Topaze (1951)

Topaze is a French film comedy-drama first released in 1951, directed by Marcel Pagnol.  The film stars Fernandel, Hélène Perdrière, Jacqueline Pagnol, Marcel Vallée and Jacques Castelot.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


A schoolmaster at a private school, Topaze is a man of exceptional character who tries to inculcate his virtues and his beliefs in his young students.  One day, the father of one of the pupils at the school demands that his son, a dunce, be given a higher grade.  Topaze refuses to oblige and, because the headmaster cannot afford to lose his patrons, he is summarily dismissed.  The impoverished teacher gains a modest income by tutoring the nephew of Suzy Courtois.  The latter happens to be the mistress of Castel-Vernac, a town councillor.  Castel-Vernac derives a healthy income from buying and selling anything and everything, from automatic sweepers to enamel spittoons.  Unable to sign his own name in his louche business dealings, the councillor persuades Topaze to lend him his name.   Through this arrangement, Topaze becomes a wealthy man, but how can he square this newfound success with his earlier belief that money does not make a man happy...?

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