“Harry Baur (1880-1943) was an actor who had trod the theatres of Paris for a long time: with his strong but agile physique, his face capable of depicting brutal intensity, but also refined ironic expressions, he was the interpreter of many plays in boulevard theatres, often playing the role of the always losing love rival.

He came to cinema, beside a few forays in the silents, at the onset of the sound era, when with his lively accented voice he could fully express his talents.

Cette vieille canaille, which Italian distributors imported only seven years after its first screening with the title L’uomo senza tramonto, in order to exploit the success the actor was having with more recent features, is drawn fron the successful comedy by Fernand Nozière, which Baur had already played for the theatre. This is the sad story of a surgeon who falls in love with a second-rate circus performer whose life he had saved. He puts up with her whims and betrayals, but when she prefers one of her colleagues, he painfully renounces his love for her.

With his sets are splendidly designed by Andrejev, Litvak’s film moves rapidly and smoothly, livened up in the focal moments by the charming redundancy of the protagonist.

It should be remarked that in 1934 in Italy, Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia made a version of this film with Ruggero Ruggeri – the play had been his forte, 400 performances! – in the role played by Baur”.

Vittorio Martinelli