Chacun sa chance (1930)
Directed by René Pujol, Hans Steinhoff

Film Review

Jean Gabin may have lent his name to a few nondescript silent films in the late 1920s but his screen career proper began with this 'filmed operetta', one of the first sound films to be made in France.  By this time, the 26-year-old Gabin had become one of the biggest stars of the French music hall, and having featured in several popular stage operettas it is fitting that his first film should be in the same milieu, capitalising on Gabin's penchant for song and comedy.  Here, Gabin is partnered with his first wife, Gaby Bassett, whom he had only recently divorced.  Another notable musical hall artiste of the time, Jean Sablon, also appears, in a supporting role.

The severe limitations that early sound recording equipment imposed on filmmakers in the early 1930s are evident throughout Chacun sa chance, to the extent that it resembles exactly what it claims to be, 'une opérette filmée'.  There are one or two interesting tracking shots but for the most part the camera is rigidly static and much of the film plays as a modest theatrical production, complete with a wordy (and pointless) introduction and seemingly interminable overture in which the camera is stuck in the orchestra pit.  With one notable exception (a pleasing duet sung by Gabin and Bassett) the musical numbers are pretty dire and do little to enhance the trite and repetitive storyline which falls back on the old vaudevillian device of a case of mistaken identity.

Had Jean Gabin's name not been in the credits, Chacun sa chance would most probably have been lost in the mists of time, deservedly so.  Gabin is far from being the great dramatic actor that he would become later in the decade but his presence lights up an another grimly lacklustre production.  With Gabin waiting in the wings, it's a shame that so much of the film's runtime is wasted on tediously unfunny comic exchanges involving far less talented performers (pity poor André Urban and Hubert Daix, who have to muddle their way through some of the worst lines in any film).  As musical comedies go, Chacun sa chance is towards the lower end of the quality spectrum, but with one of French cinema's most iconic actors making his debut this creaking piece of 1930s ephemera could hardly escape snatching its unworthy place in posterity. Before he began his association with director Julien Duvivier on Maria Chapdelaine (1934), Gabin's talents would be wasted on similar low-grade fare, including Paris-Beguin (1931) and Tout ça ne vaut pas l'amour (1931).

Film Synopsis

Marcel Grivot may be a modest sales assistant in one of Paris's more exclusive department stores but he dreams of living the high life.  One evening, he gets the chance to do just that.  Borrowing evening dress from a display stand, he goes out for a night on the town and is mistaken for the wealthy Baron de Monteuil.  After a visit to the theatre he meets a dazzling young socialite, Simone, and falls in love with her, not knowing that she is as poor as he is and earns her living by selling chocolate at the theatre.  The evening ends with Marcel inviting Simone back to the Baron's mansion.  Fortunately, when the real Baron shows up Marcel has information that will not only extricate him from an awkward situation but will also enhance his future career prospects...