L'amour en cage (1934) review - Anny Ondra is way too wild for this movie

If you have seventy minutes to spare and a soft spot for dusty, chaotic 1930s French comedies, L'amour en cage is a weirdly fun watch. Anyone who loves fast-talking farces where people hide in closets will probably have a good time. But if you hate high-pitched shrieking and plotlines that make zero sense, please stay far away. 😅

I stumbled on this one because of Henry Kosters name on the writing credits. Yes, the same guy who later made big Hollywood movies. Here, he is just throwing jokes at the wall to see what sticks.

Anny Ondra is a literal hurricane

The whole thing basically runs on the manic energy of Anny Ondra. She plays a girl who gets caught up in a ridiculous web of lies, and her face does things that don't seem humanly possible. Seriously, her eyes get so wide I thought they might pop out of her head.

She reminds me a bit of the lead in The Madcap Musician, just totally untamed. You can tell the director just pointed the camera at her and said, "Go wild, Anny."

There is this one scene where she tries to hide behind a tiny birdcage. It is so dumb, but I laughed out loud anyway. The movie doesn't care about logic, and honestly, neither did I at that point.

The guys in the cast are just... there

René Lefèvre is the romantic lead, I guess? He has the charisma of a wet paper towel next to Ondra. He mostly just stands around looking confused while she spins around him like a top.

And the supporting guys? Just a bunch of loud, middle-aged French dudes shouting at each other in small rooms. It gets a bit exhausting after the third screaming match. 😫

Sometimes the sound quality is so scratchy you can barely hear the dialogue. But then again, they are mostly just yelling "Mon Dieu!" so you aren't missing much deep philosophy.

Random notes while watching:

• The set design looks like it was put together in twenty minutes with leftover furniture from a theater basement.
• There is a dog in one scene that looks incredibly bored with the whole production. I felt a spiritual connection to that dog.
• Why does everyone enter a room by slamming the door? My ears are still ringing.
• The music cue when the lovers hug is so loud it scared my cat.

It is definitely not a masterpiece like some other relationship comedies of the era, maybe like Husbands and Wives. It is just a goofy, loud relic of its time.

If you want something polished, go elsewhere. But if you want to see a silent film star transition to talkies by yelling her way through France, give it a spin. It has a strange charm that is hard to hate.