Je donnerai un million

One of the most appealing comedies of the Italian Fascist period was this fast-paced entry directed by Mario Camerini and starring matinée idol Vittorio De Sica.

Set in France, presumably to suggest a René Clair film or to hint that the forward-looking Italy of Mussolini didn't have poverty, it is about a poor man, Blim (Luigi Almirante) and a rich one appropriately named Gold (De Sica) who exchange roles after the rich guy rescues the down and out hobo from suicide. The guy looks somewhat like Michel Simon in Renoir's "Boudu Saved from Drowning."

The wealthy man offers a million francs to anyone who will offer kindness to him…incognito in the garments of a poor man. This all generates a frenzy in the city as everyone goes out of their way to be nice to beggars and the down-and-out. Kindnesses are shown; dinners are served to the poor. No one is successful save the sincere and selfless young circus cashier Anna, played by the lovely Assia Noris.

Besides suggesting René Clair, the movie has some of the same feel as the depression-era American movies "It Happened One Night" and "My Man Godfrey." And is quite a delight if you can see it. It got a very limited U.S.release in 1937, opening unsubtitled at the Broadway Cine-Roma. It was shown in the Museum of Modern Art's 1978 retrospective: "Before Neo-realism."

I concur with my colleague Italian Gerry's typically knowledgeable review and would only add a few things. A decade before they teamed up to work wonders with their first neo realist films, the charming young De Sica (as light comedy star) and the socially conscious Zavattini (as writer) collaborated here for the first time. The film made an impact on 20th Century Fox boss Zanuck who read the Variety review arguing the film could be remade, and done better, as a terrific American production, so he bought the rights. (What goes around comes around: Italians had been savvy to the appeal of Depression era US comedies like It Happened One Night and now Hollywood would copy an Italian version of such a movie.) The film has much appeal still today for its lively rhythm and colorful populism though the caricatures of the assorted bums who are suddenly treated well by the bourgeoisie because people think one of them might be rich, teeter on being cutesy and condescending. Interesting that one of the big showpieces is a banquet for the beggars held under a circus tent, which anticipates the famous parody of the Last Supper in Bunuel's Virdiana 25 years later. Bunuel is under no illusions about sentimentalizing or idealizing the poor, in his scathing viewpoint they are just as bad as everyone else.

"This rumor goes wild in the city, every respectable person starts to throw a bone to the poor around him or her, hoping to hit the jackpot, whereas the millionaire, naturally, takes a shine to a nubile circus girl (Noris), trying to woo her as a bum. So it appears that Camerini attempts to mingle the haves and the have-nots, but such an idea doesn't comply with the fascist regime's values, and what makes this farce still relatable today is its hard-edged depiction of the haves' hypocrisy and cupidity, once the jackpot is revealed (although falsely), they attitude towards the poor takes a volte-face right on the spot, but Camerini doesn't do it ironically, he does it with a straight face, a matter-of-fact correctness implies it is the right thing to do, the gaping gap cannot be breached. What the poor can enjoy is a fling of joie de vivre in an amusement park, the smiles on their faces are indwelled. Is it the input of Cesare Zavattini, one of the co-screenwriters? It is his first screenplay, but most importantly, it marks the first contact between him and De Sica, soon Italian neorealism would be birthed by dint of their preeminent collaborations."

read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.