“1001” calls Sacha Guitry’s The Story of a Cheat (1936) a “tour de force.” While I’d say that slightly overstates the film’s greatness, I can’t deny that several elements of the picture, which Guitry also scripted and stars in, had me delighted as I watched. The film is noted for its unique title sequence in which Guitry directs his camera to display to the audience all of the principle actors, many of the sets, his composer, and the cinematographer as he introduces each in delightful voiceover. So much of the subsequent film relies on this same voiceover technique that this early breach of the so-called “fourth wall” serves to establish the irreverent (for its time) tone of the film. The gag is the first of many Guitry employs to take us through the tale of middle-aged scoundrel as he composes his memoirs.
This frame story gives way to the memoirs’ contents and the misanthrope’s detailing of his loose moral fiber. Always ironic, the film notes how he was able at a young age to escape death from deadly mushrooms by having committed a small crime prior to their picking. Thus our rogue protagonist develops a philosophy of life prone to mischief and misbehavior. As he writes, he laments that his only successes in life came from his delving into degradation and forays as a crook.
To call the film tongue in check is to put it lightly, as verbals and visuals often combine for amusing filmic fun. “1001” makes the interesting point that essentially what we see for most of the film’s duration is a silent movie, only being commented upon and narrated by Guitry’s character from retrospect. Thinking about this comment as I read their summation, I found that I had not noticed this while I screened the picture. It is to Guitry’s credit as both scribe and director that this technique goes unnoticed. Much of the film’s action takes place in a casino, and Guitry’s scene compositions stand up well even so with contemporary clips from such pictures as Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s” trilogy.Grade: 2.5 Hats Off
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