L'argent (1928)
Country: FR
Technical: bw silent 195m
Director: Marcel L'Herbier
Cast: Marie Glory, Pierre Alcover, Brigitte Helm, Henry Victor, Alfred Abel
Synopsis:
An unscrupulous banker exploits a young aviator and his wife, the former because he will lend prestige to the value of the company stock, the latter because he wants to make her his mistress. However, a former mistress sides with his nemesis, a more established but no less unscrupulous financier, against him.
Review:
Based on Emile Zola's novel, and made at about the same time that other films like The Crowd and Sunrise set young lovers' dreams against a background of big city corruption, L'Herbier's late silent masterpiece offers a timely pre-Crash warning of the perils of greed. The aviator is an ideas man, out to better the world, even if it does mean despoiling acres of wilderness in French Guiana, while the girl is tempted towards riches, and even, at one surprising moment, the fascinating but oleaginous Saccard. L'Herbier runs the gamut of imaginative cinematic devices, from suspended camera to motivic effects, and the acting is for the most part (Helm excepted) pretty naturalistic. The whole is perhaps a little short on plot for its length.
Country: FR
Technical: bw silent 195m
Director: Marcel L'Herbier
Cast: Marie Glory, Pierre Alcover, Brigitte Helm, Henry Victor, Alfred Abel
Synopsis:
An unscrupulous banker exploits a young aviator and his wife, the former because he will lend prestige to the value of the company stock, the latter because he wants to make her his mistress. However, a former mistress sides with his nemesis, a more established but no less unscrupulous financier, against him.
Review:
Based on Emile Zola's novel, and made at about the same time that other films like The Crowd and Sunrise set young lovers' dreams against a background of big city corruption, L'Herbier's late silent masterpiece offers a timely pre-Crash warning of the perils of greed. The aviator is an ideas man, out to better the world, even if it does mean despoiling acres of wilderness in French Guiana, while the girl is tempted towards riches, and even, at one surprising moment, the fascinating but oleaginous Saccard. L'Herbier runs the gamut of imaginative cinematic devices, from suspended camera to motivic effects, and the acting is for the most part (Helm excepted) pretty naturalistic. The whole is perhaps a little short on plot for its length.
Country: FR
Technical: bw silent 195m
Director: Marcel L'Herbier
Cast: Marie Glory, Pierre Alcover, Brigitte Helm, Henry Victor, Alfred Abel
Synopsis:
An unscrupulous banker exploits a young aviator and his wife, the former because he will lend prestige to the value of the company stock, the latter because he wants to make her his mistress. However, a former mistress sides with his nemesis, a more established but no less unscrupulous financier, against him.
Review:
Based on Emile Zola's novel, and made at about the same time that other films like The Crowd and Sunrise set young lovers' dreams against a background of big city corruption, L'Herbier's late silent masterpiece offers a timely pre-Crash warning of the perils of greed. The aviator is an ideas man, out to better the world, even if it does mean despoiling acres of wilderness in French Guiana, while the girl is tempted towards riches, and even, at one surprising moment, the fascinating but oleaginous Saccard. L'Herbier runs the gamut of imaginative cinematic devices, from suspended camera to motivic effects, and the acting is for the most part (Helm excepted) pretty naturalistic. The whole is perhaps a little short on plot for its length.