Italian Straw Hat

1927. France. Directed by René Clair. Screenplay by Clair, based on the play by Eugène Labiche, Marc Michel. With Albert Préjean, Olga Tschekova. Clair's first critical success, his version of the nineteenth-century farce, turns the fast-stepping dialogue of the original play into purely visual wit and a satire of the bourgeoisie. A bridegroom is on the way to his wedding when his horse eats a hat belonging to a woman who is involved in an adulterous affair. His efforts to replace the hat and save the lady are interwoven with the family's simultaneous attempts to hold the wedding, leading to a slapstick chase. Silent, with English intertitles. 90 min.