Le Million (1931) User Reviews

Such an enjoyable, sweet, innocent movie.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 8/10 · 22 November 2007]

This is one irresistible great cheerful- and technically greatly made movie!

The movie features some of the greatest looking sets you'll ever see in a '30's movie, even though it's all too obvious that they are sets, rather than real place locations. Often if a character would fall or shake a doorpost too aggressive, the entire set would obviously move.

The best moments of the movie were the silent, more old fashioned, slapstick kind of moments. It shows that René Clair's true heart was at silent movie-making. The overall humor is really great in this movie. Also of course the musical moments were more than great. This is a really enjoyable light and simple pleasant early French musical. Though the best moments are the silent moments, that does not mean that the movie is not filled with some great humorous dialog, that gets very well delivered by the main actors, who all seemed like stage actors to me, which in this case worked extremely well for the movie its overall style and pleasant no-worries atmosphere. No wonder this worked out so well, since this movie is actually based on stage play by Georges Berr.

It's a technical really great movie, with also some great innovation camera-work in it and some really great editing, that create some fast going and pleasant to watch enjoyable sequences. There is never a dull moment in this movie!

René Clair was such a clever director, who knew how to build up and plan comical moments within in movies. It's a very creative made movie, that despite its simplicity still at all times feel as a totally original and cleverly constructed movie, that never seizes to entertain.

The last half hour is especially unforgettably fun, without spoiling too much, and is really among the greatest, as well as most creative moments in early comedy film-making.

The movie is filled with some really enjoyable characters, who are of course all very stereotypical and silly and were obviously cast because of their looks. It all adds to the pleasant light comical atmosphere and cuteness of the movie.

One of the most pleasant movies you'll ever see!

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Light fluffy movie musical that will make you smile even if you don't care about how technically ground breaking it is

[dbborroughs · 8/10 · 26 August 2006]

Rene Clair's groundbreaking musical. If you want to see where songs first drove a story this is the place. This is the story of a starving young artist who finds he's won the lottery just as his creditors come calling. Unfortunately his ticket is in his coat, which is in his girlfriends apartment and has been given to an on the run convict who then... oh but that would be telling.

This is a light and frothy story where much of the dialog is sung (most people think this didn't happen until Oklahoma or Andrew Lloyd Webber). Its the sort of movie that they don't make any more, and rarely did when they did. Its sound a film from the early days that plays like a movie from five or six years later. Clair moves his camera around in ways that not even Busby Berkeley was doing (though to be honest comparing the two film makers is unfair since Berkeley was doing essentially stage bound dance numbers and Clair was moving the camera through "the real world"). Its an amazing little movie. and its a charming movie that will just make you smile. Its just a fluffy piece of enjoyment.

I'm sorry I can't say more. Its just a nice little movie and thats really all you need to know.

Delightful Rene Clair musical

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 30 March 2010]

"Le Million" is a 1931 musical directed by Rene Clair. It's wonderful that it's available on DVD for audiences to see and enjoy it. The story concerns a starving Parisian artist Michele (Rene Lefevre) who is having a bad day. He is being hounded by every creditor in town, and as his fiancé Beatrice (Annabella) walks into his apartment, he is embracing his model. Then he realizes that he has won the Dutch lottery with his friend Prosper (Jean-Louis Allibert), but the ticket is in his coat pocket, and the coat is gone. The city-wide hunt then begins for the coat, which was taken by Beatrice and given to a needy person, who sold it to the opera singer Sopranelli. There is a hilarious scene in Sopranelli's dressing room as various people try to get the ticket out of the coat pocket. Beatrice and Michele wind up behind some scenery on the opera stage and relate to the duet that's being sung.

