The Pearls of the Crown (1937)

 Sacha Guitry's "The Pearls of the Crown"

In the late 1930s, French film and poetic realism had reached its zenith and there were plenty of filmmakers that were coming out of the French market that attracted artistic fervor. One of the these filmmakers was Sacha Guitry, who had his own unique style of storytelling. Often presenting his stories through an intercut and flashback narrative form, stories were told through Guitry and his character's own flavor of quirky stylings.

One of the two films he made in 1937, "The Pearls of the Crowns," has Guitry's character recounting to his wife the history of the seven crowns of England. Through a series of flashbacks and Guitry's narration, we see much of the history of France, England, and Italy, all told with creative irreverence and comedy. When we arrive back to Guitry, he and his wife (along with two other gentlemen), go out scavenging for the missing three pearls that remain. 

I found "The Pearls of the Crown" to be a quite charming film. I was very unimpressed with the film at first, but somehow Guitry won me over with the utter creative intricacies of storytelling and quirkiness. I also enjoyed going through the history of Western Europe in a fun and creative way. Overall, there is nothing about this film that would make me want to revisit. But, I sure as heck enjoyed it.