''La Comédie du bonheur'' ( "the comedy of happiness") is a French-Italian film directed by

Marcel L'Herbier Marcel L'Herbier (; 23 April 1888 – 26 November 1979) was a French filmmaker who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued unti ...

as a dual-language production. It was filmed in Rome in the early months of 1940, but after Italy joined World War II on the side of Germany, the French and Italian versions of the film were completed separately. The Italian version was released in December 1940 under the title ''Ecco la felicità!'' ("Here's happiness"). The French version was released in July 1942.

Plot

When the wealthy banker François Jourdain tries to spend his money on philanthropic causes, his relatives have him committed to a psychiatric clinic to save their inheritance. During Mardi Gras celebrations, Jourdain escapes and takes up residence in the Pension Beau Soleil, a run-down boarding house in Nice inhabited by several unhappy individuals, including the owner's shy daughter Lydia, the suicidal Russian exile Fédor, and the embittered spinster Miss Aglaé. Jourdain hires some actors from the local theatre to play roles in real life at the boarding house which will transform the lives of everyone, illustrating his principle: "To create the happiness of others is difficult. But it's enough to create the illusion of happiness." The leading actor and tenor Félix courts Lydia and makes her feel loved, his wife Anita awakens the interest of Fédor, and Déribin overcomes his aversion to Aglaé and listens to her complaints. Meanwhile Jourdain's relatives have offered a large reward for his recapture and the police are searching for him. To bring his scheme to its completion, Jourdain organises a fancy-dress ball which culminates in an invasion of the local studios of Radio Azur by all the masked revellers, and a succession of mistaken identities, tricks and unmaskings results in the confused satisfaction of almost everyone. But Jourdain has to surrender himself and return to the asylum.

Cast

Michel Simon Michel Simon (; 9 April 1895 – 30 May 1975) was a Swiss-French actor. He appeared in many notable French films, including ''La Chienne'' (1931), ''Boudu Saved from Drowning'' (1932), ''L'Atalante'' (1934), '' Port of Shadows'' (1938), '' The H ...

as François Jourdain / Giambattista Giordano (Italian version) *

Ramon Novarro José Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican-American actor. He began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box ...

as Félix / Felice Ciatti *

Micheline Presle Micheline Presle (; born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922) is a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting in 1939, she starred in over 50 French and English language films that were made in H ...

as Lydia / Lidia *

Jacqueline Delubac Jacqueline Delubac (1907–1997) was a French stage and film actress.Williams p.158 She was married to Sacha Guitry and appeared in a number of his productions on both stage and screen. Selected filmography * '' Let's Get Married'' (1931) * '' T ...

as Anita / Annetta *

Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lette ...

as Fédor / Fedoro * Sylvie as Madame Marie *

André Alerme André Alerme (9 September 1877 – 31 January 1960) was a French actor. Alerme was born Marie André Alerme in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France and died at the age of 82 in Montrichard, Loir-et-Cher, France. Selected filmography * ''Black and Wh ...

as Déribin * Magdeleine Bérubet as Miss Aglaé / Egle *

Marcel Vallée Marcel Vallée (15 January 1880, in Paris – 31 October 1957, in Fontaine-le-Port) was a French actor, primarily of the theater. He began working in films with Max Linder in 1906. He appeared in some American films. Selected filmography * '' ...

as Doctor Acario *

René Génin René Génin (25 January 1890 – 24 October 1967) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1931 and 1965. Selected filmography * ''The Brighton Twins'' (1936) * ''27 Rue de la Paix'' (1936) * ''Nights ...

