several men instructed by Tulipe are among the extras who now all want to get hold of the jacket and tear off the sleeves in the process. After the first act of the performance, the jacket that was actually wanted is accidentally thrown out the window in the commotion. She lands on the roof of a passing taxi. This taxi then drives Michel and Béatrice home. When Michel discovered the jacket on the roof of the car, Grandfather Tulipe's men took it off again. Meanwhile, his creditors and neighbors have gathered in Michel's apartment to celebrate his lottery win at his expense. When the creditors finally want to see the lot, Michel sends to tell everyone that he no longer has it. At the same moment, Grandpa Tulipe comes in through the door with the jacket. However, the lot is no longer in the jacket pocket. When Grandfather Tulipe instead pulls the ticket out of his jacket pocket, Michel Béatrice falls happily into his arms and everyone begins to dance happily.
background
For director René Clair , Die Million was the second sound film of his career after Under the Roofs of Paris . However, he put less emphasis on the dialogues and tried rather to use the sound for comedic elements and for the songs performed in the film as best as possible.
The Million premiered in Paris on April 15, 1931 . On May 12, 1931, the film was also released in German cinemas. On April 18, 1984, it was shown for the first time on German television by NDR .
Reviews
Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times praised the cast and said The Million was "far more brilliant" than Clair's Under the Roofs of Paris . No matter how the film is called, whether as a “musical farce or melodic operetta ”, it offers “lively entertainment”. It was "a mixture of farce, burlesque , travesty and satire ", which was completed with "witty wit". Variety described the film as "imaginative" and "very entertaining" at the time. The direction, the camera work and also the sound are "excellent".
The film critic Leonard Maltin described the film in retrospect as a "charming, funny and innovative jewel by Clair". The film is "just as fun today as it was when it was first released". For the lexicon of international films , Die Million was "[e] in a comedic Singspiel that still captivates with cheerful irony and weightless poetry and is characterized by its timelessly humane spirit". According to Cinema , the film provides "[g] greatest pleasure with the simplest means".
Web links
- The Million in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Million at Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Bret Wood on tcm.com
- ↑ “René Clair, producer of Sous les Toits de Paris , is responsible for an infinitely more brilliant French language film […]. This picture […] may be referred to as a musical farce or tuneful operetta. But no matter what it is called, it is a scintillating entertainment […]. It is a combination of farce, burlesque, travesty and satire, all of which is sharpened with keen wit. " Mordaunt Hall : A French Musical Farce . In: The New York Times , May 21, 1931.
- ↑ “It is fanciful, with no attempt at probability, but is highly entertaining. […] Direction, photo and sound are excellent. " See Le Million . In: Variety , 1931.
- ↑ “[…] this charming, whimsical, innovative gem from Clair. [...] as much fun today as when first released. " Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's 2005 Movie & Video Guide . Plume, 2004, p. 799.
- ↑ The Million. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 27, 2019 .
- ↑ cf. cinema.de