Adapted from a highly topical stage play by Louis Verneuil, La Banque Némo makes light
of a series of high-profile political-financial scandals that rocked
France in the early 1930s. The persuasive and insanely ambitious
main character Gustave Labrèche is almost certainly based on the
notorious swindler Serge Alexandre Stavisky, who masterminded one of
the most infamous frauds in history and was the subject of great
controversy when he died, possibly at the instigation of the French
government, in 1934. (Stolen Holiday, a film based on the Stavisky Affair,
was made in Hollywood by Michael Curtiz in 1937.)
The film was directed by Marguerite Viel, one
of the few women filmmakers to be working in France in this
period. Although somewhat dated (and far less inspired than the
similarly themed Ces messieurs de la Santé),
La Banque Némo simmers
with caustic humour and offers a hint of how cynically minded the
French public had become after such catastrophic incidents as the
Stavisky Affair, and how little they trusted the banks and the money
men. How things have changed...
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Film Synopsis
Émile Larnoy works as a modest cashier at the Némo Bank, one
of France's most prestigious financial institutions. To buy an expensive
fur coat for his girlfriend Charlotte he risks his job by stealing a large
quantity of money from his boss. Despite his precautions it isn't long
before the theft is noticed and Larnoy's downfall is swift and decisive -
he loses his job and then ends up in prison. One man's misfortune is
another man's opportunity to shoot up the greasy pole, and once Larnoy has
gone his place at the bank is taken by Gustave Labrèche, a smooth
talker who has big ambitions. Through a combination of cunning and
chicanery, Labrèche makes a rapid ascent up the hierarchy and he soon
occupies one of the most important positions in the bank. Still he
is not satisfied. He is determined that he should take the top job,
and this he achieves by convincing the bank's present owner that it on the
brink of ruin. Labrèche sees this as only the beginning - he
intends becoming one of the titans of the financial world. A threat
to his ambitions comes from an unexpected quarter, when Larnoy is let out
of prison and shows up at the bank. He assures Labrèche that
his dodgy dealings will be exposed to the world unless he gives him a senior
job in the bank...
Cast: Victor Boucher (Gustave Labrèche),
Mona Goya (Charlotte), René Bergeron (Émile Larnoy),
Charles Fallot (Nemo), Henry Bonvallet (Vauquelin),
Fred Marche (Pignolet), Georges Pally (Le président),
Gustave Gallet (Biscotte), Alice Tissot (Mme Nemo), Micheline Bernard (Une secrétaire), André Carnège (L'inspecteur),
Henri Charrett (Le journaliste), Claire Gérard (La locataire),
Gaston Mauger (Un ministre), Georges Prieur (Un ministre),
Jorge Six (Le client de la banque),
Guilhon,
Viviane Breino,
Guy Rapp
Country: France
Language: French
Support: Black and White
Runtime: 92 min
The best of British film comedies
British cinema excels in comedy, from the genius of Will Hay to the camp lunacy of the Carry Ons.