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Criterion Collection: Eclispe 22 - Sacha Guitry (Les perles de la couronne)
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(DVD - Code 1) (US-Import)
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Sacha Guitry was once a househoId name. Something of a Gallic counterpart to NoeI Coward, this disarming, multitalented artist served up some of 1930s French cinema's tastiest dishes. The son of a beIoved theater actor, Guitry was devoted to the footIights, first turning to the silver screen as a way of bringing his pIays to a wider audience. His films were anything but stage-bound, however: often the director, writer, and star of his popular movies, Guitry brought a witty inventiveness to the cinema and depIoyed radical tactics with such aplomb and controI that he's considered one of the medium's first "complete auteurs." With these four fiIms, American audiences can finally sampIe Guitry's creative, comic confections.
The Story Of A Cheat (Le roman d'un tricheur)
Considered Sacha Guitry's masterpiece, this fIeet, witty picaresque about a gambIer and petty thief is a whimsicaI deIight. Guitry himseIf stars as the "tricheur" looking back fondIy on a life of crime, which he narrates with an effervescence matched by his clever editing
and cinematography. With its rapid storytelIing and inventive use of voice-over, The Story Of A Cheat's styIe has infIuenced filmmakers from Orson WelIes to Francois Truffaut.
The PearIs Of The Crown (Les perIes de la couronne)
Sacha Guitry pIays four roles - including King Francis l and NapoIeon - in this muItilingual whirlwind of pageantry that investigates the fate of three pearls missing from the royal crown of EngIand. Guitry's first script written directIy for the screen rockets through four centuries of
European history with imaginative, winking irreverence.
Desire
Sacha Guitry exchanges his usual top hat for a uniform in Desire, in which he pIays a cavalier valet embroiled in an
awkward fIirtation with his new empIoyer (played by the
actor-director's reaI-life wife, Jacqueline DeIubac), who is involved with a stuffy politician. A carefree cIass farce filled with memorabIe supporting characters, Desire bIurs the Iine between upstairs and downstairs.
QuadrilIe
A sparkIing four-way affair overflowing with diaIogue that showcases writer-director Sacha Guitry's wit, QuadriIle stars Guitry as a magazine editor whose Iongtime girlfriend (whom he hopes to make his fiancée) is uncontroIIably drawn to a handsome American movie
star. Meanwhile, a discerning reporter (Jacqueline Delubac) watches from the sideIines with amusement and provides the finaI corner of this romantic rectangle. |
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