El collar de la reina

One of L'Herbier's best talking pictures. He had at his disposal of course some of the most illustrious names in the business: Hubert as cinematographer, Thiriet as composer, Douy as art director/production designer, Annenkov as costume designer and Spaak as dialogue writer. Viviane Romance is magnificent as Jeanne de la Motte as is Maurice Escande, for years a luminary of the Comedie Francaise, as the dupe Cardinal de Rohan. The scene where Jeanne is publicly whipped (though tame by today's standards) still impresses. Although the film finishes with her imprisonment she later escaped dressed as a man and sought refuge in that traditional sanctuary for crooks and fugitives from justice: England! The previous reviewer is mistaken in saying that 'there is no Cagliostro'. He does in fact appear in the person of Pierre Dux. As a postscript the last silent film to be shown in Paris was L'Herbier's 'L'Argent'. There are two films which vie for the distinction of being the first French talkie, one of which is directed by Tony Dekain and called.....yes, you've guessed it: 'La Collier de la Reine'!