Biscot se trompe d'étage

Hard slapstick disappeared from the French cinema with the First World War -- perhaps the destruction of the war made the chaos on the movie screen less agreeable to the movie-going public. By the time Jacques Feyder began making movies, he was able to concentrate more on social comedies. In this one, however, he offers us a variation on the Drunk Act, best remembered from Charlie Chaplin's ONE A.M., based upon a skit he performed in Karno's pantomime troupe.

This is apparently an attempt to build up a screen star on the order of Chaplin and Biscot's leisurely trip home and to bed is amusingly done -- particularly when he finds himself in a series of wrong apartments. It's a very pleasant comedy, but it's one that could have been directed by any of several directors.