Though I've never been particularly enamoured of Rene Clair the opening sequence of this early Sound film makes it easy to see what he attracted so much admiration. He allows his camera to swoop over the rooftops of Paris albeit the roofs are on a sound stage rather than in real Parisian streets; the tracking shot lasts for close to a minute before coming to a halt at an open skylight where two men are peering down into a scene of revelry below. Someone tosses them a bottle of champagne, someone else offers an explanation and we are off to the races. An impoverished artist, dunned on all sides by creditors, learns from the newspaper that he holds a winning lottery ticket. In theory. The ticket is in his jacket pocket, his fiancé has given the jacket to a passing stranger, in turn he has ... and in 1931 that was the basis for an engaging comedy with music rather than a more conventional musical comedy. The very next year Rodgers and Hart adapted and refined the concept in Love Me Tonight but the template was Clairs'. After 80 plus years it's asking a lot but nevertheless it retains a great deal of its charm.
Review of Le Million
