Production Design
French stage favorite Lya Gauty made her screen debut in 1938's La Goualeuse (The Street Singer). The story concerns a poverty-stricken vagabond (Jean Martinelli) who supports himself by singing for pennies in a rough section of town. Only the local barkeeper knows that the vagabond is actually the illegitimate son of a prosperous and highly respected banker (Constant Remy). One would think that the film's dramatic climax would consist of a tearful reunion between father and son. Instead, this scene occurs in the middle of the picture; the rest of the film is a melodramatic melange of high emotionalism and low melodrama, culminating in the boy's suicide. Though billed first, Lya Gauty has an almost peripheral role as the hero's long-suffering sweetheart who sings at the drop of a hat and frequently brings her own hat.
Hotelier
A young journalist hungry for scoop lets himself be suspected of a crime to write a report.
The family Pont-Biquet is composed as follows: father, the judge, afflicted by deafness; authoritarian and irascible mother; funny son-in-law; an ingenious son who has a mistress.
After he is thought dead, a painter who had no success before suddenly becomes a man of repute, and a statue is even prepared in his honor.
An opinionated and cocky bookkeeper is certain he can rum his employer's business better than his employer can. The latter dive the bookkeeper a chance to demonstrate his management ability and skills, and promptly makes an unmitigated mess.
