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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
Is it worth watching today? Only if you have a high tolerance for 1930s French fluff and actors who gesture wildly with their hands. 🥖
If you like fast-talking comedies where nobody really learns a lesson, you will dig it.
If you hate scratchy audio and plots that could be solved by one honest conversation, you are definitely gonna have a bad time.
The movie starts off and you immediately notice how much hair gel Henri Garat is wearing.
It is impressive, honestly. It doesn't move even when he’s shouting.
He plays this guy who is trying to figure out Simone, played by Meg Lemonnier.
Meg is great. She has this energy like she just drank four espressos right before the director yelled 'action.'
She moves around the room like a pinball.
The plot is basically just a series of people entering and leaving rooms in fancy houses.
It is very much based on a stage play, and you can tell because the camera barely moves for ten minutes at a time.
Sometimes the camera stays on a doorway for five seconds after a character leaves.
It feels like the cameraman fell asleep or was waiting for a sandwich.
There is a scene in an office where a guy is shuffling papers and the sound of the paper is louder than the dialogue.
It is these little things that make me love these old movies.
They weren't perfect and they didn't try to be.
In one shot, you can see a shadow on the back wall that definitely shouldn't be there. 👻
It looks like a boom mic or maybe just a very tall ghost watching the scene.
The movie is a bit like Too Much Harmony in its lightheartedness.
But it is much more chaotic and feels a bit more 'French' in its attitude toward romance.
Simone is a character who just does things without thinking.
She decides she wants something and then the whole world has to bend to her will.
It is kind of exhausting but also a little bit aspirational?
I wish I had that much confidence in my bad decisions.
Henri Garat is the 'straight man' here, but he is not very good at it.
He keeps cracking smiles when he is supposed to be annoyed or angry.
You can tell the cast was having a lot of fun, which helps when the script gets a bit thin in the middle.
The second act feels like it goes on forever.
They are in a house, then they are in a car, then they are back in the house.
I think I checked my phone twice during the long scene where they argue about a letter.
But then Meg Lemonnier does something funny with her face and I am back in.
It is not as witty as Crazy Like a Fox.
But it has more heart, or maybe just more sweat. Everyone looks a bit sweaty under those hot studio lights.
The ending is exactly what you think it is.
It doesn't surprise you, but it feels right for a movie this silly.
Like a warm croissant that is maybe a day old. Still good, just a bit crumbly.
I wouldn't go out of my way to find a high-def version of this.
The graininess of the film actually adds to the vibe.
It feels like a secret you found in a dusty basement on a rainy Sunday.
If you have seen Daughters of Pleasure, you know how these early sound films can be a bit hit or miss.
This one is a soft hit.
It won't be your favorite movie, but you won't regret the hour or so you spent with Simone.
She really is like that. 💃
Anyway, if you like Henri Garat’s hair gel, this is the film for you. 💇♂️
IMDb —
1921
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