Children of Paradise (1945) on Netflix
In 1830s Paris, the mime Baptiste rescues the courtesan Garance from a false theft accusation on the Boulevard du Crime and falls in love with her. Three other men want her too.
- Netflix4.5/5
- IMDb8.3/1022,748 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes98%
Trailer
Plot summary
On the Boulevard du Temple in 1830s Paris, nicknamed the Boulevard of Crime for its melodramas and bloody scenarios, the Théâtre des Funambules plays pantomime, since spoken drama belongs to the official house. There Baptiste Debureau, in his Pierrot costume, mimes out a theft he has seen to clear Garance, a woman who exhibits her charms in a carnival show, when she is accused of stealing a man's watch. He falls in love with her. Garance holds off Frédérick Lemaître, an actor chasing stardom, and Pierre-François Lacenaire, a scrivener who runs criminal enterprises. Nathalie, the theater director's daughter and a mime, loves Baptiste. The wealthy Count Édouard de Montray offers Garance his fortune, and then his protection, should she ever need it.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Children of Paradise (1945)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Actor Robert Le Vigan, cast as the informer-thief Jéricho, was sentenced to death by the Resistance after the liberation of Paris for collaborating with the Nazis and fled to Sigmaringen; he was replaced at a moment's notice by Pierre Renoir, elder brother of filmmaker Jean Renoir, and most of his scenes had to be redone.
- Among the film's 1,800 extras were Resistance agents who used the production as daytime cover, mingling until the liberation of France with collaborators and Vichy sympathisers the authorities had imposed on the production.
- Jean-Louis Barrault nearly missed playing Baptiste: committed to the theatre hit The Satin Slipper, he almost handed the part to the then little-known music hall entertainer Jacques Tati before a revised schedule let him do both.
- Set designer Alexandre Trauner and composer Joseph Kosma were Jewish and worked in secrecy throughout the production, while conductor Charles Münch, who led the music, contributed part of his income to the French Resistance.
- Because distributor Gaumont could only screen a three-hour film half as many times as usual, Children of Paradise was split into two parts and sold as a double feature at eighty francs a seat, double the usual price.
- Director Marcel Carné and screenwriter Jacques Prévert hid some of the film's key reels from the German occupying forces, hoping the liberation of Paris would come before the film was ready for release.
- The quarter-mile long main set built for the film, the "Boulevard du Temple", was severely damaged by a storm and had to be rebuilt.
- The four men who court Garance are based on real French figures of the 1820s and 1830s: the mime Baptiste Deburau, the actor Frédérick Lemaître, the criminal Pierre Lacenaire, and the Comte de Montray, inspired by the Duc de Morny.