This film and Clair obviously influenced such talents as the Marx Brothers, Ernst Lubitsch, and Rouben Mamoulian. All the performances are good, with the beautiful Annabella, a brunette here, a standout as the ballerina Beatrice. Annabella was signed by 20th Century Fox and brought over to America around 1938, made Suez with Tyrone Power, and the two fell in love and decided to get married. In order to dissuade her and his biggest star from marrying, Zanuck offered her several films in Europe, but she refused to leave her fiancée. Zanuck made sure she didn't work much after that, effectively blacklisting her. She had a big Broadway success, worked on behalf of the troops during World War II, and returned to France after her divorce from Power. She retired in 1954. Her radio work with Power, and this film, show what a wonderful actress she was.

Very good film - highly recommended.

Very satisfying light entertainment

[zetes · 10/10 · 2 June 2000]

I have lately got into the habit of purchasing any interesting DVD that the Criterion company releases. I figure that even if I dislike the movie, Criterion usually supplies enough extra material to compensate for any shortcomings in the actual film. I read up on them, and I buy the ones which are the most interesting to me.

Le Million is my latest purchase, and I must say that I was not disappointed in the film. It is cheery, funny, and romantic. Everything about it is quite excellent. The songs are wonderful. If I understood French, I would probably hum them and sing them all day long. The acting is very good for this kind of movie. American musicals of the classic Hollywood era relied more on song and dance than the actual characters and story, but in Le Million, the characters are rather well developed and the story, while not being anything extremely impressive, is not at all lacking. I loved the developments of the relationships, especially the relationship between the once best friends Michel and Prosper. The romantic moments are also very well developed. The direction is nearly perfect, with several very memorable moments. Probably the single most perfect scene of the film occurs right after the lead couple has an argument. They hide on the stage of an opera performance, and the opera singers sing lines which the couple, Michel and Beatrice, interpret to their own situation. This is definitely one of the high points in cinema history. The scene managed to make me laugh, to win me over with a very sweet romance, and make me smirk at just how clever the director was. I give this film a 9/10.

P.S. - Some information for anyone who has the same faith in Criterion that I do and is planning to buy it. Amongst the Criterion discs I now own, Le Million contains the fewest features. All it has is a photo gallery (not all that useful; one might flip through it once) and a rare television interview with Rene Clair, the director. This piece is of some interest. He was one of the many directors who had started out in silent film, and when talkies were first appearing, he said that they represented the death of film. I think most film-savvy people understand what these directors meant when they said that, but it is interesting to hear him explain it. Also, if you have read the description of this movie on Amazon.com, please note that they were wrong in one important respect: not every line in the film is sung. In fact, it contains no more songs than a regular musical. It is actually a lot more like a Chaplin or Buster Keaton or Marx Brothers film. My criticisms of the disc are not that important. Heck, Criterion has the right to smack me around for making those complaints. The fact is, their people probably spent hundreds of hours fixing up a film which only 20 (now 21!) people have voted for on imdb, and only about a hundred people, if that, will ever see the film. Heck, if you look at the Criterion web site, Le Million is nowhere to be found. I have no clue why not. It's something they should really be proud of (of course, their web site is surprisingly horrible). They did a fine job on this film. Bravo! They deserve all the money I can stand to give them!

Thoroughly enjoyable

[albrechtcm · 10/10 · 30 August 2013]

When two starving artists learn their lottery ticket has won, the race is on, but — where's the ticket? Although as of today, this film is 82 years old, it is still one of the most watchable and enjoyable films I've seen. It has a bit of everything, humor, pathos, screwball comedy, drama...you name it. In this madcap race to find a winning lottery ticket, you may be reminded of some of the scavenger hunt films or other films such as Million Dollar Mystery, or It's a Mad Mad World, but this one stands by itself. Half Tom and Jerry cartoon, half musical, a little opera, starving artists, sly criminals, beautiful women and a really beleaguered taxi driver...and all funny. Not to be missed.

A Very Funny & Very Creative Musical Feature

[Snow Leopard · 20 January 2005]

Besides being very amusing, this French musical feature is quite creative as well. René Clair's light touch is perfect for the material, and it gives the movie a style all its own. In particular, it stands out as one of the best of the earlier sound movies that adopted a musical format.

