Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Steineded How sad is this?

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Ian (Flash Review)This film is about a newly hired valet (not a restaurant valet but a butler for the wealthy) and his awkward interactions with the lady of the house and how he seemingly unintentionally charms her. The film is very dialog heavy as this felt like it was a theatrical play. There is some good witty banter as well as some interesting points being made about how the staff (maids and cooks) interact and to what degree their relationships should be with their family. The very end is almost a soliloquy as the valet is reciting all the reasons he is obsessed by his job and his love of being told what to do every day, thus the lack of decisions he needs to personally make. Overall, it was moderately entertaining with light tension and humor.

Jerry Sacha Guitry writes himself another juicy role, this time as a butler that all of the women in the house find irresistible. He is hired by the beautiful Jacqueline Delubac, or rather talks himself into being hired, after a questionable reference from his former employer who implicated him in a love affair (of course!). He has to promise to keep his hands off her, but is overheard speaking her name in the night while having "erotic dreams". This leads to many problems, especially when she starts having the same dreams. He finally professes his love for her in a long-winded speech and promptly quits. There is one funny scene, mostly unrelated to the rest of the film, with an old deaf woman at dinner, but otherwise this is just another insufferable vanity piece for Guitry.

richard-1787 This movie probably deserves a 6, but I gave it a 7 because it gave me so much pleasure. It is far from a great movie. If it began as a play, I could well believe it: it is, indeed, very talky. And, unlike in Les Perles de la couronne, which is much better and much funnier, there are long speeches. Granted, Guitry delivers them at breakneck speed and yet with total clarity, leaving you astounded, as if you were at the Opera and the soprano had just finished a passage of brilliant fioratura at breakneck speed, with all the notes faultless. It is a bravura performance on his part - hey, he wrote his own lines, and in this movie he gave himself all the good ones - and the other roles are in his shadow. So it is very much worth watching him perform, strange hair and all. He delivers his lines magnificently. But the plot, what little there is, is obvious, the characters not interesting. Pauline Delubac is radiantly beautiful, but she doesn't get much to do in this movie. One feels that she is wasted.I suppose one could say, to use an over-used metaphor, that it is like a soufflé. Delicious, but basically a puff pastry that leaves little once it has been consumed.

dbdumonteil Like many (all?) Guitry's movies ,"Désiré " begins with a spoken "cast and credits" .It was before Welles' "Magnificent Ambersons" wasn't it? Paying a tribute ,not only to his actors but also to all those obscure people who contributed to the movie was pretty smart and generous on Guitry's part,a director whose films were slagged off by critic Georges Sadoul as "mirrors of his ego" " canned plays" .Time has done Guitry justice.Two of his movies ,this one and "Quadrille" were recently remade.That said ,in spite of brilliant sequences,I think that "Désiré " is too talky -with his scenes with then-wife Delubac ,his delivery is so rapid ,it's sometimes impossible to catch all he is saying.Désiré is a butler who seduces the posh ladies who hire him.As soon he is in the house,Odette begins to dream she's a love affair with him.The problem is that she speaks and even shouts when she's dreaming and her lover (a politician) is not prepared to accept it.A "Freudian" book about dreams -the kind of work you easily find in a dime store- puzzles the lady.The second half of the play is not as funny as the first one.The arrival of a stupid hard of hearing old "friend" gets in the way.One should note that the first part did include some memorable scenes by Arletty and Pauline Carton as the chamber maid and the cook .A good (but not great) Guitry.