Paris chante toujours! (1951)
Directed by Pierre Montazel

Film Review

On the flimsiest of pretexts, Paris chante toujours! assembles an extraordinary ensemble of talent that includes some of the most legendary and best loved of France's chansonniers.  Édith Piaf, Luis Mariano, Georges Guétary, Tino Rossi, Yves Montand and Jean Sablon make an impressive roll call and their combined presence makes this seem like a lavish variety show rather than a piece of cinema.  If there is a plot linking the musical numbers together it is conspicuous by its absence (or too dull to be of interest) and the dramatic interludes between the numbers soon become an irritating intrusion.  Who can be bothered with the silly autograph hunting escapade of Clément Duhour and Madeleine Lebeau and the even sillier B-movie denoument?  Director Pierre Montazel should have insisted on cutting this tedious time-filling nonsense out - had he done so, Paris chante toujours! would have been an utter delight, possibly cinema's most wholehearted tribute to France's great music hall tradition.  It's worth watching just for Piaf's rendition of her signature song, L'Hymne à l'amour.

Film Synopsis

After his death, the celebrated actor and benefactor Clodomir leaves a will in which he bequeaths his entire fortune to whoever can obtain the greatest number of autographs in a specified time limit.  Two cousins, Gisèle and Gilbert, waste no time hunting down celebrities for their signatures...