1931, Directed by Rene Clair, French with subtitles.  Another gem I'd
never seen.  I'd never even heard of it, but I'd set the DVR to record
it some time back and tonight I had a look.

My first reaction:  This has got to be a French remake of Modern Times.
But no, clearly this was filmed well before Modern Times.  So what's the
deal?  Was Modern Times a remake of this?

There are some similarities, but the French film is a buddy comedy

1931, Directed by Rene Clair, French with subtitles. Another gem I'd
never seen. I'd never even heard of it, but I'd set the DVR to record it
some time back and tonight I had a look.

My first reaction: This has got to be a French remake of Modern Times.
But no, clearly this was filmed well before Modern Times. So what's the
deal? Was Modern Times a remake of this?

Google to the rescue. The film's production company sued Chaplin for
plagiarism, but Chaplin denied everything, the lawsuit dragged on for
years, Chaplin settled but never admitted anything. Rene Clair said that
if the great Chaplin had lifted anything from his movie, he was flattered.

I'd like to say I think Charlie Chaplin couldn't possibly have been a
plagiarist, but golly...Modern Times bears more than just a passing
resemblance in look and theme.

And it's amusing, too. All it needed was a Bellowes Feeding Machine.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

1931, Directed by Rene Clair, French with subtitles. Another gem I'd
never seen. I'd never even heard of it, but I'd set the DVR to record
it some time back and tonight I had a look.

From: "steve" <steve@steve.com
Organization: steve
Reply-To: steve@steve.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.past-films
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:42:30 GMT
Subject: Re: A Nous la Liberte



On 26-Mar-2008, Bill Anderson <billanderson601@yahoo.com> wrote:

1931, Directed by Rene Clair, French with subtitles. Another gem I'd
never seen. I'd never even heard of it, but I'd set the DVR to record
it some time back and tonight I had a look.

Terrific film by one of my favorite directors. Far better than "modern
times", which is a very different film that just happens to use similar
comic setting and devices and (IMO) just isnt that funny.

Claire made a couple of films in this period that are essentially silent
films (with soundtrack and scant dialog). The other is "Under the Roofs of
Paris" (1930), and it's every bit as charming and touching as "Liberte".
Claire show us the little moments people share together, and adds enough wit
and humour to make the sentiment work without becoming embarassing. I wish
more of his films would hit DVD.

Check out the opening music in "Under the roofs of Paris". It's a lovely
little tune.

"Le Million", made between "Sous les Toits" and "A Nous", is another gem--

"Le Million", made between "Sous les Toits" and "A Nous", is another gem--
the story revolves around a lost lottery ticket and the machinations that
sets off.

And by the way, it's "Clair,", not "Claire".

Rene Clair, like
Renoir, did his best work long before he ever arrived in Hollywood (I
suppose some might disagree, but...).

I'm not sure I find the connection between "Modern Times" and "A Nous la
liberte" to be all that strong, in any case. The conveyor belt sequence is
probably what sparked the lawsuit, and while both scenes do use a conveyor
belt as a prop, Chaplin's use of the prop and the gags he gets out of it are
different enough that it doesn't strike me as plagiarism.

I think it's completely fair to compare the two movies because even
though it's entirely possible Chaplin created his movie with no
knowledge whatsoever of Clair's effort, both films cover the same little
man vs. the industrial age territory.

On 27-Mar-2008, "G. M. Watson" <anneb@intergate.ca> wrote:

"Le Million", made between "Sous les Toits" and "A Nous", is another
gem--
the story revolves around a lost lottery ticket and the machinations that
sets off.

Love that film, but cant get anyone else to watch it.

And by the way, it's "Clair,", not "Claire".

I know, 'cause I have to correct myself every time I search on his name in
IMDB or Netflix...I recall my 2nd grade teacher telling my parents that I
spell like olde english, adding "e"s to the end of everything.


Rene Clair, like
Renoir, did his best work long before he ever arrived in Hollywood (I
suppose some might disagree, but...).

No disagreement from me, though his hollywood stuff is still quite
charming.
Loved "The Flame of New Orleans".

Id like to see more of his silent stuff, but little is available.
--
"History is a lie agreed upon." --Napoleon

From: "steve" <steve@steve.com
Organization: steve
Reply-To: steve@steve.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.past-films
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:42:30 GMT
Subject: Re: A Nous la Liberte



On 26-Mar-2008, Bill Anderson <billanderson601@yahoo.com> wrote:

1931, Directed by Rene Clair, French with subtitles. Another gem I'd
never seen. I'd never even heard of it, but I'd set the DVR to record
it some time back and tonight I had a look.

