Immensely charming, witty and well-observed, Jacques Becker turned a stylistic corner with this ‘pink-collar’ working-class dramedy in a still-recovering post-war Paris. A tale of young love for a struggling, but basically happy couple (the well-matched Roger Pigaut & Claire Mafféi). Him: working at a book manufacturer (operating a rather terrifying page trimmer, watch those fingers!)/Her: clerking at a discount department store under an officious floor manager. On a tight budget & even tighter space in a walk-up flat, with nosy neighbors & slow receding wartime rationing, the opening three reels are a marvel of habit & humor, technically pacey & fluid as it introduces neighborhood & characters, hopes & dreams with near Neo-Realistic clarity. The main story arc involves a persistent, lecherous middle-aged grocer, favoring customers who favor him and using hard-to-get tinned sardines as calling cards for pretty young employees ‘with benefits.’ Antoine, jealous of the attention & general flirting aimed at his wife (she hardly gives it a thought) thinks things will turn around when they hit the lottery for 800,000 Francs. . . . then misplaces the ticket. Becker loses a bit of the magical atmosphere he’s built up with this conventional whimsy (imagine De Sica’s Bicycle Thief losing a lotto stub instead of his bike), but even if this is Neo-Realism Lite, Antoine’s desperation remains heartbreakingly real, cleverly structured and loaded with character revelations neatly resolved. A priceless look at a brief, forgotten era in Paris, with people to treasure, real locations (only the very last shot faked); an altogether irresistible package.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Becker shows particular flair in his use of background & diegetic music. Note the relentlessly rising keys as a piano is methodically tuned behind Antoine at the lottery board, shadowing his growing panic. And the fugue that breaks out when he heads to the park to grieve among statues & fountains. (GIGI’s Gaston does much the same in the Vincente Minnelli musical.) Or a young unhappy bride at a wedding Antoine’s crashed singing the Gounod/FAUST aria ‘The King of Thulé’ at the piano in an untrained voice.
DOUBLE-BILL: Becker was moving into his best period, topped by his classic CASQUE D’OR/’52.
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