Under the Roofs of Paris

Under the Roofs of Paris is another in the Brattle's series of great French films of the thirties. Those who saw its predecessors will find the latest entry no better and no worse.

This movie holds a lesson, however, for it demonstrates that fully rounded characterizations, equipped with all the perversities of real life, will not automatically lead to a great work of art. The hero and heroine of Roofs are not like the cardboard creatures of American comedies, or the fantastical inventions of the British. This is a testament to the laudably acute eye of director Rene Clair, but it does not make their adventures universally entertaining.

The film's entertainment value may have suffered from the passage of time and a transatlantic voyage. The sound is appalling, and the photography is jerkily primitive. Furthermore, the English titles are generally crowded off the bottom of the screen--but this is not too important, since Clair had no confidence in the new-fangled concepts of the talkies, and communicates anything important with the time-tested techniques of the silent film.

But the central problem of Roofs is that Clair, in an attempt to create figures of unmistakable humanity, forgot to make them sufficiently funny or fascinating. They are often mysterious, but that is not the same thing. The hero is a street-singer--and a good one--but even a good street-singer can command undivided attention for only half an hour or so.

The film deals with the street-singer's romance with a Rumanian refugee. This romance is too complex to be worth the telling, but its general line is Boy meets Girl, Boy pursues Girl, Boy gets Girl, Boy loses Girl. The Girl is nice to look at, the Boy is charming.

Aside from the fine acting of Albert Prejean, the movie's great merit is two very good songs. Anyone who is captivated by these songs cannot help but like the whole show, since one of them, Sous Les Toits de Paris, is sung about fifteen times. Furthermore, Roofs cured this reviewer of a nasty hangover, and presumably will do the same for the general public.