Pagnol’s least-known masterpiece. Starting from a true story that actually happened to his crew during the filming of Angèle, Pagnol created a comic fable that no longer has theatrical origins, that belongs to no genre and whose moral sense and content alter variously, according to the twists of an intrigue which is rich and constantly renewed. This little fable, full of movement, reveals a poetic art which does not boast the pretension of being so. It serves as a pretext for Pagnol to depict with a picturesque and acid view the little world of the French cinema in the early years of sound, to express concretely his ideas on the role of comics and comedy in society, to imagine people who, while faithfully illustrating his theme, live their own lives and inspire in the spectator contradictory and even sometimes ambiguous sentiments. The work of a great writer, of a great director of actors, of a creator of incredibly imaginating characters, Le Schpountz gives Fernandel one of his richest roles. In the opening and closing scenes of the film, opposing and reacting (…) Fernandel and Charpin are outstanding.
N.B. The film was shot simultaneously alongside Regain so that the crew moved from one set to the other. A tour de force in which Pagnol, always ahead of the times, preceded Gilles Grangier (L’homme de joie and L’amant de paille, 1950) and Edgar Ulmer (Beyond the Time Barrier and The Amazing Transparent Man, 1960).

Jacques Lourcelles, Dictionnaire du cinéma, Laffont, Paris, 1992