The story is the kind of simple but amusing premise that, in the right hands, can be built up into a hilarious situation. And that is what Clair does here - beginning with some entertaining misadventures that introduce the characters, he then sets up the main story about the lottery ticket, and from there on it builds up nicely both in humor and in complexity. The climactic sequence in the opera house is a well-crafted, extended slapstick sequence that also includes some interesting parallels.

The cast works well, with Annabella particularly standing out with her engaging performance as Béatrice.

The style is an interesting contrast from what eventually became the norm in movie musicals. The musical sequences, which vary considerably in length, are for the most part worked naturally into the flow of events, rather than being set off as separate numbers. Clair and the cast make this format work well. The overall result is a very enjoyable movie that you will also remember for its imaginative approach.

Ticket To Ride

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 13 October 2012]

Though I've never been particularly enamoured of Rene Clair the opening sequence of this early Sound film makes it easy to see what he attracted so much admiration. He allows his camera to swoop over the rooftops of Paris albeit the roofs are on a sound stage rather than in real Parisian streets; the tracking shot lasts for close to a minute before coming to a halt at an open skylight where two men are peering down into a scene of revelry below. Someone tosses them a bottle of champagne, someone else offers an explanation and we are off to the races. An impoverished artist, dunned on all sides by creditors, learns from the newspaper that he holds a winning lottery ticket. In theory. The ticket is in his jacket pocket, his fiancé has given the jacket to a passing stranger, in turn he has ... and in 1931 that was the basis for an engaging comedy with music rather than a more conventional musical comedy. The very next year Rodgers and Hart adapted and refined the concept in Love Me Tonight but the template was Clairs'. After 80 plus years it's asking a lot but nevertheless it retains a great deal of its charm.

A meticulously executed masterpiece

[aw-pub · 10/10 · 15 April 2007]

If one would see a René Clair film with the kind of distracted semi-attention which is the rule in TV watching - one might be better off doing something different.

Watching "Le Million" with all attention focused upon what takes place before eyes and ears will reveal a wealth of delightful details which keep this musical comedy going from the beginning to the end with its explosion of joy.

In the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende a journalist once wrote: "In my younger days I saw a film which made me feel like dancing all the way home from the cinema. This film is on TV tonight - see it!"

a brilliantly maneuvered divertissement throbbing with elation and kinetics

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 11 May 2017]

French taste-maker René Clair's early talkie, LE MILLION sees him tackle with an archetypal musical experiment, intelligently weaves diegetic aural accompaniment (three composers are involved) into its caper plot, a tuneful piano piece here, a melodious chorus emerging inside a character's head there, and a large chunk of the farce is circumscribed inside a theater where LES BOHÉMINES is on to boot.

The plot is a no-brainer, Michel Bouflette (Lefèvre), a down-and-out artist, albeit of being assailed by debtors (butcher, grocer etc.), he is still inclined to cop a feel with a hussy Vanda (Gréville), which ruffles the feathers of his fiancée Béatrice (Annabella). When his friend Prosper (Allibert, devilish handsome) delivers him the thrilling news that they have won the lottery for one million Dutch florins, only to their dismay, the lottery ticket is inside Michel's jacket which has been given away to a criminal mastermind Grandpa Tulip (Ollivier) by Béatrice.

So the rest of the story is a race to trace the where-about of the jacket and try to reclaim the ticket, from Grand Tulip's shop, a camouflage for his unlawful business, to a stint in the police office (where Prosper turns Janus-faced), then the opera theater where a tenor Ambrosio Sporanelli (Siroesco) decides to wear the said jacket to perform in public. It is a cat-and-mouse knockabout between team Michael and team Prosper, both are aided by a female sidekick (Béatrice and Vanda respectively), which is a common trope being played again and again ad nauseam, even. While a third party, namely Grandpa Tulip's men, also lay their hands on the jacket, not for the lottery, surprisingly, but to reciprocate the kindness to whom Grandpa Tulip is beholden, which means a celebratory ending!

