Biography of Lucien Guitry, stage comedian, by his son, movie director, and a poetic reflection on the passionate love of both men for their chosen art forms.

1938 film by Pierre Caron

A girl, Marie, who got engaged to a boy who is leaving for military training (thirteen days) wins two million on the raffle, thanks to an older man, Claude, whom she calls her good luck …

1951 film by Sacha Guitry

After being left for another man by his wife, Charles Bellanger raises his only son to fear and suspect women. Years later, such an education is bearing fruit.

1997 film by Valérie Lemercier

Ronald Colman shares a sweepstakes ticket with Ginger Rogers and they then embark on an "imaginary" honeymoon with their "winnings."(imdb)

Désiré is a fine servant and butler who regularly seduces the ladies of the house where he works, but then he moves on. This time he is working for Odette, the mistress of the minister of Posts and he is living a new situation. He has fallen in love with with Odette.

1937 film by Sacha Guitry

Witty narration follows the history of Versailles Palace; founded by Louis XIII, enlarged by autocratic Louis XIV, whose personal affairs and amours, and those of his two successors, are pursued in more detail to the start of the Revolution, after which the story is brought rapidly up to date.

The film follows the life of Napoleon from his early life in Corsica to his death at Saint Helena. The film is notable for its use of location shooting for numerous scenes, especially at the French estates of Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles, and sites of Napoleonic battles including Austerlitz and Waterloo.

Historical film directed and written by Sacha Guitry follows the the history of Paris from its founding through the significant events in the city's history.

1944 film by Sacha Guitry

Originally titled Les Perles de Couronne, this Sacha Guitry historical extravaganza stars both Guitry and his wife Jacqueline Delubac. The plotline hinges on four valuable pearls, which pass from hand to hand over a period of several centuries, from the time of Britain's Henry VIII to the present. All of this is offered in flashback form, as a group of modern-day treasure hunters try to locate three of the missing pearls by tracing them back to their previous owners. Guitry shows up as King Francis I, Barras and Napoleon III, in addition to his contemporary persona of Jean Martin; Debulac is seen as Mary Queen of Scots and Empress Josephine. There isn't a scintilla of historical accuracy in the film, nor did Guitry have the slightest intention of including any; his sole purpose was to entertain the audience and serve up a superbly ironic denoument. The supporting cast is a polyglot of French, English and Italian actors, each speaking in his or her own language. The screenplay for Pearls of the Crown was cowritten by Guitry and another immensely talented filmmaker, Christian-Jaque. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A sparkling four-way affair overflowing with dialogue that showcases writer-director Sacha Guitry’s wit, Quadrille stars Guitry as a magazine editor whose longtime girlfriend (whom he hopes to make his fiancée) is uncontrollably drawn to a handsome American movie star. Meanwhile, a discerning reporter (Jacqueline Delubac) watches from the sidelines with amusement and provides the final corner of this romantic rectangle.

Shavian social satire. Odette is an actress who's now the mistress of a government minister. Her household of cook, maid, and chauffeur needs a valet. On the eve of going with the minister to Deauville, she engages Désiré, a robust and talkative man, even through his most recent employer, a countess, intimates improprieties. Things go well for a short time: the wealthy talk about the servants, the servants talk about their employers. Then, Désiré has explicit dreams about Odette; his outbursts wake the maid in the next room nightly. Odette has the same dream each night, awaking the minister and his jealousy. Is there any decorous way to handle these subconscious attractions?

One of the great late period films by Sacha Guitry — the total auteur who delighted (and scandalised) the French public and inspired the French New Wave as a model for authorship as director-writer-star of screen and stage alike. In every one of his pictures (and almost every one served as a rueful examination of the war between the sexes), Guitry sculpted by way of a rapier wit — one might say by way of “the Guitry touch” — some of the most sophisticated black comedies ever conceived… and La Poison is one of his blackest.Michel Simon plays Paul Braconnier, a man with designs on murdering his wife Blandine (Germaine Reuver) — a woman with similar designs on her husband. When Braconnier visits Paris to consult with a lawyer about the perfect way of killing a spouse — that is, the way in which he can get away with it — an acid comedy unfolds that reaches its peak in a courtroom scene for the ages.From the moment of Guitry’s trademark introduction of his principals in the opening credits, and on through the brilliant performance by national treasure Michel Simon (of Renoir’s Boudu sauvé des eaux and Vigo’s L’Atalante, to mention only two high-water marks), here is fitting indication of why Guitry is considered by many the Gallic equal of Ernst Lubitsch. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to introduce Sacha Guitry into the catalogue with La Poison for the first time on video in the UK in a dazzling new Gaumont restoration.

Life story of a charming scoundrel, with little dialogue other than the star/director's witty narration. As a boy, only he survives a family tragedy when he's deprived of supper (poisonous mushrooms!) for stealing...concluding that dishonesty pays. Through years of dabbling in crime and amusing adventures, two women appear and reappear in his life, a dazzling blonde jewel thief and a stunning brunette gambler. Finally, he meets the mysterious Charbonnier who had saved his life in World War I, leading to the surprising next phase in his career...