''Topaze'' is a 1936 French

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie française. Although his work is less fashionabl ...

and starring

Alexandre Arnaudy Alexandre Arnaudy was a French actor, born Marius Guarino on July 17, 1881 in Marseille, where he died on November 1, 1969. Filmography * 1932 : A phone call from Georges Lacombe : Cormainville * 1932 : The Last Shock of Jacques de Baronce ...

Sylvia Bataille Sylvia Bataille (born Sylvia Maklès; 1 November 1908 – 22 December 1993) was a French actress of Romanian-Jewish descent. When she was twenty, she married the writer Georges Bataille with whom she had a daughter, the psychoanalyst Laurence Bata ...

and Pierre Asso.Goble p.987 It is based on the Pagnol's own 1928 play '' Topaze''. A separate adaptation '' Topaze'' had been directed by

Louis J. Gasnier Louis Joseph Gasnier (September 15, 1875 – February 15, 1963) was a French-American film director, producer, screenwriter and stage actor. A cinema pioneer, Gasnier shepherded the early career of comedian Max Linder, co-directed the enormously ...

three years earlier.

Cast

* Arnaudy as Topaze *

as Ernestine Muche * Pierre Asso as Tamise * Jean Arbuleau as Roger de Berville *

Léon Belières Léon Belières (1880–1952) was a French film actor.Goble p.202 Selected filmography * '' Figaro'' (1929) * '' Levy and Company'' (1930) * '' A Hole in the Wall'' (1930) * '' The Road Is Fine'' (1930) * ''Atlantis'' (1930) * ''The Mystery of t ...

as Régis de Castel-Bénac *

Henri Poupon Henri Poupon (1884–1953) was a French stage and film actor.Paietta p.128 He worked a number of times with the write-director Marcel Pagnol. Selected filmography * ''The Fortune'' (1931) * ''To the Polls, Citizens'' (1932) * ''Angèle'' (1934) * ...

as le vieillard *

Alida Rouffe Alida Rouffe (1874–1949) was a French actress. Joséphine Marie Rouffe was born on 20 March 1874 in Bordeaux. Her father was mime artist Louis Rouffe (1849-1885). She spent most of her career on stage in the south of France, and like her ...

as la baronne de Pitart-Vergnolles * Délia Col as Suzy Courtois * Jean Castan as un élève * Paul Demange * Léon Brouzet as M. Muche * André Pollack

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* 1936 films French comedy films 1930s French-language films 1936 comedy films Films directed by Marcel Pagnol Films set in France French films based on plays Films based on works by Marcel Pagnol French black-and-white films 1930s French films {{1930s-France-film-stub