Complete credited cast: | |||
Gérard Philipe | ... | Claude - un jeune compositeur rêveur | |
Martine Carol | ... | Edmée 1900 / Edmée de Villebois | |
Gina Lollobrigida | ... | La caissière du Grand Café / Leïla 1830 | |
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Magali Vendeuil | ... | Suzanne - la fille du garagiste / Suzanne 1789 |
Marilyn Buferd | ... | La postière / Madame Bonacieux (as Marylin Bufferd) | |
Raymond Bussières | ... | Roger - le garagiste / le tambour | |
Raymond Cordy | ... | Gaston / Le marquis | |
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Bernard Lajarrige | ... | Léon - le gendarme |
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Albert Michel | ... | Le facteur / Un révolutionnaire |
Palau | ... | Le vieux monsieur qui critique toutes les époques | |
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Jean Parédès | ... | Paul - le pharmacien |
Paolo Stoppa | ... | Le directeur de l'Opéra | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Le Choeur Marguerite Mercier | ... | Les choristes |
Young Claude, teacher by day, is a struggling composer by night. Alas, everyone around him seems to prefer noise to music. But in his dreams, he lives in other eras where he is appreciated, lionized, and the conquerer of delicious women (idealized forms of women he's seen in waking life). The dreams are suitably dreamlike, yet have a kind of reality, for he revisits them after waking. The conflict between waking and dream worlds leads to amusing, strange, even fantastic situations. Which world will prevail? Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
The protagonist's situation is similar to Walter Mitty's, expect that his fantasies are not waking ones, but rather, occur when he drops off to sleep, and they don't always go the way he'd have them go. The device of dream narratives shows Clair's fidelity to his surrealist roots, especially during the dream debut of the main character's "opera". I was surprised at how low other users rated this film, but I guess it's in keeping with Maltin's opinion that Clair's films after WWII were not up to his prewar standards. Ignorance is bliss, I guess: I thought it was great! Perhaps the character development is somewhat superficial, but the film is funny and fast-paced, with good production values and appealing principals.