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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
If you love dusty 1930s French comedies where everyone talks at the same time, this is a fun little relic. But if you can't stand crackly audio and actors who gesture wildly, you'll probably turn it off in five minutes. 🍿
Honestly, I only watched it because I am on a weird early-sound era kick. It is definitely not a masterpiece, but it has some genuine laughs.
The whole plot is just one big, silly misunderstanding about a cook and bourgeois snobs. Lucien Baroux is the main guy here, and he plays it with this permanent look of mild panic that I really related to.
There is this one scene in a dining room where a character drops a spoon. The sound recording is so primitive that the spoon hitting the plate sounds like a car crash. 🦻
It actually made me jump out of my seat.
And Tristan Bernards writing is pretty witty, though a lot of the jokes probably worked better on a theater stage. On screen, the actors seems to be shouting their lines to make sure the giant microphone hanging above them can hear them.
You can tell they were still figuring out how to make talkies back then. It does not have the beautiful visual flow of late silent films like The Pride of the Clan, but it has a weird, clunky charm of its own.
My favorite part was easily Marguerite Moreno. She has these eyes that look like she is constantly judging everyone in the room, including the audience.
She does this incredible double-take when someone mentions the food that is just gold. Absolute gold.
The middle of the movie drags a bit when they go into this long, pointless conversation about some family inheritance. I honestly zoned out for about ten minutes and looked at my phone.
But when it gets back to the chaotic dinner party stuff, it picks up again.
It is a very specific kind of movie for a very specific mood.
If you like old French theater and don't mind squinting at the subtitles, give it a go.
Just turn your volume down for the spoon scene.