The Pearls of the Crown (1937)

I can't begin to tell you how delighted I am to be posting a review of this film, since I never thought I would be able to do so.  Several centuries ago when I was in college, I went to the local fleapit to see some French film and this was the second feature (that was in the days when they had second features!)  I couldn't believe it -- it was a rehash of European history telling the story of the four pearls in the English crown and how they got there and what became of the missing three pearls from the original set.  What really grabbed me at the time was the fact that the movie switched between French, English, Italian and cod Abyssinian to tell the tale.

For years no one believed me that such a film existed although its director, Sacha Guitry, was a well-known figure in French theatre.  The movie was then on television once when I was out of the country and before the time that video recorders were available (just my luck) and has since been on once at the National Film Theatre about 20 years ago -- of course I was there with everyone I could think to drag with me.  But I never expected to readily view it again.  However to cut a long story short, my son scoured the net in France and managed to find a crisp French video which became one of the best Chrustmas presents ever -- and it has now been burned onto DVD by yours truly. Of course being French there is not much in the way of subtitles even during the non-French parts, but I know enough of the story to understand that the pearls in question crossed the lives of all manner of historical personages from Catherine de Medici through Queen Victoria.  Now the holy grail of a copy with subtitles is all that remains.

Just realised that I've told you my whole history with this film but didn't actually say anything about it.  OK: It's very amusing in parts, definitely unusual, and obviously very memorable!