72 Le million
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72 Le million
Le million
An impoverished artist discovers he has purchased a winning lottery ticket at the very moment his creditors come to collect. The only problem is, the ticket is in the pocket of his coat. . . which he left at his girlfriend's apartment. . . who gave the coat to a man hiding from the police. . . who sells the coat to an opera singer who uses it during a performance. By turns charming and inventive, René Clair's lyrical masterpiece had a profound impact on not only the Marx Brothers and Charlie Chaplin, but on the American Musical as a whole.
Special Features
• Beautiful new digital transfer, with extensive image and sound restoration
• A gallery of production photos
• A rare American television interview with René Clair
• New and improved English subtitles, with every song lyric translated for the first time
Criterionforum.org user rating averages
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An impoverished artist discovers he has purchased a winning lottery ticket at the very moment his creditors come to collect. The only problem is, the ticket is in the pocket of his coat. . . which he left at his girlfriend's apartment. . . who gave the coat to a man hiding from the police. . . who sells the coat to an opera singer who uses it during a performance. By turns charming and inventive, René Clair's lyrical masterpiece had a profound impact on not only the Marx Brothers and Charlie Chaplin, but on the American Musical as a whole.
Special Features
• Beautiful new digital transfer, with extensive image and sound restoration
• A gallery of production photos
• A rare American television interview with René Clair
• New and improved English subtitles, with every song lyric translated for the first time
Criterionforum.org user rating averages
Feature currently disabled
- domino harvey
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- dad1153
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Re: 72 Le Million
Saw this Criterion DVD a while ago but just recently (last couple of months) discovered this forum. Yes, I'm slow!
What Fritz Lang's "M" is to the crime noir genre and German cinema Clair's "Le Million" is to the singing musical genre and French cinema: an early talkie way ahead of its time, right down to a syndicate of criminals working together except here they break into song (just like the French cops). René Lefèvre and Annabella are delightful as the young couple in love (even if one of them has a mistress) chasing a missing lottery ticket inside an old coat being passed around all over Paris, culminating in an opera hideout where their reactions match the lyrics performed by the nearby sopranos (easily the movie's best scene). The use of eye-catching camera angles (the pan across Paris rooftops at the start of the flick is jaw-dropping good) and unusual sound (a cheering American football crowd during an opera backstage scuffle for the jacket) make "Le Million" as influential a comedy musical as it is a timeless, enjoyable one. Me likey!
What Fritz Lang's "M" is to the crime noir genre and German cinema Clair's "Le Million" is to the singing musical genre and French cinema: an early talkie way ahead of its time, right down to a syndicate of criminals working together except here they break into song (just like the French cops). René Lefèvre and Annabella are delightful as the young couple in love (even if one of them has a mistress) chasing a missing lottery ticket inside an old coat being passed around all over Paris, culminating in an opera hideout where their reactions match the lyrics performed by the nearby sopranos (easily the movie's best scene). The use of eye-catching camera angles (the pan across Paris rooftops at the start of the flick is jaw-dropping good) and unusual sound (a cheering American football crowd during an opera backstage scuffle for the jacket) make "Le Million" as influential a comedy musical as it is a timeless, enjoyable one. Me likey!
- Saturnome
- Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:22 pm
Re: 72 Le Million
I just saw this film and I was amazed. It's full of invention, and mixed with a light tone it's quite irresistible. It actually reminded me of how much I loved every René Clair film I saw so far, but that I never gave him much attention. I guess I'll have to change that.
I noted the amazing first shot, the play with sound, and the transitions between the scenes (like a faint piano in a corner playing the previous scene's tune), nice staging and chases. I smiled all the way through.
Also, the sound was very, very clear. Despite French being my maternal language, I have a lot of trouble of understanding what's being said in most of any French early talkie (no more different for American of British early talkies). I watched Renoir's La Chienne a few days ago and couldn't hear most of the dialogue without deep concentration.
Here the sound was crystal clear, to the point of understanding voices buried in noise (including a "Allez Michel!" out from nowhere during the "Football" scene). Is it because there's so much dubbing (but then, everything sound clear) or it got a very extensive restoration? The picture and the sound looked distant in terms of quality. I noticed the mention of the print being a rerelease at the beginning.
I noted the amazing first shot, the play with sound, and the transitions between the scenes (like a faint piano in a corner playing the previous scene's tune), nice staging and chases. I smiled all the way through.
Also, the sound was very, very clear. Despite French being my maternal language, I have a lot of trouble of understanding what's being said in most of any French early talkie (no more different for American of British early talkies). I watched Renoir's La Chienne a few days ago and couldn't hear most of the dialogue without deep concentration.
Here the sound was crystal clear, to the point of understanding voices buried in noise (including a "Allez Michel!" out from nowhere during the "Football" scene). Is it because there's so much dubbing (but then, everything sound clear) or it got a very extensive restoration? The picture and the sound looked distant in terms of quality. I noticed the mention of the print being a rerelease at the beginning.
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- Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2016 6:46 pm
Re: 72 Le Million
I was hoping to do a public screening of Le Million but it is not listed with either ACF (Audio cine Films) or Criterion Pictures licensing (It's for a public library in Canada). Can anyone point me in the right direction for who to contact to license it?
- whaleallright
- Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am
Re: 72 Le Million
Criterion Pictures is a separate entity from the Criterion Collection. If indeed public screening rights are with Janus (the theatrical-distribution twin to Criterion Collection), as they appear to be, you'll want to contact them: http://www.janusfilms.com/films/1117" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NB they don't have a 35mm print or HD copy available for screening.
NB they don't have a 35mm print or HD copy available for screening.