Château de rêve

"Chateau De Reve " is a pleasant harmless comedy which some might want to catch ,because of two names :Danielle Darrieux,who beats everyone in terms of longevity ,for she is still working,in 2012!and Henri-Georges Clouzot ,who wrote the dialogs,although it is hard to find his touch in it.It's some kind of operetta,even if nobody sings or dances (there's only one song).

A director and his actors are filming by the seaside;they lack extras ,so they hire the crew of a ship,and even an officer in a more important part,that of a prince who rescues (in the script) a female spy.

After the film,the "prince" acts as though he is a genuine prince and his co-star claims she is a marchioness;the village gives them a warm welcome and they are invited in the chic circles of aristocracy in a château where his "highness" meets the baron's daughter (Darrieux) he falls in love with.The star/"marchioness" warns her:"he is playing a part,do not be fooled" and the young baroness is confused.

But much to their surprise..........

This is a lightly amusing film from 1933. There's a lot of beautiful scenery (as far as the medium allows), a lot of villagers in national dress and a lot of clowning from old theatre hand Lucien Baroux as the Cameraman.

The daughter of the château is played by Darrieux, just sixteen and in her fifth film, a natural comedienne in the selling-a-cow scene and always lively, still trying to work out what to do with her hands in the more serious moments.

Edith Méra (who sadly was to die of an infection only a year or so later) plays the star actress, sings a song, has a bittersweet moment or two, and (if perhaps for selfish reasons) does the decent thing by Béatrix. There's a talked song from the somewhat silent-movie-bound Jaque Catelain 'playing' the Prince.

So a nice little pastiche on movie-making and fairy tale villages, and a chance to check in on Darrieux's early acting adventures.