Man About Town (1947)
"Le silence est d'or" (original title)

1910 : A friend leaves his daughter, Lucette, with Emile a French film producer. Emile falls in love with her. Problems starts when his young friend Jacques returns from military service ... See full summary »

Directors:

René Clair, Robert Pirosh

Writers:

René Clair (scenario & dialogue), Robert Pirosh (english adaptation)

Stars:

Maurice Chevalier, François Périer, Marcelle Derrien

4 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maurice Chevalier	...	Emile Clément
François Périer	...	Jacques Francet
Marcelle Derrien	...	Madeleine Célestin
Dany Robin	...	Lucette
Raymond Cordy	...	Le Frisé
Bernard La Jarrige	...	Paulo
Paul Ollivier	...	Le comptable
Christiane Sertilange	...	Marinette
Roland Armontel	...	Célestin -un acteur de théâtre
Paul Demange	...	Le sultan de Socotora
Max Dalban	...	Cricri - un machiniste
Jean Daurand	...	Alfred - un machiniste
Albert Michel	...	Zanzi
Gaston Modot	...	Gustave - le caméraman
Robert Pizani	...	Monsieur Duperrier

Storyline

1910 : A friend leaves his daughter, Lucette, with Emile a French film producer. Emile falls in love with her. Problems starts when his young friend Jacques returns from military service complaining his misfortune with women. Once he follows Emile's advice to have an affair, he meets Lucette and falls in love with her instead.

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Plot Keywords:

love | tour | film producer | song | france | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

French

Release Date:

21 May 1947 (France)

Also Known As:

Man About Town

Filming Locations:

Studios Pathé-Cinéma - 6 rue Francoeur, Paris 18, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pathé Consortium Cinéma, RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emile Clément was to be played by Raimu, but the actor died before filming began.

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Connections

Featured in To Each His Own Cinema (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Pigalle"
Performed by Maurice Chevalier
(only in the English version)

User Reviews

Middle Aged Nostalgia and Lost Love

Rene Clair finished out the war in the United States and returned to France, but it was a France changed from the one he had become a film director in. His youthful surrealistic works, the early sound films where he reinvented Paris, all were gone. So he had no choice but to recreate the Paris he loved in this film about a love triangle, with Maurice Chevalier unwittingly planning his own cuckolding like a silent film his character is directing.

While it might seem to some that Clair should have used as its background the Paris of SOUS LES TOITS DE Paris and LE MILLION, what better way to show your love than through a realistic camera, using techniques that suggested reality through realistic detail? Besides, wasn't his audience anxious to forget the horrors of the War and see a show about a time when the only problem was losing the girl you loved?

Clair has left in some of the surrealism. When the characters are happy, there is singing all around. People whistle. Crowds gather in the street to harmonize. And the star is Maurice Chevalier in a straight role. This is not the sort of movie you'd expect to see with Clair's name attached to it, but it is as heartfelt and as loving of Paris in his youth, as he remembered and wished to tell of it.

Alas, the New Wave never forgave him, even when they grew up and started to use these techniques themselves. Like all young people, like Clair himself when young, they loved the flash for its own sake; it didn't matter what the fireworks celebrated, so long as the roman candles went off.