Toto

It's hard to imagine it's the same person (spelled Jack) who would make "Cat people" "Out of the past" or "night of the demon".

Fact: Maurice Tourneur ,his dad,left France for the broader horizons of Hollywood .He made movies there ("torment" 1924) and made sure that his son was carefully taught.Then Maurice came back in France in the thirties with his offspring who began to try his hand at movies too..

This is an almost Chaplinesque little film.Anyway,Charlie Chaplin is present in the movie:if you watch carefully ,you will notice his head,on Aunt Sally at the fair.Many sequences -the first one notably and the one when the prisoners walk round and round and pass a cigar to each other - are silent and are some kind of tribute to that now defunct art.

But it is ,for the time,a thoroughly modern film ,far from the theatrical tradition in which many a French director was still working (Lherbier,Gance,Pagnol).This is cinema which takes place in the streets ,in a beauty contest ,or in a jail.It's anything but static.

Patrick Préjean sings two songs including "J'ai un secret" (I've got a secret).He plays a semi-tramp with gusto.

Toto is one of the first features made by french director Jacques Tourneur, who is best known for his horror films, such as "Cat People" he made for RKO Pictures in the 1940s in the United States.

This film is a story of a dog-thieve in a 1930s Paris. Running away from the police he hides in a home of one lady and then falls in love with her. Eventually he is caught and put to jail where he meets a banker who apparently becomes his friend. Upon their release from prison the real fun begins as they cross with each other again and again. Really funny early french comedy worth to take a look at. 7/10

Anyone could enjoy this film without speaking a word of French (assuming no subtitles.) The action is clear with long dialogueless passages reminiscent of silent films, making complex plot points entirely visually. The hero makes a living by kidnapping dogs from rich people, then returning them for the reward. He falls in love, serves time in prison (in a crazy comedy sequence), sings a song, and finally reforms and gets the girl. Simple, sweet, and enjoyable -- all qualities that require massive talent and effort on the part of the participants to achieve!