Celluloid : the film to-day (1931)

1 86 CELLULOID the background crowd, for example, is a sun-bather, who naturally enough claims any garment for his own, and an unfortunate man who spends the entire sequence in putting on his hat which a gendarme promptly removes. Every scene in which the gangsters appear is a parody of American crime films which defies description. When summoned by their leader to the headquarters of the super-crook organization, the crooks (in bowler hats) arrive through a subterranean passage with the rhythmic precision of a Disney cartoon. At the Opera, they are dressed in the most amazing collection of misfitting dress-suits, some still with their bowler hats, assuming and discarding moustaches and beards with lightning rapidity. When they pursue the coat on to the stage, they nonchalantly array themselves in the ludicrous dresses of the bandit male chorus. The whole of the scene in the theatre is a cruel satire on the ridiculous traditions of grand opera. The pride and vanity of Signor Sopranelli, his joy at possessing such a handsome coat, his disdain when the stage-manager suggests that it is not quite what is wanted, and his confusion when he discovers that its sleeves have been dragged out by Michel and Prosper, are too diverting to describe. So also are the incredible rotundity of the prima-donna and the typical Clair touches of the property moon and the falling leaves. On the other hand, Clair can be equally serious, as we see in the charming shots earlier in the film of the ballet rehearsing — shots which vividly bring to mind the paintings of Degas. But the real high-spot of the picture — the moment