Purely Joyful Movie!

Let's be realistic.

A Brilliant Conflict

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Originally planning to view the X-Mas-set French Film Noir Le Monte- charge,I found out about a fascinating-sounding X-Mas set French film,which was the first movie in France to be financed by the Nazis during their occupation of the country,which led to me getting ready to discover who killed Santa Clause.The plot:With the Christmas season approaching,a local priest begins to get his church set for the Christmas celebrations.Getting out the centrepiece item for the occasion, (a ring called St Nickolas)the vicar is suddenly knocked out.Waking up,the vicar discovers that the ring of St Nickolas has been stolen.As word about the robbery spreads across the town,suspicions begin to fall on Baron Gaspard Cornusse,who has recently returned to the village,and claims to be suffering from leprosy.Hoping to find the ring before Christmas day,the village residence are given an early Christmas present,when the man who has played Santa Clause in their village for the last 20 years,is found in his Santa outfit-brutally murdered.View on the film:Designed as the film which would give the Nazis a grip on the French film industry, (via the "fake" studio Continental Films) Charles Spaak's adaptation of Pierre Véry's novel shows a tremendous skill in slyly including subtle support for the French Resistance which went under the German censors nose.Giving the movie an idyllic setting of a small snowy village,Spaak places a number of allegorical themes above the snowmen,as Spaak shows the village residences fall into fear,paranoia & mistrust of each other,with Spaak smartly using snow to show the village become blocked off/occupied from the outside world.Despite being made under extremely difficult circumstances,Spaak delivers a stirring "Christmas Message" of defiance via using Santa Clause to show that an idea/belief (in this case the meaning of Christmas) can't be killed off.Wrapping the title up in a winter atmosphere,directors Roger Chapatte and Christian-Jaque perfectly capture the season,by using deep,charcoal blacks to show a chill sweeping across the village.Along with the Christmassy mood,Chapatte & Jaque also give the title a strong sinister undertone,thanks to using excellent fade in/fade out and swirling camera moves to show the feelings of fear and mistrust that each of the village residences have for each other.Becoming the first major French actor to be tortured by the Nazis, Harry Baur (who would tragically die from the effects of the Nazis torture) gives an extraordinary performance as Gaspard Cornusse,thanks to Baur filling Cornusse with a devilish charm,that also hints at something sinister hiding just underneath the characters skin,which makes the film a sad glimpse into the amazing future performances which Baur could have given.Making her film debut,the very pretty Renée Faure (who would later get married to co-director Christian-Jaque) gives a terrific performance as Catherine Cornusse,with Faure showing Catherine to pick up on the tension within the town,but being unable to let go of the child-like joy of the Christmas season,as the residence of the town discover who killed Santa Clause.

Although some actors are a little too 'pushy' on the drama side, the camera shots are excellent. Harry Baur is indeed excellent, along with Raymond Rouleau and Fernand Ledoux. While Renée Faure, M-H Dasté and Le Vigan's performance are a little "too much" for my taste and the genre of the movie. The "over-doing" breaks the pace of the movie.The early version of the French Santa Claus (Père Noël) is very charming.Made under German occupied France in 1941, I find this movie remarkably done. Especially considering that the Gestapo tortured Harry Baur to death a couple years later.Astonishingly enough, the children in the movie are performing quite well. The cameo from Bernard Blier is also memorable toward the end.I recommend this movie to all French movie lovers, now available on DVD under the "René Château" label. PAL, Zone 2, if your player can accept it.

This has the dubious distinction of being the first release of the infamous Continental Films and top-billed Harry Baur also has a distinction but one I feel sure he would have been happy to waive, that of being the first major French actor to be tortured to death by the Gestapo within months of shooting this fine movie. Baur was a veteran actor who made his first film in 1909 and was an early - if not actually the 'first' Maigret and he graced many (77 but who's counting) fine French films with his presence. Those who have seen Bertrand Tavernier's masterpiece 'Laissez-Passer' which was set in Paris and specifically featured Continental will take extra pleasure in seeing an actual product of the company (Douce is another that should not be missed). Pere Noel is now available on DVD and I have to say that the quality is excellent. Cynics may question a 'village' in the Savoy Alps that boasts chateaux like the one here in which we half expect to see Errol Flynn duelling with Basil Rathbone such is the scope and magnificence of its great stone-flagged floors with at least one fireplace as big as the White Horse Inn. I tend to agree with the viewer who stated that the plot is flimsy and is far outclassed by the atmosphere, which is terrific though again one may wonder how a globe-maker would make a living in a remote Alpine village. These things to one side the film is a joy and though It is very doubtful whether any of the fine actors - with the exception of Baur and Fernand Ledoux - would have been known outside France even in 1941 let alone today that is one more pleasure to savour, making the acquaintance of actors who were once only names in Reference Books. This is one I'll watch again.

This was the first film that the Nazis allowed to be made in France after the occupation and installation of the Vichy government. Many denounced its director as a collaborator because he made a film sanctioned by the Nazis. But to the discerning eye, this unusual film does anything but cooperate with the enemy.In its fairy-tale setting, the various characters appear as symbols in a constantly shifting allegory of good and evil. The literal-minded Nazi censors apparently didn't get the message, because any particular character might appear in one scene as a symbol of the collaborators, and in the next as a loyalist and supporter of resistance. Even as the symbolic alignments shifted too rapidly for the Nazis to detect them (much the way resistance fighters themselves often had to) the message of hope and patriotism and faith remained quite clear.The story concerns an old globe-maker who is mysteriously killed while going through the town portraying Pere Noel ("Father Christmas" aka Santa Claus). The unraveling of the mystery is entwined with a love story concerning an aloof nobleman who might be a scoundrel, or might be Prince Charming. But the story is little more than a pretext for the message and the pervasive sense of magic that the film weaves.;Of special note is the performance of Harry Baur, the famous Yiddish actor, as the Globemaker. His subtly Jewish Santa Claus is, in and of itself, a bold act of resistance. This was the next to last film Baur made. He was soon taken prison by the Nazis and reportedly died at the hands of the Gestapo.I saw this film in 1980 when the Cinematheque Francaise sent a huge program of films to Los Angeles in collaboration with UCLA and The L.A. County Museum of Art. I do not know of it being shown in this country since. I have heard of an untranslated VHS of it being in existence, but I have been unable to find it. Do not miss this film if you are afforded a chance to see it.