Rdobrick

This series was a forerunner of the kind of "talking heads" genre that we now take for granted.

It connected political leaders, authors, and academics from around the world via phone lines. While the international conference call meetings took place, each participant was shot on 16 mm sound film. After the sessions the films were flown to NYC where they were edited together to give the appearance of what we'd call a satellite teleconference today. This was several years before Telstar, the first communications satellite.

I was only a kid when this series aired, but I recall it airing during a Sunday afternoon "ghetto" of highbrow programs. This was before the NFL dominated Sunday afternoon TV.

Edward R. Murrow narrated, one of his more obscure, but far-reaching projects.

I was only a little kid, but this was one of my favorite shows. One device was used to end each episode. The last "vignette" or sketch in each show always degenerated into a big squabble in which all the characters were talking at the same time--nothing could be understood. At that point, Jack Narz, the announcer, would come on as a voice over, exclaiming something like, "Hey! Listen to me!" The squabbling would stop and the characters would look straight into the camera, breaking the "fourth wall." Narz would then say, "Say goodnight to the people." The cast would then say, "Goodnight everybody!" and resume their bickering until the scene dissolved. It was a trademark of the series.

My memories are not exact; after all it HAS been over 50 years.

A charming, classy comedy of morals as only the French can do it. This was also the milieu of the great German-born American director Ernst Lubitsch, who flourished between the 20's and the 40's.

The theme of mutual con games mixing sex and money reminded me very much of Lubitsch's 1932 classic, "Trouble in Paradise", which shows up on TCM every once in awhile. See "Priceless" and rent "Trouble" and see if you agree.

This is not a masterpiece, but it is a very clever, witty and enjoyable film with an excellent cast. As always, Tautou is a delight. Cudos also to Gad Elmaleh as the bartender/dog walker Jean and Marie-Christine Adam as the rich widow.