[If René Clair's] Le Million is better than most Hollywood comedies, it is because he is still supported by the Molière formula, which is far better theatre than our own funny-paper slapsticks. Le Million is the story of a young man who wins a lottery, and loses his winning ticket, which everyone in Paris then tries to steal. By chopping this film into a series of neatly built scenes; but putting it all in a snappy rhythm, like a quick march, and setting part of it to music; and by using his settings like the traditional French stage with three doors, out of which angry people are always popping, René Clair shows that he is simply transferring the old comedy to the screen. In this he is successful within the limitations of his scenario. It is a relief to meet unsentimental juveniles, treated as part of the...