Summary
With his country on the brink of bankruptcy, the prime minister of Casinaria appeals to
Monsieur Banco, the richest man in the world, to come to his aid. In return, Banco
is allowed to marry the Princess Isabelle. Shortly after his arrival in Casinaria,
Banco receives a blow to the head in an accident. When he recovers, he is a rambling
idiot – but the country’s leaders merely regard this as harmless eccentricity, a veil
for his unrivalled intellect. It is only a matter of time before Casinaria
becomes a dictatorship, with everyone blindly following the merest utterance of their
deranged saviour...
Review
Having achieved some success with his fanciful musical comedies, such as Le
Million (1931) and Le
Quatorze juillet (1933) director René Clair was eager to make a more socially
relevant film. Le Dernier milliardaire is a keenly observed satire and arguably
Clair’s most sophisticated work at that time. The film can now be seen as being
disturbingly prophetic, anticipating the rise of fascism across Europe, culminating in
the Third Reich.
Unfortunately for its director, political upheavals in France (such as the riots of 1934) meant that the cinema-going public had little appetite for this kind of socially relevant comedy. Despite an excellent script and a monumental comic performance from Max Dearly, the film proved to be an enormous flop, prompting Clair into a self-imposed professional exile. It would be 12 years before he next made a film in his native France.
© James Travers 2002
Write a review for this film...
Unfortunately for its director, political upheavals in France (such as the riots of 1934) meant that the cinema-going public had little appetite for this kind of socially relevant comedy. Despite an excellent script and a monumental comic performance from Max Dearly, the film proved to be an enormous flop, prompting Clair into a self-imposed professional exile. It would be 12 years before he next made a film in his native France.
© James Travers 2002
Write a review for this film...
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Useful links
- Best French films of 2011
- Best French films of the 2000s
- Best of the French New Wave
- Best of French film comedy
- The best 100 French films
- The most successful French films
- Great French filmmakers
Related links
- The best French comedies
- Other French films of the 1930s
- The best French films of the 1930s
- Other French comedies
- Biography and films of René Clair
To buy this film
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Credits
- Director: René Clair
- Script: René Clair
- Photo: Rudolph Maté, Louis Née
- Music: Maurice Jaubert
- Cast: Max Dearly (Banco), Sinoël (Le premier ministre), Paul Ollivier (Chamberlain), Marthe Mellot (La reine de Casinario), Charles Redgie (Crown Prince Nicolas), Renée Saint-Cyr (Princess), Marcel Carpentier (Detective Brown), Raymond Cordy (Valet)
- Country: France
- Language: French
- Runtime: 92 min; B&W
- Aka: The Last Billionaire; The Last Millionaire
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To buy Le Dernier milliardaire:

Comedy