Clair has a distinguished flair in sublimating Parisian cityscape for audience's admiration and a dab-hand who can infuse alluring sophistication into the film's chipper comedic agility and timing, the cast is animated and gung-ho, to a point of betraying an impression of self-awareness, as if to reaffirm their rapt viewers that it is a show for laughter, all in all, a brilliantly maneuvered divertissement throbbing with elation and kinetics.

Unique charm

[ilprofessore-1 · 8/10 · 19 January 2009]

The French director Rene Clair, who is often forgotten when the great pioneers of film technique are mentioned, made this innovative film in 1931 in the very early days of sound films. The delightful mix of silent-movie style slapstick, spoken and sung dialogue, opera parody and song, moving camera and inter-cutting obviously influenced Rodgers and Hart and Rouben Mamoulian who a year later attempted the same sort of musical, "Love Me Tonight," with Chevalier at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Clair's unique genius is in his ability to twist reality and create a fairy-tale world. In this film he sustains his particular brand of magic from the first model shots of the roofs of Paris to last scenes backstage at the opera. Yes, the story is very silly and highly improbable, but the charm of it, the Parisian charm, is undeniable. Much credit must be given to the cinematographer, the great Georges Périnal who later worked in England and photographed many of the great Alexander Korda films.

Le Million

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 2 April 2020]

I found out about this French film because it was in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it sounded like it could be good from the description, so I looked forward to it, directed by René Clair (À Nous la Liberté). Basically, in Paris, Michel Bouflette (René Lefèvre) is a debt-ridden artist with various debts from hounding creditors. To make matters worse, he has upset his fiancée Béatrice (Annabella) after she witnessed him embracing a woman whose portrait he was painting. Michel discovers that his luck may be about to change when he discovers that he has won a lottery worth a million Dutch florins. However, his winning ticket is in the pocket of his jacket, which Béatrice has given away to a stranger supposedly in need. When news of this spreads, everyone becomes interested in finding this jacket, including a criminal nicknamed "Grandpa Tulip" Crochard (Paul Ollivier). Michel tracks down the jacket to an opera theatre where a tenor is performing "Les Bohémiens". After a short stint in jail, Michel makes it to the theatre, but ends up in a madcap chase with Béatrice as they try to regain the ticket. The jacket ends up flying out of a window onto the roof of a taxi, Michel chases after it in another taxi. The chase eventually stops, but when Michel retrieves the jacket, his search for the ticket is thwarted by associates of Grandpa Tulip who force him to hand it over. Feeling dejected, he returns to his apartment to find his creditors in good spirits, as they think that they will be repaid. Before Michel is about to tell them the bad news, Tulip enters the apartment with a jacket. Thinking that this is his original jacket, Michel searches the pockets. Finding them empty, he tells Tulip that he actually wanted a ticket in the pocket, which Tulip subsequently produces, having taken it out of the jacket before giving it away. He is overjoyed to have it back again, as is Béatrice and many people who enter, and they all celebrate Michel's newfound fortune. Also starring Jean-Louis Allibert as Prosper and Constantin Siroesco as Ambrosio Sopranelli. It is a fairly simple story of chase across Paris to get back a winning jackpot ticket, it has some amusing moments, stylish camerawork and cinematography, and catchy music and tunes, it is a charming enough musical comedy. Good!

Brilliant early musical comedy

[ndean · 10/10 · 27 November 2003]

A wonderful early musical film from Rene Clair, as fun and witty as his silent "The Italian Straw Hat". Using sound in a expressive way and not just for dialogue and effects, Clair influenced early musicals in America (the opera scene from A Night at the Opera is strongly influenced by Le Million, for example). Should (but won't) be seen by all cinephiles, and the DVD from Criterion is exactly as good as you'd expect. There's not a ton of extras, but most DVD extras I've seen are useless fluff, and the Clair interview on disc is one I hadn't ever seen. Get it while it's still around.

où est le veston?

