Le Million - Criterion Collection
by Ren? Clair
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Annabella, Constantin Siroesco, Jean-Louis Allibert, Paul Ollivier, Ren? Lef?vreDirector: Ren? Clair
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 81 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-05-16
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of Le Million - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: A Delightful Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
The premier edition of the prestigious "Sight and Sound" critics poll of the all-time Top Ten movies came out in 1952 (and every 10 years thereafter another poll is issued). Coming in a tie for 10th place was Rene Clair's "Le Million". That poll was a bit heavy with silent movies (6 of the 12) and a couple of relatively obscure "sound" pictures ("Louisiana Story" and "Le Jour se Leve"); make that three obscure sound pictures if you want to include "Le Million". I've generally been impressed with the selections of the magazine's poll and usually I'm able to appreciate what made each movie so special. In the case of "Le Million" I was also able to enjoy the movie. By that I mean that "Le Million" is a fun movie to watch. It starts out by letting us see a festive party of a large group of celebrants. They explain why the have all come to celebrate and that leads the story back to earlier that day. The story unfolds somewhat like a Chaplin film in normal speed with all sorts of comic twists and turns. Along the way the dialogue varied from individual spoken lines to group chorus. It could be called a musical but don't let that turn you away if it doesn't sound like your cup of tea. It's a comedy of errors more than anything else and the beauty of it is we know that, somehow, everything's going to turn out OK (otherwise why were all those people celebrating when the movie started).
I got a kick out of the sets. There was an art to the backdrops and the lighting that gave a lot of added depth especially in the young lady's apartment. The many different characters gave a real variety to the cast and they all seemed to have their own role in all the events that unfold.
I admit that this movie gets a 5 Star rating in part because of its' advance reputation. However, this isn't one of those movies in which we search for brilliance (the number one spot on the 1952 poll went to "Bicycle Thieves" which is...well you decide). This is a movie that delights the viewer and, for perspective, it didn't make the "NY Times" best 1000 films list. It may not have belonged on "Sight and Sound's" 1952 list but it certainly could have replaced "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" on the "NY Times" list.
Summary of Le Million - Criterion Collection
An impoverished artist discovers he has purchased a winning lottery ticket at the very moment his creditors come to collect. The only problem is, the ticket is in the pocket of his coat. . . which he left at his girlfriend's apartment. . . who gave the coat to a man hiding from the police. . . who sells the coat to an opera singer who uses it during a performance. By turns charming and inventive, Ren? Clair's lyrical masterpiece had a profound impact on not only the Marx Brothers and Charlie Chaplin, but on the American Musical as a whole.Welcome back one of the treasures of international cinema. In 1929-30, when Hollywood was stymied by the arrival of talkies, a Frenchman named Ren? Clair set about reinventing the movies for the world of sound. Rather than enslave his camera--and imagination--to a microphone in a potted palm, Clair embraced sound as a liberating new dimension of the motion picture. His effervescent comedy-musical-romance Le Million doesn't just feature a witty commingling of dialogue and song--it's a jeu d'esprit in which every movement, every cut, every sound effect (or absence thereof) contributes to a lilting rhythm.
The plot is precisely as airy and as farcically complicated as it needs to be. Suffice it to say that there's this threadbare jacket with a winning lottery ticket in the pocket. It becomes separated from its starving-artist owner and leads him and numerous others a merry chase over the roofs of Paris, through the urban underworld, and onto the very stage of the Opera. You'll wonder more than once whether the Marx Brothers were taking notes.
For no good reason whatsoever, Le Million remained out of circulation for decades, except for a few bleary dupe videos. Now we have a crystal-clear DVD that does full justice to Lazare Meerson's ethereal settings, Georges P?rinal's luminous camerawork, the enchanting beauty of leading lady Annabella, and Ren? Clair's world-class comedy masterpiece. There shall be dancing in the streets. --Richard?T. Jameson
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