CAST (in official billing order): Raimu (Tartarin), Charpin (Bravida), Saint-Granier (the prince), Milly Mathis (Annette), Poupon (Blanche Bézequet), Maupy (Tastevin), Jenny Hélia (the princess), Sinoel (Bézequet), Maximilienne (Madame Ladèveze).
SYNOPSIS: In the small, provincial village of Tarascon, the local blow-hard, Tartarin, lords it over his fellow-citizens by pretending to be a brave lion hunter. Finally, he gets his chance to really go lion hunting in Africa. The trip is a disaster, but
NOTES: The popular Daudet novel has been filmed three times. The previous version was directed by Georges Mélies in 1908. The third version, directed and acted by Francis Blanche, was released in 1962.
COMMENT: Raimu would certainly have no complaints about this one as a vehicle for his talents. He is not only on screen almost continually from go to whoa, but Marcel Pagnol has considerably expanded his dialogue. In fact, Tartarin's loudmouthed bragging becomes so tiresome that the movie takes a sudden turn for the better when our hero is given the freeze treatment by the local villagers. And it is soon after this point, that Saint-Granier and the exotic Jenny Hélia (whose footage, alas, is extremely limited) finally make their entrance. After some further mishaps (the lion shooting bit is rather clumsily directed), Saint-Granier's place is taken by of all people (you'd never ever guess this one) — Humpy, the Talking Camel, later featured in Universal's "Slave Girl" (1947). True enough, Humpy doesn't talk in this one, and it may not be our Humpy at all (camels all look alike to me), but he certainly makes his presence felt. And this process-screened camel-keeping-abreast-with-the-train footage then leads into the movie's best scene when our dejected and deflated hero finally arrives back at Tarascon's railroad depot. Now this scene is very cleverly directed. Alas, the unsure-of-himself Bernard brings it to a quick and sudden end. I would have expanded it a bit more, and featured Humpy a lot more. So, all told, although the movie has its grand moments, it also has more than its fair share of disappointments. I still recommend it, but be warned!
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