Occupe-toi d'Amélie..! (1949) Online

Screenplay based on Georges Feydeau's eponymous play.At the time ,Claude Autant-Lara was a rebel: sandwiched between "Le Diable Au Corps" and "L'Auberge Rouge" which displayed the director's hatred for the bourgeoisie,the army and the Church.Although "Amelie" is a farce,it's a fierce attack against marriage ,bourgeois hypocrisy and even military madness (the barracks is put in quarantine cause they all developed mumps).

Amelie is a Cocotte (=a tart);she trades on her charms,abetted by her father who plays a role generally delegated to mothers (Gremillon's "Gueule D'Amour" or Allégret's "Manèges" ).She is wooed by every Tom,Dick and Harry passing by.She's currently supported by a military man,courted by a foreign prince -who gives the equivalent of the French Legion D'Honneur to dad- ,and ,besides,she is to marry a young lad who covets his wealthy uncle's heritage: the necessary and sufficient condition for getting the dough is getting married.

Autant-Lara's adaptation is brilliant: there's a poster of the show on the wall of a theater where some of the scenes are played ,on stage or backstage (like Luis Bunuel would do in "Le Charme Discret De La Bourgeoisie ");the "audience" intervenes during the sequence of events ;And ,last but not least,there's a "advertisements interlude" ,as they could see one in the Belle Epoque days .

Danielle Darrieux shines as Amelie and Jean Dessailly is oddly cast against type.Acting is continuous overacting,which may repel some but which inspires the vital madness of the movie,which knows only one one tempo:accelerated.

If ever proof was needed that cream rises to the top this is as good an example as any. Georges Feydeau was synonymous with Farce and penned some of the finest examples of the genre, The Girl From Maxim's, A Flea In Her Ear and this one which has appeared in English under such titles as Look After Lulu, Mind Millie For Me and Keep An Eye On Amelie. Director Claude Autant-Lara began an eight-strong hitting streak in 1939 with Fric Frac and the last seven - Le Marriage de Chiffon, Lettres d'Amour, Douce, Sylvie et la Fantome, La Diable au corps, this one and L'Auberge Rouge were written by Truffaut's bete noir the team of Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost. Add Danielle Darrieux to the mix and what's not to like. Autant-Lara loves playing with the camera so we begin with an actor arriving late at the theatre where Occupe-toi d'Amelie is playing, opening a dressing room door to reveal Darrieux before landing on stage and letting the play begin - Malle did something similar years later in Vanya on 42nd Street. There's even an intermission in which ads are projected on slides as would have obtained in the theatre of the time. As a bonus the great Julien Carette is outstanding. Get a life, Francois.

In order to stage a Georges Feydeau's play, the director must have a great sense of timing because the action for most of his works require such a precision that not many are up to task. On the other hand, a man like Claude Autant-Lara was blessed with a knack for bringing all the antics of the author to a film that, even today, is worth a look for its action never stops.

Amelie, a worldly woman has been living with Etienne, an officer of the army. She has a beauty that is unusual, being admired by men that want to have her. Although she gives her charms sparingly, Amelie, finds herself into a situation that is created when the uncle of her friend Marcel comes into town and he is led to believe his nephew is going to marry the gorgeous and luscious woman.

Mr. Autant-Lara decided to make the story into a theater play where he invites the viewer to participate. The action one sees is what is happening on the stage as one sits and enjoys as though from a theater box where the viewer gets to see everything closely. As with any piece by Feydeau, the action must keep a frantic pace, something the director achieves with great panache.

Of course, anything with these players had an assured success from the start. Danielle Darrieux, one of the best stars of the French cinema is Amelie, the object of desire. She is the best excuse for watching the film. Jean Desailly shows up as Marcel, who is not aware how much Amelie means to him until the end. Victor Guyau is Von Putzenboom, the rich uncle that works with diamonds. Andre Bervil, Carette, Gregoire Aslan, and the entire company put on an entertaining show in this delicious comedy.