Terrific film by one of my favorite directors. Far better than "modern
times", which is a very different film that just happens to use similar
comic setting and devices and (IMO) just isnt that funny.

Claire made a couple of films in this period that are essentially silent
films (with soundtrack and scant dialog). The other is "Under the Roofs
of
Paris" (1930), and it's every bit as charming and touching as "Liberte".
Claire show us the little moments people share together, and adds enough
wit
and humour to make the sentiment work without becoming embarassing. I
wish
more of his films would hit DVD.

Check out the opening music in "Under the roofs of Paris". It's a lovely
little tune.

"Le Million", made between "Sous les Toits" and "A Nous", is another gem--
the story revolves around a lost lottery ticket and the machinations that
sets off. And by the way, it's "Clair,", not "Claire". Rene Clair, like
Renoir, did his best work long before he ever arrived in Hollywood (I
suppose some might disagree, but...).

Regarding the scandal over Chaplin's alleged plagiarism of the
conveyor-belt
scene in "A Nous" for "Modern Times" (and I think there's more than a
grain
of truth to those accusations-- at the very least Chaplin could be said to
be guilty of what the judge in the George Harrison/"My Sweet Lord" case
called "Unconscious plagiarism"), there's an interesting little
supplemental
doc on the topic on the Criterion DVD of "A Nous", featuring Chaplin
historian David Robinson.
GMW

"G. M. Watson" <anneb@intergate.ca> wrote in message
news:C4116693.F09A%anneb@intergate.ca...


From: "steve" <steve@steve.com
Organization: steve
Reply-To: steve@steve.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.past-films
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:42:30 GMT
Subject: Re: A Nous la Liberte



On 26-Mar-2008, Bill Anderson <billanderson601@yahoo.com> wrote:

1931, Directed by Rene Clair, French with subtitles. Another gem I'd
never seen. I'd never even heard of it, but I'd set the DVR to record
it some time back and tonight I had a look.

Terrific film by one of my favorite directors. Far better than "modern
times", which is a very different film that just happens to use similar
comic setting and devices and (IMO) just isnt that funny.

Claire made a couple of films in this period that are essentially silent
films (with soundtrack and scant dialog). The other is "Under the Roofs
of
Paris" (1930), and it's every bit as charming and touching as "Liberte".
Claire show us the little moments people share together, and adds enough
wit
and humour to make the sentiment work without becoming embarassing. I
wish
more of his films would hit DVD.

Check out the opening music in "Under the roofs of Paris". It's a
lovely
little tune.

"Le Million", made between "Sous les Toits" and "A Nous", is another
gem--
the story revolves around a lost lottery ticket and the machinations that
sets off. And by the way, it's "Clair,", not "Claire". Rene Clair, like
Renoir, did his best work long before he ever arrived in Hollywood (I
suppose some might disagree, but...).

Regarding the scandal over Chaplin's alleged plagiarism of the
conveyor-belt
scene in "A Nous" for "Modern Times" (and I think there's more than a
grain
of truth to those accusations-- at the very least Chaplin could be said
to
be guilty of what the judge in the George Harrison/"My Sweet Lord" case
called "Unconscious plagiarism"), there's an interesting little
supplemental
doc on the topic on the Criterion DVD of "A Nous", featuring Chaplin
historian David Robinson.
GMW


Stylistically, I think Chaplin could have seen in Clair's work the key to
keeping "silent film" language alive in the sound era. I confess to not
seeing too much of a resemblance between "A Nous la Liberte" and "Modern
Times" outside of the use of the conveyor belt, because Clair himself was
so heavily influenced by Chaplin (and I agree, the lead in "Liberte" seems
very Chaplinesque). The themes in both films are ones that Chaplin had
been exploring at least since his days at Keystone, but I agree that
similarities do exist-I just don't necessarily think Chaplin plagiarised
from Clair's film specifically. (Incidentally, it always amazes me when a
lawsuit like this is actually filed, given the much more obvious
plagiarism that takes place constantly in Hollywood, then and now).

I've often wondered, if the Hollywood narrative feature hadn't become so
firmly entrenched as the *only* way to make movies during the 1930s, if
the Chaplin/Clair (and to some extent Lubitsch) model could have developed
and flourished into a really interesting alternative. I have to think it
could have, given the existing developments that had been made in silent
film, and the emerging technology to synchronize music and effects as
needed. It does seem that this approach was best suited to humor, and
especially satire, where the slightly fantasy element worked well.
--
Matt Barry
View my films at: www.youtube.com/comedyfilm
http://mbarry84.tripod.com
http://filmreel.blogspot.com
If there were a kind of "accepted wisdom" that Chaplin had made