Ève Francis Ève Francis (born Eva Louise François; 20 August 1886 – 6 December 1980) was an actress and film-maker. She was born in Belgium but spent most of her career in France. She became closely associated with the writer Paul Claudel, and she wa ...

as Madame Estella, the fortune-teller *

Jaque Catelain Jaque Catelain (9 February 1897 – 5 March 1965) was a French actor who came to prominence in silent films of the 1920s, and who continued acting in films and on stage until the 1950s. He also wrote and directed two silent films himself, and he ...

as the director of Radio Azur

Production

Marcel L'Herbier had wanted for many years to make a film from

Nikolai Evreinov Nikolai Nikolayevich Evreinov (russian: Николай Николаевич Евреинов; February 13, 1879 – September 7, 1953) was a Russian director, dramatist and theatre practitioner associated with Russian Symbolism. Life The son of ...

's 1921 play ''Samoe glavnoe'' which, as ''La Comédie du bonheur'', had enjoyed success on stage in the 1920s in France and elsewhere. He had obtained the author's approval for his ideas on how to adapt it, and in 1930 L'Herbier had signed a contract with a producer to make the film as the second of a two-film deal. However in the event financial difficulties obliged the producer to default on the deal. It was another ten years before circumstances allowed the project to proceed with a new producer, André Paulvé, and it did so under the imminent threat of World War II breaking out in Europe. A co-production was planned with the Italian company Scalera, to be filmed at their studios in Rome.Jaque Catelain, ''Marcel L'Herbier''. Paris: Jacques Vautrain, 1950. p. 125-127. A prestigious cast was assembled led by

, and it included early appearances by

and

(his first completed film). The Mexican-American star of silent films

also joined the company for one of the few films that he made outside Hollywood. Filming began in Rome in March 1940 and proceeded smoothly, while the "

phoney war The Phoney War (french: Drôle de guerre; german: Sitzkrieg) was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germ ...

" continued between France and Germany but Italy had not yet joined the war. In early May however the French ambassador in Rome warned L'Herbier that Italy's declaration of war was imminent and it became necessary for the French actors and technicians to make their arrangements to leave the country as soon as possible, with some of their contributions to the film unfinished. The film negative remained in Rome, and it subsequently suffered some damage in a fire. An Italian-language version of the film was completed later in the year, and it was released in Italy in December 1940 under the title ''Ecco la felicità!''. The credits list only the Italian contributors to it, except for the director and the four principal (non-Italian) actors. In addition to the cinematographer Massimo Terzano, the camera operatore is listed as

Mario Bava Mario Bava (31 July 1914 – 27 April 1980) was an Italian filmmaker who worked variously as a director, cinematographer, special effects artist and screenwriter, frequently referred to as the "Master of Italian Horror" and the "Master of the Ma ...

. Back in occupied France, L'Herbier was unable to do anything more with the film until more than a year later when the film was secretly returned to him from Rome. He then sought to complete filming of the missing parts, reassembling the actors who were still available and resorting to special effects for those who were not. The material was carefully edited and fine-tuned to bring his long-cherished but much thwarted project to fruition, and it was released in Paris in July 1942. This French version of ''La Comédie du bonheur'' consequently shows significant differences from the Italian ''Ecco la felicità!'' in the filming and editing of some sequences, and in some instances the casting.

Reception

The French release of the film coincided with that of another film which Marcel L'Herbier had completed in the meantime, ''

La Nuit fantastique ''La Nuit fantastique'' (''The Fantastic Night'') is a 1942 French fantasy film directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It is regarded as one of the most successful films made in France during the German occupation. Plot Denis, a poor student in philosophy ...

''. Both films were comedies which gave contemporary reviews the opportunity to make direct comparison between them. The performances of Micheline Presle, who appeared in both films, and of Michel Simon in ''La Comédie du bonheur'' were singled out for particular praise.''Paris-Midi'', 9 August 1942, p. 2 (review by Françoise Holbane).

References

External links

* *
''La Comédie du bonheur''
at Monsieur Louis Jourdan

at Films de France {{DEFAULTSORT:Comedie du bonheur, La 1940 films 1942 films 1940s multilingual films Films scored by Jacques Ibert French black-and-white films Films shot at Scalera Studios 1940s French-language films 1940 comedy films French comedy films Films directed by Marcel L'Herbier Italian comedy films Italian black-and-white films 1940s Italian films 1940s French films