Film Review
La Famille Duraton was one of the most successful radio shows ever
to be broadcast in France. Created by Radio-Cité in 1936 the
series was originally titled
Autour de la table and continued right
up until 1966, switching to Radio-Luxembourg and Radio Andorre along the
way. The series inspired
a film
of the same title in 1939, pitting its regular lead actor Noël-Noël
against a comparable talent, Jules Berry. The series' continuing success
in the 1950s resulted in another, somewhat less appealing, movie spin-off,
which would be instantly forgettable were it not for the charismatic presence
of the popular comic actor Ded Rysel.
Rysel was a household name in France at the time, made famous by playing
the part of Duraton (first the son, then the father) in the original radio
series.
Les Duraton was very close to being Rysel's swan song
- he appeared in only three films after this. His co-star Jane Sourza
was the star of another immensely popular radio show,
Sur le banc,
which was also made into
a film, in 1955.
Apart from these two superb comedy performers, aided and abetted by a young
Jean Carmet and a habitually annoying Dary Cowl (Heaven knows why he was
so popular), there's a distinct lack of star quality elsewhere in the cast.
Les Duraton is the kind of lowbrow inoffensive crowdpleaser that director
André Berthomieu could knock off in his sleep (and frequently did,
judging by the results). Berthomieu was nearing the end of his long
and prolific filmmaking career, which stretched back to 1928 and saw him
working with some of the greatest talents of his time - Danielle Darrieux,
Pierre Brasseur, Miche Simon, Raimu, Bourvil, and many others. He was
never a particularly original director but he had a flair for making films
with broad popular appeal. Whilst he did occasionally turn out something
of merit -
Le Mort en fuite
(1936),
Les Nouveaux riches
(1938),
L'Ange de la nuit
(1944) - most of his work is pretty uninteresting and deserves its place
in the oubliettes of French cinema.
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
La Famille Duraton is one of the most popular radio programmes in France,
but this isn't something that anyone with the name Duraton is ever likely
to be grateful for. In the small town of Chatelbourg, the headmaster
Jules Duraton has become an object of ridicule at his school and is forced
to resign his place on the town council just because his name happens to
be Duraton. His wife Irma, son Roger and daughter Solange suffer similar
indignities. In the end, Monsieur Duraton decides he has no other option
but to prosecute the company Radio-Monde, the creator of the radio show that
has brought so much misery into his life. Things take an unexpected
turn when Maître André Martin, the lawyer hired to defend Radio-Monde,
takes a romantic interest in Solange...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.