Rene Clair is among the most unique and underrated auteurs of French cinema. His films were often amusing and visually interesting, and on those levels his masterful musical-comedy "Le Million" certainly does not disappoint! The sets he uses are surreal and beautiful, and the way his camera soars through the action is nothing other than brilliant. This is a wonderfully made and entertaining movie that will please all of those with a tolerance for subtitles and an overall love of cinema. It's charmingly made and scripted, and the plot is not only outrageous and funny, but also quite entertaining and engaging.The only real problem I had with this film was its lack of truly interesting characters. None of the characters were extremely well developed or three dimensional. However, this film is much more of a plot oriented film, the humor and tension comes from the situations rather than those in the situations. Unfortunately, films like this can never reach perfection, for a real cinematic masterpiece would incorporate both elements. However, this film is still miles away better than a vast majority you will ever see. I think it may be even better than last year's musical hit "La La Land"-another film that I really enjoyed!

Had this movie been made just a few years later, I would have knocked down the score a point or two because the sound quality was rather poor. At times, the movie appeared to be a silent film during the in-between-scenes (normal ambient sounds are missing). But, given it was 1931 and a French movie, this is quite forgivable. Especially since this also occurs in later French films--by which time the sound difficulties should have been worked out completely (such as in L'Atalante from 1934).Okay, apart from some minor sound problems, this is a cute little film about a missing winning lottery ticket and a long list of people trying to get it. And, during the search there are lots of jaunty little songs that you can't help but like. A nice charming film all-in-all.

Besides being very amusing, this French musical feature is quite creative as well. René Clair's light touch is perfect for the material, and it gives the movie a style all its own. In particular, it stands out as one of the best of the earlier sound movies that adopted a musical format.The story is the kind of simple but amusing premise that, in the right hands, can be built up into a hilarious situation. And that is what Clair does here - beginning with some entertaining misadventures that introduce the characters, he then sets up the main story about the lottery ticket, and from there on it builds up nicely both in humor and in complexity. The climactic sequence in the opera house is a well-crafted, extended slapstick sequence that also includes some interesting parallels.The cast works well, with Annabella particularly standing out with her engaging performance as Béatrice.The style is an interesting contrast from what eventually became the norm in movie musicals. The musical sequences, which vary considerably in length, are for the most part worked naturally into the flow of events, rather than being set off as separate numbers. Clair and the cast make this format work well. The overall result is a very enjoyable movie that you will also remember for its imaginative approach.

A wonderful early musical film from Rene Clair, as fun and witty as his silent "The Italian Straw Hat". Using sound in a expressive way and not just for dialogue and effects, Clair influenced early musicals in America (the opera scene from A Night at the Opera is strongly influenced by Le Million, for example). Should (but won't) be seen by all cinephiles, and the DVD from Criterion is exactly as good as you'd expect. There's not a ton of extras, but most DVD extras I've seen are useless fluff, and the Clair interview on disc is one I hadn't ever seen. Get it while it's still around.