Debt-ridden painter Michel is overcome with joy at discovering that he has just won 1 million florins in the Dutch lottery, but almost immediately, he discovers that his softhearted girlfriend, Béatrice, has given away his jacket containing the winning ticket to an elderly petty thief. Soon Michel, Beatrice and Michel's artistic rival, Prosper, are hurtling through the streets of Paris on the trail of the missing jacket.
Direction
René Clair inventing the musical chase film in 1931.
Cinematography
Impossibly fluid camera moves through Parisian rooftops.
Editing
Sound and image experiments that still feel fresh.
Director
René Clair
René Lefèvre
Michel Bouflette
Annabella
Béatrice
Jean-Louis Allibert
Prosper
Paul Ollivier
Père La Tulipe
Vanda Gréville
Vanda
Constantin Siroesco
Ambrosio Sopranelli
Raymond Cordy
Le chauffeur de taxi
Odette Talazac
La cantatrice
Pedro Elviro
Le régisseur (as Pitouto)
Jane Pierson
L'épicière
André Michaud
Le boucher
Eugène Stuber
Le policier
Pierre Alcover
Le policier
Armand Bernard
Le chef d'orchestre
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Clair made this during France's transition to sound cinema, using it to prove talkies could be artful, not just theatrical.
The famous rooftop chase was shot on a set, not location—Clair wanted complete control over the musical timing.
FR
