Le Million (1931)

An impoverished painter and his rival engage in a race across Paris to recover a jacket concealing a winning lottery ticket.

Director:

René Clair

Writers:

Georges Berr (play), René Clair

Stars:

Annabella, René Lefèvre, Jean-Louis Allibert

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Annabella	...	Béatrice
René Lefèvre	...	Michel Bouflette
Jean-Louis Allibert	...	Prosper (as Louis Allibert)
Paul Ollivier	...	Granpère Tulipe
Constantin Siroesco	...	Ambrosio Sopranelli
Raymond Cordy	...	Le chauffeur de taxi
Vanda Gréville	...	Vanda
Odette Talazac	...	La cantatrice
Pedro Elviro	...	Le régisseur (as Pitouto)
Jane Pierson	...	L'épicière
André Michaud	...	Le boucher
Eugène Stuber	...	Le policier
Pierre Alcover	...	Le policier
Armand Bernard	...	Le chef d'orchestre
Gabrielle Rosny

Storyline

Michel, a Parisian artist, is being hounded by numerous impatient creditors. To make things worse, when he is embracing the woman whose portrait he is painting, he is surprised by his indignant fiancée Béatrice. Suddenly, Michel learns that he holds the winning ticket in the Dutch Lottery. But when he goes to retrieve the ticket from the pocket of his jacket, he finds that Béatrice has given the jacket to a stranger who was in need. Now everyone has a keen interest in finding that jacket.

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Plot Keywords:

betrayal by a friend | jacket | painter | stage act | stage performance | 

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Taglines:

New FRENCH Film success! By the genius who directed "Sous les Toits de Paris"

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Genres:

Musical | Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 February 1931 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Le Million

Company Credits

Production Co:

Films Sonores Tobis

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Connections

Featured in Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (1995)

User Reviews

Delightful Rene Clair musical

"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.