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Topaze

  • 1951
  • 2h 16m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
377
YOUR RATING
Topaze (1951)
Comedy

Albert Topaze, sincere schoolteacher addicted to "rote" morality, works at a private school run by supremely money-grubbing M. Muche, whose daughter, also a teacher, makes cynical use of the... Read allAlbert Topaze, sincere schoolteacher addicted to "rote" morality, works at a private school run by supremely money-grubbing M. Muche, whose daughter, also a teacher, makes cynical use of the knowledge that Topaze loves her. Alas, Topaze's naive honesty brings him unjust dismissal... Read allAlbert Topaze, sincere schoolteacher addicted to "rote" morality, works at a private school run by supremely money-grubbing M. Muche, whose daughter, also a teacher, makes cynical use of the knowledge that Topaze loves her. Alas, Topaze's naive honesty brings him unjust dismissal...and makes him fair game for the "aunt" of his private pupil, really the mistress of cro... Read all

  • Director
    • Marcel Pagnol
  • Writer
    • Marcel Pagnol
  • Stars
    • Fernandel
    • Hélène Perdrière
    • Jacqueline Pagnol
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.0/10
    377
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Marcel Pagnol
    • Writer
      • Marcel Pagnol
    • Stars
      • Fernandel
      • Hélène Perdrière
      • Jacqueline Pagnol
    • 2User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Topaze (1951)
    Jacqueline Pagnol in Topaze (1951)
    Topaze (1951)
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    Top cast

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    Fernandel
    Fernandel
    • Albert Topaze
    Hélène Perdrière
    • Suzy Courtois
    Jacqueline Pagnol
    Jacqueline Pagnol
    • Ernestine Muche
    Marcel Vallée
    Marcel Vallée
    • M. Muche
    Jacques Castelot
    • Roger Gaëtan de Bersac
    Milly Mathis
    • La barone…
    Yvette Etiévant
    Yvette Etiévant
    • La dactylo de Topaze…
    Robert Moor
    • Le vénérable vieillard
    Rivers Cadet
    • L'agent de police
    Marcel Loche
    • Un domestique
    • (as Loche)
    Pierre Larquey
    Pierre Larquey
    • Tamise
    • (as Larquey)
    Jacques Morel
    • Régis Castel-Vernac
    • Director
      • Marcel Pagnol
    • Writer
      • Marcel Pagnol
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Nm0885253 and nm0488535 play the same characters as in the version of the play issued in 1933 Topaze (1933)
    • Connections
      Featured in Les trésors de Marcel Pagnol (2019)

    User reviews2

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    The loss of innocence
    The setting: a small private school run by a Scrooge-y director. Topaze, a thirty-something teacher, scrupulously honest, who is fond of his job and full of indulgence and devotion for his pupils, is brutally expelled for refusing to cheat by upgrading the bad scores of a rich-family pupil, as demanded by both his mother and the director.

    Clueless and still honest through it all, circumstances lead him next to be recruited to "work" - unknowingly - as a front for a corrupted city counselor who uses his position to get all sorts of paybacks. But as Topaze "wisens" up, his view of life, of the values of virtue and the utility of money will evolve in a new direction.

    The plot is simple enough, but listen to those dialogs! Topaze seems dumb but is in fact generous and refuses to admit, not being corrupt himself, the mere existence of corruption in the people that surround him. He truly believes in the goodness of man. Events will challenge this belief, as it does for most of us.

    This tale rings astonishingly true in the present times. It has not aged a bit. Though at times cynical, it is a deep and touching reflexion on the importance of money, wealth and power, the supremacy of appearances over substance, and the ordeal of those that are deprived of any of those things.

    In my opinion, being a Pagnol fan (of both his books and films), this is Marcel Pagnol's most personal opus. It features an extraordinary cast; as in all of Pagnol's movies, event the smallest parts are well-cast. Fernandel is outstanding as he goes from naive to cynical. Perdrière is adorable and smart, and Marcel Vallée plays the part of the school director with verve: watch him closely in the scene where he is with the outraged mother who demands that the "error" in his son's scores is "discovered" and corrected.

    If you have a chance to see this, don't miss it.
    helpful•12
    2
    • corvinello
    • Dec 1, 2005

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 2, 1951 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Language
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Topázio
    • Filming locations
      • Franstudio, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Les Films Marcel Pagnol
      • Societe Nouvelle des Films Marcel Pagnol
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 16 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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