[AAdaSC · 4/10 · 16 February 2019]

Struggling artist René Lefèvre (Michel) is painting his latest model/mistress and gold-digger Vanda Gréville (Vanda) when his ballet-dancing fiancée Béatrice (Annabella) walks in on them and isn't happy with the situation. At the same time, we discover that Lefèvre is skint and a large group of people come calling for payment that he owes. He is in a pickle! There is hope. A lottery ticket will resolve everything if only the ticket can be located. So begins a lottery ticket hunt.

The film is a musical comedy and whilst there are moments that are quite funny, due to the manner in which the characters act the part or deliver the dialogue, I couldn't find any music. There is plenty of singing but no actual music. No tunes, just utter rubbish. There are also sequences of French bedroom farce, only set in an Opera House, with endless characters running around. It's pretty tiresome. And I'm afraid this type of comedy paired with the overlong musical sections renders the film a bit of a bore.

The two main characters who play the best friends clearly aren't best friends, the technique of laboriously singing the story to develop the plot grates the nerves and it's a shame. The film did inspire me to buy a lottery ticket. However, I've just come back from the shop with a bottle of wine but forgot to buy the ticket. Sacré bleu!

In the tradition of Marx Brothers and Charles Chaplin

[eibon04 · 24 January 2002]

One of a rare breed of films which crosses elements of the silent and sound period. Le Million(1931) is excellent in its comic routes and brilliant in its storytelling abilitites. Rene Clair does wonders with the material which is top notch. Le Million(1931) is an inspiration to any comedy done within the seven decades.

Le Million.. Make This Your First Foreign Film

[JLRMovieReviews · 10/10 · 10 February 2010]

Made in 1931, this foreign film should be seen and enjoyed more often.

We open on a quiet little French village, scanning the roofs of the sleeping citizens. Then we hear something that sounds like a party. Upon investigating the uproar, two neighboring men are told the story of two men, supposedly friends, who picked two numbers for the lottery.

Our star of the picture has his number and his friend his. When he asks his friend, would he share half of the dough, should his ticket be the winning number, his friend promptly says no. In fact, H.E. double hockey sticks no! is the way he acts about it.

So when our man discovers he has the winning ticket and that it has been lost, through no fault of his own, he is frantic. Everyone is out for themselves, looking for this ticket, in something like a precursor to "The Great Race." Even though this is all a flashback, I was in knots the whole time and got so upset over every little thing in this all-for-me show-me-the-money cash-in-the-bank film. Watch Le Million today!

Who Says the Fat Lady Never Sings?

[rpvanderlinden · 10/10 · 9 April 2011]

It begins with a wondrous swoop of the camera over the rooftops of Paris, at night. A man climbs a ladder and peeks into a lit skylight. There's a party going on, below. The party-goers ALL look up and see the man and tell him, IN SONG, that they're celebrating and they have a story to tell. They toss him a bottle of champagne. They sing and dance, as the shot dissolves to a couple alone in the room, kissing. It's an astonishing opening sequence. And so Rene Clair begins to weave his magical, charming, funny story. I like to bore people by telling them that I can tell if I'm going to like a movie within the first five minutes. "Le Million" took me all of five seconds. It is nothing more or less than a farce, a romp, with people of all shapes and sizes, all with varying motives tearing through hallways and popping in and out of doorways with dizzying regularity. Two coinciding chases collide. A "serious" opera morphs into a game of touch football. And every so often - quite often, in fact - people just start singing! There's a lovely operetta duet onstage that frames the real thing going on behind the scenes. And best of all, with all the fun poked at various characters, and all the little satirical jabs, there isn't a mean-spirited moment in the entire film. How rare is that? I wonder if Blake Edwards thought of this film when he was writing the script for "Victor/Victoria". And yes, Virginia, there is a fat lady - and she sings!

an excellent little movie

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 21 September 2005]

Had this movie been made just a few years later, I would have knocked down the score a point or two because the sound quality was rather poor. At times, the movie appeared to be a silent film during the in-between-scenes (normal ambient sounds are missing). But, given it was 1931 and a French movie, this is quite forgivable. Especially since this also occurs in later French films--by which time the sound difficulties should have been worked out completely (such as in L'Atalante from 1934).

Okay, apart from some minor sound problems, this is a cute little film about a missing winning lottery ticket and a long list of people trying to get it. And, during the search there are lots of jaunty little songs that you can't help but like. A nice charming film all-in-all.

Outstanding

[efisch · 9/10 · 14 August 2013]

A truly great film, unlike anything you've ever seen. Hilarious, complicated, delightful and a musical. So original that I've never seen anything this different. Great direction by Rene Clair. It's easy to see the Chaplin and/or Clair influences including chase sequences, fight sequences, opera spoofs. An early sound/silent blend that is masterfully done. Unique and entertaining with great performances. This movie contains all the elements of comedy, music, farce, and timing. A must see, you will not be disappointed! Charming and thoroughly enjoyable. Excellent restoration print. Easy to read subtitles that match the musical text.

an exquisite french musical!

[framptonhollis · 9/10 · 26 February 2017]

Rene Clair is among the most unique and underrated auteurs of French cinema. His films were often amusing and visually interesting, and on those levels his masterful musical-comedy "Le Million" certainly does not disappoint! The sets he uses are surreal and beautiful, and the way his camera soars through the action is nothing other than brilliant. This is a wonderfully made and entertaining movie that will please all of those with a tolerance for subtitles and an overall love of cinema. It's charmingly made and scripted, and the plot is not only outrageous and funny, but also quite entertaining and engaging.

The only real problem I had with this film was its lack of truly interesting characters. None of the characters were extremely well developed or three dimensional. However, this film is much more of a plot oriented film, the humor and tension comes from the situations rather than those in the situations. Unfortunately, films like this can never reach perfection, for a real cinematic masterpiece would incorporate both elements. However, this film is still miles away better than a vast majority you will ever see. I think it may be even better than last year's musical hit "La La Land"-another film that I really enjoyed!

Classic Musical

[Michael_Elliott · 26 September 2009]

Le million (1931)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Extremely charming and inventive French comedy takes a simple idea and really expands it to something special. A starving artist name Michel (Rene Lefevre) is being hounded by collectors when he realizes that he's won the lottery. He rushes to get his coat where the ticket is but learns his girlfriend (Annabella) has given it away, which leads to a wild chase in hopes of getting it back. I wasn't sure what to expect when entering this film because I had heard that it contained some pretty strange things but within minutes I was caught up in the story and the way it was being played out. I don't think the movie is laugh out loud funny but it doesn't really need to be. In fact, I think the story could have gone for more slapstick and gotten bigger laughs but, in a strange way, it's smarter than that and goes for something completely different. Having the actors sing their dialogue makes this film come off very fresh today and I can't imagine and fresh and unique it must have been in 1931 when many sound films didn't sound all that great. The delivery of the music is top-notch and many of the "songs" are better than what Americans were hearing in their musicals then. Another major plus are the performances, which are all very charming but Lefevre really carries the thing as he floats around like a feather and really hits all the right moves. The one thing that didn't work too well for me was the rather long sequence at the opera. I thought some of it went on a tad bit too long, although the football scene here was greatly directed.

"Assassin! Artiste!"

[boblipton · 9/10 · 20 July 2023]

René Lefèvre has won the lottery, but lost the ticket.

That's all René Clair needs to make a classic comedy about a place where people sing and dance, and fall in and out of love under the roofs of Paris. He had not been anxious to make a talkie film, but came to realize the possibilities of sound: not just canned theater, but something that combined the heightened reality of silent film with the noise and clamor and music of sound. His previous movie had set the tone for this, and here we have a movie that's even better, as the specter of riches appear and disappear with the joy of love with Annabella, friendship with Jean-Louis Allibert, and the sentimental larceny of Paul Ollivier and his troupe of apaches in evening clothes.

I have seen this movie once previously. I was stunned at its inventiveness, and have hesitated to look at it again. Could it live up to the warm, faded glow of my memory?

Yes.

Rene Clair's Classic Revolutionizes Musicals

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 18 September 2022]

French director Rene Clair was sad to see the silent era pass by. The veteran filmmaker "quiet" movies were admired during the 1920s, highlighted by his 1928 "The Italian Straw Hat." Clair viewed the early all-talking pictures, based mostly on staged plays, as relying on heavy dialogue. In his mind, the talk, talk, talk of these early audible films dragged down the visuals of what he felt movies were all about.

Clair's first part-talkie, 1930 'Under the Roofs of Paris,' still contained long silent segments to carry the plot forward. For his next movie, an adaptation of a Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemand play, Clair, in his innovative creative mind, not only accepted the new audible technology, his April 1931's "Le Million" turned out to be an inventive French musical comedy that showed the cinematic world how sound could be shaped in a new entertaining way. The tale has a poverty-stricken painter, Michel (Rene Lefevre), discovering his lottery ticket is a winner for one million Dutch florins (that's real cash). But the ticket sits inside his jacket, which he gave to his girlfriend, Beatrice (Annabella), to sew. Sympathetic to a criminal who was running from police, she gave it to him to elude the law.

Clair was one of the few auteurs at the time who wrote their own scripts, directed and edited the final version. Since part of the story deals with a ballerina (Beatrice) and is centered around a stage performance, "Le Million" contains a mix of song-and-dance numbers as well as witty dialogue. Clair was one of the first to have his songs advance the narrative of the plot instead of just stand alone set pieces solely designed to entertain. As film critic Dudley Andrew wrote, "Characters don't walk or gesture so much as half-dance their way from scene to scene."

Another cleaver use of sound occurs during the tussle for the jacket with the ticket still inside. Clair inserts a recording of a rugby crowd's cheers and applause to add an extra layer of comedy to this frenetic film. There are large segments where the visuals are shown with no dialogue, just a background soundtrack, reflecting Clair's love affair with his departed silent movie habits. As movie critic Pauline Kael noted, "no one else has ever been able to make a comedy move with such delicate, dreamlike inevitability. This movie is lyrical, choreographic, giddy--it's the best French musical of its period."

For those skeptics at the time who scoffed at talkies, and nostalgically clung to the hope audio dialogue would go by the way of the dinosaur, "Le Million" was Clair's retort to such thinking. He showed that with imagination and inventive images, including his famous opening shot of the cityscape of Paris, the visual medium could be enhanced by the imaginative use of sound to sustain a highly entertaining, uproariously humorous movie. The editors of "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" felt Clair was so successful in the new medium they included "Le Million" in their reference book.

Enjoyable Musical

[sb-47-608737 · 8/10 · 12 September 2018]

There are two ways to rate a movie, in a passive way, or transport yourself to the period when it was made and then see, whether it had some added value over the other movies of its genre? These added values, which we of today may conveniently overlook, were the mile stones through which the art (and science) of movies progressed.

Did this movie add? Compared to many movies it did, but at these times European (and expatriate Europeans who made Hollywood their home) had been exceptional. There are scores of even silent movies that were not only sublime but more eloquent than most of the talkies. Garbo being one of the major proponent of this art, but she wasn't alone. Gish, Pickford etc too almost reached that perfection in few cases. One can't overlook actors like Asta Nielson who weren't infant in acting during infancy of cinema (early 1910).

This movie, in addition to well placed songs, which in fact carried the story forward to quite some extent. Even the classicals, in La Boheme, was well made, despite (as some one pointed out, fat soprano). It had some other features too, one of them was the beautiful geometric pattern of roofs in the panoramic scan in the beginning and also interesting geometric patterns of the apartment during Tulip Chase (also in the early parts), these were pure piece of art. The story is nothing complex (but may be because there had been several movies on this theme), one I liked better, was Becker's Antoine et Antoinette, but that was more than 15 years junior to it, so a lot of merit point comes here.

