Review by MogwaiMovieReviews

As others have mentioned here, the films of Sacha Guitry seem to have sunk into oblivion in the English speaking world, which is odd since at their best they share much of the same quality and charm as those of Ernst Lubitsch or Max Ophuls, both of whom are still spoken of with deserved reverence.

This one might be the most well known of his films, for what that's worth, and is a similar story to Lubitsch's wildly overpraised but markedly inferior 'Heaven Can Wait' - the memoirs of an old rogue's misspent youth. It's a boon that Guitry, working outside of Hollywood censorship, could be much more frank about what his rogue actually got up to - the great weakness of Lubitsch's later film.

Much of this film is in fact silent, with Guitry's witty narration being the only speech. There is an excellent performance by Serge Grave as the young Cheat. The best scene is the one where the old Guitry runs into the now elderly Countess whose younger charms he has just been fondly reminiscing over. His discomfort is hilarious.

This is not my favourite of Guitry's films - that would still be La Poison - but it's a patchy and a whimsical delight nonetheless. And really, I'm just glad to have discovered all of them.