Re-Watchterpiece Theatre: Children of Paradise (1945)

Re-Watchterpiece Theater is a series that explores the organic way that attitudes about films change after you watch them a second time, a third time, or more, further down the line than the original viewing. Thanks to Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series, I had an opportunity to re-visit Marcel Carnés poetic realist masterpiece, Children of Paradise (1945), over the weekend. It’s a film held in very high esteem, often ranking at the top of French film lists. Cahiers du Cinéma placed it as the 9th best film ever made, regardless of nationality or genre, in 2008. It’s often referred to as “the French Gone with the Wind“. I had it at #10 in the first iteration of my 50 Greatest French Films list, and then it fell to #28 in the second iteration. Seeing it on the big screen would surely give me a proper context of the film.

French Follow-Up: More Notes About the 50 Greatest French Films

When you take on a project as large as “The 50 Greatest French Films of All-Time“, there’s bound to be some nuance. No doubt, there will be questions about which films I may or may not have seen; which films wouldn’t have made even a top 100; and which films I have yet to see. To clear up some of these questions, here’s a follow-up that might answer some questions. First, here’s what came in at numbers 51 through 75. For all purposes, you may consider this the “Honorable Mention” category: