069 - 1,000,000 (Le Million), 1931, France. Dir. Rene Clair.

Friday, March 10, 2017

069 - 1,000,000 (Le Million), 1931, France. Dir. Rene Clair.

Somebody, hurry!  Catch that jacket!

That jacket?

Yes!  Hurry!

It looks like a tramp would wear it.

Catch it!

In fact, the tenor from the Opera Lyrique just picked it up from the thrift store for his Bohemian character in the show tonight.

Go get it!

Those performers sure do like to go thrifting for their wardrobe.

What's the big deal about a dirty old jacket?

Well, it does have the winning lottery ticket in it.

The winning lottery ticket!

Worth one million florins.

One million florins!

What is a florin?

In this case, it is a Dutch Guilder.

A florin is a Dutch Guilder?

In this case.

Not the English currency or the Italian currency but the currency of the Netherlands.

On February 4, in the year of our Lord 1931, in the year of our film Le Million, it was worth approximately one-third of a French franc.

So a million florins was actually almost 3 million francs.

Which, doing some quick math and adjusting for inflation, yields about $2,350,000 in 2017.

Anyway, it is a lot of money.

Beatrice, Darling, we're going to be rich!

Wait.

That was not Beatrice that Michel was kissing.  That was Vanda.

Michel is a painter.  He is painting Vanda's portrait.

Beatrice walks in on them.

He is not painting Vanda's portrait.  He is kissing Vanda.

Beatrice walks out.

Vanda is suspicious.  "You're probably wooing her."

Michel explains.  "No, we're just sort of engaged."

Engaged!

But this is a light-hearted French comedy.  The result will not be pain and suffering.  The result will be madcap hijinks.

Here we go.

Michel has purchased a lottery ticket and placed the ticket in his jacket pocket.  A tattered old jacket.  One which he happened to be wearing.

He left that jacket in Beatrice's apartment, across the hallway from his own.

A man named Grandpa Tulip was running from the police.  He came up the stairs.

He found himself in Beatrice's apartment and played the piano with her, so as to disguise himself from the police.

He left with the jacket.  Beatrice gave it to him to keep him from taking her valuable items.

Grandpa Tulip left the jacket with the shop.

The opera tenor picked it up.  The opera tenor plans to wear it in the show.

Meanwhile two groups of people are marching and singing: the shopkeepers and the foot police.

The shopkeepers are Michel's creditors.  They want their money.  They are tough on him, until they find out he won the lottery.  Then they are sweet to him.  Syrupy sweet.  They buy things in his name to celebrate.

The foot police are ready to drag anyone in, as long as he looks remotely suspicious.  Including that man in the boxer shorts and bowler hat.  Because, of course there is a man wearing only boxer shorts and a bowler hat.

The two groups sing!

They sing about what they are doing as they are doing it.

This is an unusual kind of musical.

It is not a musical until it is.  And then when it is, it is more like the singing of dialogue.  We are anticipating a future movie called The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Yesterday we discovered that Rene Clair came out of the silent era and applied those techniques to his early sound films.

He does it here.

And it is fun.  La la la la!

There will be a showdown at the Opera Lyrique tonight.

With mayhem backstage.

And a kind of football game or rugby match onstage.

With Michel and Beatrice sitting in the set pieces as the opera man and opera woman sing.

As if the opera man and opera woman were singing about Michel and Beatrice.

And the flower petals fall.  Shaken from a box by a man on the catwalk.

Every good couple could use a dose of falling flower petals every now and again.  Spice up the romance.

How will it all turn out?

Will they catch the jacket?

Will they recapture the million?

Let us hope so.

For Michel's sake.

After all, those shopkeepers are back at the apartment running up a hefty tab.