Under the Roofs of Paris (1930) review

Quasi-musical from Clair about several men fighting over one woman (a timeless concept) - friendships are broken over her, and not everyone wins in the end. Like Renoir, Clair sees people as essentially good - the label "humanist" gets applied to Renoir - and the picture's good natured spirit and light atmosphere are uplifting: the movie is more about mood and Parisian living than any real narrative (which is only secondary here). Clair's name isn't brought up nearly enough when the 'great' filmmakers are mentioned, and yet he's probably one of the most inventive contributors to the medium.