Sacha Guitry

 Sacha Guitry




The Story of a Cheat (1936)

The Pearls of the Crown (1937)

Desire (1937)

Quadrille (1938)




RANKED:

4. Desire (1937)


A comedy of manners centering on an 'upstairs' and 'downstairs' of a wealthy home was a always a major centerpiece of the French poetic realist movement of the 1930s. Sacha Guitry's attempt at this, his 1937 film "Desire" finds a valet position compromised when he falls in love with the woman he is working for. The film takes on Guitry's typical comedic stylings and his signature aesthetic.



3. Quadrille (1938)


In Sacha Guitry's 1938 comedic film "Quadrille," our filmmaker plays with the hearts of all of his characters involved, as they each go round and round through varied emotional states of passions for each other. It's a romantically dizzying display of comedy in typical Guitry fashion.



2. The Pearls of the Crown (1937)


One of the two films Sacha Guitry made in the 1937, "The Pearls of the Crown" continues with Guitry's signature irreverent and creative style of storytelling. Through flashbacks and storytelling within the story itself, Guitry recounts Western European history with wit and flair, as the characters recount the history of the seven pearls of the English crown. A tale of royalty and class, Guitry demonstrates how time evolves and some of the most important events in history occurred through chance and circumstance. 



1. The Story of a Cheat (1936)


Sacha Guitry's adaptation of his own novel, "The Story of a Cheat," he creatively found fascinating ways to tell a story of moral confusion in a morally confused world. His titular 'cheat' continuously is rewarded for 'cheating,' being deceptive, and manipulating. On paper, a story and concept about a society where corruption and deceit are rewarded would sound more dramatic and dark. However, through Guitry's script and realization, it is a far more comedic tone. What's even more interesting is the structure of the story that Guitry employs. Most of the film takes place in flashback in which no characters in the flashbacks speaks, only Guitry's narration. This unique structure allows for us to follow along like one would a novel. The result is a fascinating examination of the life of a polite, yet deceitful gentleman who moves through the moral confusion of the world completely leaning on his ability to cheat. 

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