Le million
Directed by Rene Clair
Written by Rene Clair from a play by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemaud
1931/France
Films Sonores Tobis
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. — George Orwell, 1984
Another fun musical soufflé from Rene Clair.
A penniless young Parisian artist’s (Rene Lefevre) creditors are all breathing down his neck when he wins a million in the lottery. Only problem is the ticket is in the pocket of his jacket, which he gave to his ballerina girlfriend (Annabella) to mend, and his girlfriend gave the jacket to a bum, and the bum sold the jacket and … you get the picture.
The story also follows the on-again-off-again romance of artist and ballerina. His rival for her attentions believes he should have half or all of the winnings and he pursues the ticket as well.
I find these things enchanting, though I’m not convinced the film will remain on my top ten list for its year after seeing some new movies.
