A trousers tug o’ war. Note the director’s cheeky staging. Image: Silent London
Conventional wisdom tells us the world was a simpler place before the popularity of cars, computers and celebrity culture.
We’re not so sure about this, now that we’ve seen the 1927 silent French comedy The Italian Straw Hat (Un Chapeau de paille d’Italie). This film, adapted from a popular and frequently-produced French play, is set in 1895 and takes place during the course of a single, complicated day.
It’s a truly funny film that makes you fall in love with the characters while it pokes fun at society’s conventions.
The Plot: As a young groom-to-be (Albert Préjean) drives his horse and buggy to his wedding, he encounters an unexpected snag in a thickly-treed lane. While he tends to the problem, his horse wanders ahead and starts eating a woman’s straw hat that has been left on a bush.
Unhappily for everyone, the hat belongs to a married woman (Olga Tschekowa) who is having a… um… tête-à-tête with a solider (Vital Geymond), a man who is not her husband.
The hat is half eaten before anyone realizes what’s happened, which causes A Problem for Tschekowa: She cannot go home to her husband with a half-eaten hat, because there would be too many questions. But she also cannot be seen in Polite Society with no hat at all, because that would be improper.
Geymond, an ill-tempered military man, angrily blames Préjean and demands he replace the hat – Or Else. Préjean, the poor slob, reluctantly agrees.
If buying headwear for another woman on your wedding day weren’t complicated enough, it turns out the stupid thing is practically an endangered species; it’s imported from Italy and hardly anyone in Paris keeps it in stock. Quelle tragédie!
Meanwhile, the bride-to-be (Marise Maia) and her mildly eccentric family prepare for the wedding. As they leave for the ceremony, well-wishers bid them adieu, as captured by director René Clair‘s innovative style:
Clair became celebrated in France for his use of avant-garde filmmaking techniques – both in the silent and early sound eras – which are evident in The Italian Straw Hat. For example, in one scene, the distracted Préjean imagines the angry Geymond destroying everything in his house. Clair pushes this scenario to the extreme: Préjean’s overactive imagination has Geymond tearing out windows and doors with his bare hands. If we weren’t laughing so hard, we’d feel quite anxious for the wretched Préjean.
This film scampers through the wedding day (and the city of Paris) at a frantic pace. It’s almost as though Clair’s camera has both eyebrows raised as it races to record events.
The film is also a mischievous wink at the early French film industry. In the companion booklet to the Flicker Alley DVD, Lenny Borger notes the costumes and sets are designed to look as though The Italian Straw Hat were filmed in 1895. “By re-setting the play in 1895,” writes Borger, “Clair…evoke[s] a not-too-distant past that was also the birth of cinema…. [S]cene after scene painstakingly and brilliantly captures the very atmosphere and nostalgia of pictures taken 30 years earlier…”
Pauline Kael, the American film critic, once said, “[It’s one] of the funniest films ever made…so expertly timed and choreographed that farce becomes ballet.”
She’s right, you know. The Italian Straw Hat is a delightful film that reminds us we humans have a remarkable way of making life ridiculously complex.
Note: The only fully complete edition of The Italian Straw Hat available to North American viewers is available from Flicker Alley on DVD here, or you can stream it here.
The Italian Straw Hat: starring Maryse Maia, Yvonneck, Albert Prejean. Written & directed by René Clair. 1927, B&W, 105 mins.
This post is part of The Silent Cinema Blogathon hosted by In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and Lauren Champkin. Click HERE to see the other fab posts.
Silver Screenings 
Reblogged this on Rogues & Vagabonds.
LikeLiked by 2 people
and so glad you did!!
LikeLike
Me too! 🙂
LikeLike
Readers who haven’t seen the movie must be salivating from the taste you have given them of this delight.
I have only seen this delightful film once, but the movie and the experience lingers. It was presented at the Toronto Silent Film Festival in 2012 in the stately halls of Casa Loma (Toronto’s genuine castle) with Clark Wilson playing a restored antique Wurlitzer. The packed audience was delighted with everything. I think it was the most perfect event presented by the Festival – and they do a great job every year.
LikeLike
You SAW THIS ON THE BIG SCREEN??!!! How fabulous would that be!! And it sounds like they chose the perfect venue in which to show it. What a wonderful experience.
You know what? I’ve just added that to my bucket list: Seeing this film on the big screen.
LikeLike
Hanging onto this post … hope to find the time to give The Hat a peek myself … sounds like such fun!!!! Thanks for the post … and yes … we humans DO have a way of making the simple ‘H’ever so complex!!!!!!
LikeLike
I hope you have the chance to see it – I don’t think I’m overselling it. It’s become my new fave film!
Thanks for dropping by! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
my pleasure. following … and tweeted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“It’s almost as though Clair’s camera has both eyebrows raised as it races to record events.” Love your description!
LikeLike
Ha ha! Thanks! If you see the movie, you’ll know what I mean.
LikeLike
Good write-up! 🙂
I’ve not heard of this one but I do know Rene Clair from “I Married A Witch” so I’ll have to hunt this one down (although I doubt a UK release exists)!
LikeLike
Oh right! You may not have access to this in the UK…which would be a real shame. Such a great film, and so SO funny.
LikeLike
Very interesting blog post. The story sounds a lot like something 17th century French playwright Moliere would have written.
Tam
LikeLike
Ha! Maybe you’re right! I never thought about that.
LikeLike
I’d love to see this, but the Flicker Alley DVD isn’t available in the UK and it’s also impossible to stream from their website either… grrr. I did find the film in French on Youtube and I think my French would probably just about be up to the intertitles, but unfortunately the top of everyone’s head appears to be chopped off. 😦 (I assume the film isn’t supposed to be like that? Nobody seems to have their head cut off in your pictures!)
Anyway, great posting and you have whetted my appetite!
LikeLike
Ha ha – no, the Flicker Alley version has all heads intact. It’s really too bad it’s not available in the UK. 😦 I wonder if the YouTube version would suffice…? For what it’s worth, there are very few intertitles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I’ll give it a try – depends really how drastic the head cutting off turns out to be whether I stick with it. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The movie and the post were both fun. When people say life was better or simpler long ago, never believe them.
LikeLike
I know – it puzzles me when people say life was simpler way back when. I mean, life would be better without printers that jam, for example, but simpler? I’m not convinced.
LikeLike
Fantastic. Yet another one I haven’t seen but am looking forward to it! Thanks. 🙂
LikeLike
I hope you get the chance to see it. Truly a delightful movie. It’s pure comedy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This sounds adorable! You always make me want to watch every film you cover! My “to watch” is growing again!
LikeLike
“Adorable” is the right word for it. I absolutely love this film. The bride’s mother, for example, is hysterical. A whole movie could have been made about her!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I got to learn about this movie earlier this year, but I haven’t seen it. Now that I realized it’s available online, I’ll surely check it. As you said, Clair is groundbreaking – I love his style and I can’t wait to dig deeper intop his work.
Thanks for the kind comment!
Kisses!
Le
LikeLike
Me too – I want to see all his films now. Thanks for dropping by. 🙂
LikeLike
I haven’t seen too many silent films. This sounds like a great one. I’m amazed at how much they can convey without sound. And that it could be so funny as well. Such an interesting plot line in this one. Very fun post, Ruth. I can almost see you smiling as you write! 🙂
LikeLike
This is a great one. While I was watching it, I forgot that it was silent. It’s really worth watching – it is a satire of society, but also a loving look at family.
LikeLike