Aventure à Paris (1936)
Directed by Marc Allégret

Film Review

1936 was a busy year for director Marc Allégret, with three films coming out in quick succession.  After two fairly earnest adaptations of works by Joseph Conrad and Noël Coward - Sous les yeux d'Occident and Les Amants terribles - Allégret could be forgiven for tackling lighter fare, this time adapting Henri Falk's frivolous stage play Le Rabatteur.  Of these three films, the one that is least worthy of a place in posterity is the latter, although it most accurately reflects the upbeat mood in France at the time, following the coming to power of the Popular Front government.  Aventure à Paris is one of Allégret's lighter films, his closest approximation to an American screwball comedy of the period, and whilst it has little to commend it on either the writing and directing fronts, it does boast an exceptional cast, headed by the irrepressible Jules Berry at his most deliriously caddish.

As the womanising con artist who can apparently do no wrong (apart from break every moral and criminal law under the sun), Berry is certainly in his element.  His slimy, self-interested, constantly animated Levasseur is clearly a close cousin of the character Batala he had previously played for Jean Renoir in Le Crime de Monsieur Lange.  Watching Berry ooze his slippery way through one comic mishap after another is the film's chief delight - the rest of the distinguished cast hardly get a look in.  Lucien Baroux and Danièle Parola are cruelly eclipsed by Berry in just about every scene, and only Arletty - already a beacon of talent at this early stage in her screen career - can be said to hold her own against this comedic force of nature.  Berry's nauseatingly cheery persona is almost perfectly matched by the music supplied by Ray Ventura and his orchestra (who appear on screen in a few scenes) - just as well, as Berry naughtily steals the group's 'hit of the moment' - Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise - (and its grimly ironic connotations) early into the film.

What plot there is is barely sufficient to cover half the side of an exceedingly small postage stamp, and the dearth of half-decent gags soon becomes painfully apparent when the narrative goes down the plug-hole and leaves us with what is effectively nothing more than a chaotic one-man show for Jules Berry.  Things pick up once Arletty surges into the film's second half like a tsunami on rollerskates and begins sparking with Berry - just as they would do in their subsequent films together: Le Jour se lève (1939) and Les Visiteurs du soir (1942).  Aventure à Paris is more a creaking curiosity piece than a bona fide classic, and even though it's pretty tame for a French comedy of this period, it is redeemed by the haphazardly brilliant pairing of Jules Berry and Arletty, a match made in Vaudeville heaven.

Film Synopsis

Michel Levasseur leads a happy, carefree existence as a womaniser and confidence trickster, relying on his charm and silver tongue to help him through whatever ordeals life throws in his path.  When the bailiffs call to take away his furniture (owing to the fact that he has neglected to pay his rent for several months), the enterprising Levasseur calls on his landlord - the wealthy magnate Raymond Sauvaget - and offers him his services.  It so happens that Monsieur Sauvaget needs a new advertising executive to promote his popular brand of biscuits and Levasseur, a man brimming with ideas, appears to be the ideal candidate.

Having proven his worth in business, Levasseur offers to help his employer out in his private life.  Sauvaget may be a wealthy and successful industrialist, but he lacks the confidence to go out and find himself his ideal soul mate.  Knowing that there is no woman in the world who can resist his deadly allure, Levasseur sets about this task with confidence.  He has no difficult attracting the charming Lucienne, and exercising his usual cunning, he manoeuvres her towards Sauvaget as if she were a guided missile.  Unfortunate, Lucienne soon sees through her seducer's game and, having genuinely fallen for the smooth-talking Levasseur, she plays him at his own game, by directing her cousin Rose towards him...