Having recently watched Duvivier's 1925 'Silent' Poil de Carrotte I was more than prepared for the mastery on display here, some five years later. The very first shot of a train bringing Denise from the provinces is worthy of Renoir's La Bete Humaine and trains don't really figure in the story so this was merely Duvivier flaunting his skill, as well he might. By coincidence the Zola novel on which this is based is part of the sequence containing La Bete Humaine so who's to say that it wasn't Renoir - working several years later - who sought to link the two via locomotives. I tend to agree with other notices here regarding the acting though we have to remember that back then acting was, of necessity, what today we would describe as 'hammy' or over the top. This does not apply to the lead, Dita Parlo, so unforgettable in La Grande Illusion, who was a fine actress with relatively few credits. The story - big business versus the Little Man - is, of course time-honoured and Duvivier tells it splendidly in fluid camera-work laced liberally with opticals. A must-see.
Review of Ladies' Paradise
