Presenting Sacha Guitry (Criterion Collection - Eclipse Series 22)

One of the most acclaimed French films of all time, writer/director/star Sacha Guitry's witty dark comedy "The Story of a Cheat" (1936) follows an elderly gentleman at a Parisian sidewalk café as he looks back (via dialogue-free flashbacks) on a life filled with schemes from which he prospered. With Marguerite Moreno, Jacqueline Delubac. Guitry's tour de force "The Pearls of the Crown" (1937) features the filmmaker starring in four roles for a story about the search for the pear-shaped pearls that decorate the royal crown of England. Mixing satire and social history, the film features characters like Napoleon, King Henry VIII, and Madame DuBarry. With Delubac. Playing a servant in "Désiré" (1937), Guitry exudes irresistible charm over his employers. Co-stars Delubac, Jacques Baumer. Guitry is one corner of a comic "Quadrille" (1938) involving two men in love with two women─a situation that plays out with enchanting complexity. With André Dussollier, Sandrine Kiberlain. 6 1/3 hrs. total on four discs. Standard; Soundtracks: English, French, and Italian Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English. In English, French, and Italian with English subtitles.