Les Enfants du Paradis [Children of Paradise] ***** (1945, Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur) – Classic Movie Review 3811

Director Marcel Carné’s glorious French 1945 epic romantic movie re-creates 1830s and 1840s Paris in an astounding studio production somehow conjured up during the wartime Occupation austerity of World War Two. This meant building what was then France’s largest studio set of a quarter mile of street frontage, reproduced in scrupulous detail, representing the Boulevard du Crime, the theatre district of Paris. It was 18 months in production and the costliest film made in France up to then.

Many members of the French Resistance worked as crew on on the film. Production designer Alexandre Trauner and composer Joseph Kosma were both Jews and had to work in hiding and submit their ideas by intermediaries. Pierre Renoir took over the role of the informer Jéricho after actor Robert Le Vigan was arrested for being a Nazi collaborator.

Jean-Louis Barrault stars as a mime called Baptiste Debureau, who falls for the beautiful and mysterious courtesan Garance (Arletty) and is ready to leave his wife Nathalie (Maria Casarès) for her. But a conniving thief named Lacenaire (Marcel Hèrrand) holds Garance in his grip, and she also has another lover, a pretentious actor, Frédérick Lemâitre (Pierre Brasseur), as well as being loved by Édouard comte de Montray (Louis Salou).

This devastating French classic is the quintessence of poetic romance, so beautifully made that you actually want to applaud art designer Alexandre Trauner’s sets and possibly Joseph Kosma’s music too. Certainly you will want to applaud the acting of some of French cinema’s finest players, plus the wit and the storytelling power of director-writer team of Carné and screen-writer Jacques Prévert, who never excelled this glorious moment of French world-class cinema.

Also in the cast are Louis Salon, Pierre Renoir, Gaston Modot, Jane Marken, Albert Remy, Léon Larive and Fabien Loris.

‘Paradis’ is the upper balcony of the theatre, the equivalent of the ‘gods’ of the theatre, where the poor folk had to sit.

It was restored and re-released to further acclaim in 1993.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3811

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French cinema icon Arletty died on July 23 1992, aged 94.

Jean-Louis Barrault died on January 22 1994, aged 83.