Directed by Marcel L'Herbier
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)
Long but absorbing drama of an Italian man, the great Ivan Mosjoukine, whose search for "freedom" leads him to fake his death. The first half of the film chronicles his unhappy marriage in a small town. He has a mother-in-law who makes his life miserable. He has a terrible job as an assistant in a run-down, ramshackle library. It all comes to a head when his baby becomes deathly ill. He decides to get away from it all and runs away to Monte Carlo, where he has a winning streak and becomes independently wealthy. On the return trip, a newspaper article mistakenly claims he has died in an accident. He retreats to Rome under an assumed name, where he begins a new relationship with the pretty Lois Moran. The second half of the film chronicles their sometimes funny life with her kooky father, who believes in spiritualism and seances. However, his lack of an identity soon causes him problems. He is robbed of his money and cannot report it to the police. He is unable to marry Moran. He returns to his former wife, where he is believed dead, but she has since remarried. So, back to Rome, where there is a happy ending.
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