Les Musiciens du ciel (1940)
Directed by Georges Lacombe

Film Review

As his career as an actor began to wane in the late 1930s, despite notable appearances in Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (1936) and Gueule d'amour (1937), René Lefèvre turned to writing and had an immediate success with his first novel, Les Musiciens du ciel, published by Gallimard in 1938.  When this book made it to the big screen a year later, Lefèvre was the natural person to play the main protagonist, although by this time his star as an actor was very much in the descendent.  He had to be content with third billing, beneath the box office draws Michèle Morgan and Michel Simon, not that this prevented him from giving what is easily one of the finest performances of his career.

On paper, Les Musiciens du ciel sounds like a typical homespun 1930s melodrama, and the fact that it champions the work of the Salvation Army may lead you to expect a dry, moralising piece that is suitable only for old ladies in crinoline and Christian fundamentalists.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Far from being a tedious Bible bashing rant, the film is a gently compassionate, true-to-life account of one man's redemption through the kindness of others.  It hardly matters that the person who brings him back onto the straight and narrow is a dedicated Salvation Army officer.  What matters is that someone recognises the good that it is within him and helps him to find a better, more fulfilled life, in the service of others.

Georges Lacombe directs the film with his customary flair and respect for character, getting the best from his talented actors and avoiding the sentimental death-traps that a lesser director would easily stumble into.  In one of her less glamorous roles, Michèle Morgan brings a striking natural quality to her performance, which is in perfect sympathy with René Lefèvre's quietly understated portrayal of a man struggling to grasp his true identity in a morally vacuous world.  The biggest surprising on the acting front is Michel Simon, who enthrals in every one of his scenes, exuding so much warmth and compassion that you can scarcely watch him with a dry eye.  Anchored in the realm of genuine human feeling rather than a tacky synthetic substitute, Les Musiciens du ciel is a film that both captivates and inspires with its lowkey authenticity.

Film Synopsis

In Paris, Victor makes a dishonest living as a petty criminal.  When his partner in crime is arrested for manufacturing forged coins, Victor begins begging on the street, pretending he is blind.  Lieutenant Saulnier, a young woman officer in the Salvation Army, takes pity on him and invites him back to her lodgings for a meal.  Saulnier soon sees through Victor's ruse and shames him by introducing him to a real blind man.  Under Saulnier's kindly influence, Victor becomes a reformed character and decides to join the Salvation Army himself.  His faith is shaken when his benefactor succumbs to an illness that threatens her life...