Even in his days as an innovator René Clair was firmly rooted in cinema tradition. It should come as no surprise therefore to find him making a thoroughly traditional French bucolic comedy. What is rather unexpected about Tout l'Or du Monde … is that its lineage appears to be from Joffroi through Clochemerle and the [Jacques] Tati films rather than through his own early work. It is positively earthy and almost totally lacking in the characteristic Clair element of fantasy. Nevertheless the theme and the gentle satire with which it is treated both have their relation to the earlier Clair, and he has retained all his ability to work up a series of gags on the slenderest of threads. (p. 145)

[The] film itself comes down firmly on the side of the simple life. Audience sympathy is enlisted unmistakably for 'Toine, the shy shepherd who is content to "spend his...