Cesar

Fifteen years have passed; little Cesariot is now old enough to become a soldier, and Panisse is on his death-bed. That is the way things are as Marcel Pagnol begins "Cesar," the last part of his celebrated French trilogy of the Marsailles waterfront folks. "Marius" and "Fanny," the other two films dealing with the people, were perhaps funnier, for "Cesar" is more concerned with plot and its happy ending.

There is less of the late Raimu in "Cesar" than in the others. While this is regrettable (three will never be enough Raimu on film, anyhow), it at least shows how carefully M. Pagnol had planned his trilogy, and how little he cared for the "star system."

There is also less of Charpin, the great actor who plays Panisse. However, he figures prominently in the opening scenes of the movie which are concerned with his death. With Pagnol's perfect taste, understanding, and humor it is one of the most amusing scenes in the film.

All of the other cronics are there, still playing cards in Cesar's saloon--Escartefigue, the "retired" tugboat captain, M. Brun, the apothecary who will always be reminded, when he errs, that "he certainly is from Lyons!" They are a welcome sight.

Orane Desmazis, who plays Fanny, shows that she is an actress of surprising stature in "Cesar." She is remarkably adopt in the very difficult scene in which she tells Cesariot that Panisse, her husband, was not his father. Reminding her son that she was forced to marry old Panisse because she was unwed and was carrying him, Mile, Desmazis defends herself well, and delivers to her priggish son what I am sure is one of the most astounding counter-offensive in motion-pictures. It is approximately: "You forget, Cesariot, that you, yes you, kept me from having the other children I wanted. If it had not been for you, I would not have had to marry a man 30 years older than I."

Learning that Marius is his father and that his grandfather is the saloonkeeper. Cesariot sets out to find Marius in Toulon. Marius eventually returns to Fanny, patches up his quarrel with his father, Cesar, and M. Pagnol'e gentle tale of some rowdy folks peacefully ends.