Length: 104 minutes
Director: René Clair
Cast: Raymond Cordy, Henri Marchand, Paul Ollivier, Andre Michaud, Rolla France, Germaine Aussey, Leon Lorin, William Burke, Jacques Shelley, Vincent Hyspa
Eric's Impressions: Natalie refers to the charges of plagiarism by the producer of this one to Charlie Chaplin's classic, "Modern Times." If the plagiarism charge revolves around the plot of both movies being based in a factory and a conveyor belt scene then Chaplin is guilty because that's the only similarity I found between the two. The main characters/buddies are sensational each time they hit the screen together, but only average when apart. Rene Clair is an interesting filmmaker and gets even better with his next movie, "Le Million."
Natalie's Impressions: I think I only laughed out loud once during this film. Charlie Chaplin is 100 times funnier than René Clair or any of the actors in the film. I can see the similarities between the two but Chaplin somehow does everything better and funnier. I'll take Modern Times over this any day. I also didn't really care for the musical numbers. Most of the time there was sound, it was singing instead of dialogue and I am not a huge fan of musicals in the first place. One thing I did like about the film was that it didn't become preachy about the evils and fears of modernization, which many other film makers of the era were obsessed with. Instead, the film has a positive message told through comedy.
COUNTDOWN: Just 959 movies to go!
Very nice..will have to check this one out.
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