Les perles de la couronne

Theatrical maestro Sacha Guitry goes through various wigs and false beards in this ornate romp through three languages and several centuries. Among the cameos by fellow theatrical luminaries Arletty wearing body makeup and very little else as the Queen of Abyssinia may offend modern 'Woke' sensibilities but she certainly keeps you awake!

This unusual tri-lingual (French, English, Italien) film traces the history of seven pearls acquired at the behest of Pope Clement who gave them to Catherine d'Medici. The pearls are passed down to Mary, Queen of Scots. At the time of Mary's execution the pearls are stolen and separated. Four of them become part of the crown of England. The characters then try to discover what happened to the other three pearls.

It is a delightful film with clever, amusing dialogue. At one point a character is instructed to only speak using adverbs. She does so in answering a string of questions. It is a marvelous scene. Anyone who gets a chance to see this film should do so.

With only two comments on IMDb (and only one external review) I feel duty bound to chime in with a third to say that this is one of the perpetually delightful gems of cinema. A unique film: playful, fascinating, extravagant, hilarious, touching. Guitry is written off time and again as a mere purveyor of filmed theater, and it's true that he made many films -- about half of his output -- from stage plays, often long after their original stage productions. But once he got the cinema bug (he resisted for a very long time, only starting make films in middle age) he found that he was given a wonderful new toy, and continued to play with it for the rest of his days. The enormous cast, the huge number of extravagant sets, the lavish costumes, and the vivacious imagination with which all these are employed make of this charming film something to be treasured. I've seen it now four times -- I try to save it for moments when I really want something wonderful to savor. And let me not forget the beautiful and equally lavish musical score of Jean Francaix. The DVD is quite good, but you will of course have to have a region-free player -- and if you don't, why not? Available at this time only as one of the eight discs in a magnificent box set (with many extras) from Gaumont France, "Sacha Guitry: L'age d'or 1936-1938." It's well worth the price.

I was really looking forward to this, my third Guitry.. I'd liked the other two, and I'm a bit of a history buff.. so it should be a winner...

I almost gave up in the first hour.. I found it very dry and dull... but all of a sudden, once the three were dispatched on their quest, it improved dramatically. There was sparkle, wit and interest that seemed to be missing from the first half (Which felt like a slow plod through history)

Perhaps I just happened to tune in..

So my apologies for the poor '5' score.

Funny and very witty comedy by Sacha Guitry. Like almost all of his works, it is very episodic, with characters who rarely appear for more than 5 minutes and who ingeniously plays with the relationship between the image and the everlasting voice-over.

In this case, the story of a seven-pearl necklace with an impressive history from the Renaissance to the present day is used by Guitry to show his ingenuity in the form of a history lesson, full of symmetries, repetitions and ingenious twists.

The cast, as always, is impressive, with the best of French cinema and theater from thirty years of French culture: Cecile Sorel, Coquelin, Raimu, Arletty, Barrault, Moreno....as well as the director himself and his own wife, the very elegant Jacqueline Delubac, like the married couple who decide to follow the trail of those historical pearls.

The film is an intelligent entertainment that does not tire despite its episodic character, thanks to the director's continued inventiveness. Some basic knowledge in history helps.