Baccara (1935) - film review

Elsa Barienzi, a foreigner living in Paris, faces being deported back to her own country when her sugar daddy, a wealthy financier named Gouldine, is ruined by his risky speculations.  In desperation, she asks for help from the celebrated lawyer Maître Lebel, who is in love with her.  Lebel offers a friend of his, André Leclerc, 150 thousand francs to marry Elsa so that she can acquire French citizenship.  Offended by the immorality of this arrangement, Leclerc initially rejects the offer but is persuaded by his friend Charles Plantel to accept, as both of them are in dire financial circumstances.  The marriage takes place and Leclerc gets his payoff, which he receives on the understanding that he never sees Elsa again.   Unfortunately, Leclerc does see Elsa after the wedding and he suddenly realises that he is in love with her...

The only thing to commend this limp comedy is the chalk-and-cheese pairing of Lucien Baroux with Jules Berry, two major stars of the period who form a likeable double act that has more than a touch of the homoerotic about it.  The film is a typical plodding 1930s affair (would you think it was a comedy?) that offers absolutely no surprises, whilst the characters are thinly drawn archetypes that would have seemed old hat even in the silent era.  Yves Mirande’s directing is far more creditable than his screenwriting (which is at best mediocre), although his direction is never anything more than workmanlike.  As ever, Berry is a delight to watch, although such is the (sub-standard) quality of the script that his performance lacks its usual gravitas and finesse.  Watching Baccara today, you can’t help wondering just what audiences saw in Lucien Baroux - apparently he was a big name in the 1930s.

© James Travers 2011

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