Sit back, relax, and think it is an 1931 movie, and with the expectations tuned, one could really enjoy this movie.

Creative millions

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 21 May 2020]

Saw 'Le Million' for four main reasons. Firstly, the premise was really appetising. Silly but it sounded very charming. Secondly, have always appreciated highly "classic film", dating way back from as early as 6 or 7 seeing the likes of 'The Wizard of Oz' for the first time. Thirdly, early talkies were a very mixed bag with some of them being less than great but enough of them were good and interesting.

Lastly, have liked what has been seen of Rene Clair's, in his second sound film, work, ever since seeing 'And Then There Were None' for the first time. 'Le Million' for me was a wonderful film and a refreshing one that was much needed during a terrible time, one of the best seen in a while of all my first time viewings and that is saying something. It is proof that not all early talkies were stiff, stage-bound, talky or creaky. Along with 1929's 'Applause' and 1931's 'Marius' (the first part of the wonderful Marseille Trilogy), it is among the best and really stands out for its creativity only seen before as far as early talkies go in 'Applause'.

What is immediately striking is the fluidity and sophistication of the cinematography. None of the static or stilted quality seen in some early talkies when first transitioning from silent to sound, instead it is the most creative and sophisticated early talkie visually since 'Applause', just as innovative and it is technique-wise more refined than that film. Really liked the sets too, sure they were studio sets but strikingly designed ones. The music is absolutely delightful and very cleverly used, not only is it consistently harmonious with what's going on it is lovely, very infectious and evokes a lot of emotions in its own way.

The way the sound is used in 'Le Million' also makes it stand out. Sound technology was still in relative infancy, but is used to remarkably professional effect that didn't come as clumsy experimenting but instead coming over like the technique was near perfected. It is also as innovatively done as 'Applause', which was also revolutionary in its use of sound technology, but perhaps more refined. The script is both funny and charming, tightened enough to not make it be too rambling.

Although the story may be silly, it is delightfully so in an endearing way, is very clever and never felt forced to me. Never does it feel dull either. The characters are easy to engage with and are interesting. Clair's direction is immaculate and he is one of the few very early sound film directors to seem comfortable in the transition from silent to sound in the finished product (a big example of directors being unsuccessful in being comfortable with it is DW Griffith), it may not have been the case off camera but it doesn't show on it.

Can't fault the performances either, with lovely Annabella carrying the film with style and graceful charm. Absolutely loved the climax too, one of the funniest and most imaginative endings for any film seen recently.

In summary, wonderful. 10/10

Ironic fates

[chaos-rampant · 11 December 2012]

The story is enjoyable fluff, zipping past in a droll flurry of conniving, gaffe, hysterical chase, mistaken identity, public dishonesty, false appearances, and social hypocrisy around money. A snotty starving artist who owes everyone wins the lottery but his fateful jacket upstairs is missing and makes its round of Paris.

Now for the musical touch.

The jacket ends in the hands of an opera singer who thinks it authentic ('bohemian') enough for his stage costume—it's closing night for a bohemian opera. The singer is rich but gets no satisfaction out of his art, constantly bickers with his co-star, lecherously chases skirt backstage. Our man along with the girl that is secretly in love with him follow the jacket on stage, as curtains go up and the show begins.

What follows is a magical moment where the fake bohemian couple provide the song that conciliates the two lovers hiding on the same stage behind a piece of scenery, a marvelous setup.

In the dreamlike reality of the musical, the jacket is miraculously retrieved, miraculously snatched away in the next beat, and—lo— miraculously presented again in the finale. All because he realized the richness of love.

And how about this as framework? A vast tracking shot opens the film, over a sleeping city to a rooftop where two neighbours peer from a window to wild celebration below. The two of them wonder why the ruckus, which is promptly followed by the dancers relating the story that is our film. I am in awe of how they achieved the shot, it looks like they had to build a few acres of cityscape inside the studio.