Sasha Guitry is the godchild of Alexander the Third, as well as an actor, director, screenwriter, producer and playwright, who worked fruitfully on French soil. Being a real man-arcester, he often made films based on his plays, in which he participated as a leading actor. “There were nine bachelors” – just one example of such creativity of a talented Frenchman.
The plot of this comedy was a law issued by the government of the Republic, according to which all unreliable foreigners must be expelled from France. Agile and savvy businessman Jean Lecouer instantly found a way to make money on this - bought a mansion in which he arranged a boarding house for elderly bachelors who are ready for a certain fee to become the husbands of foreign women who similarly wanted to legalize their stay in the country. The guests of the unusual establishment were 9 poor, but proud Frenchmen.
And on the first day of their stay in the boarding house, seven of the bachelors found young and not very brides, among whom were not only foreign women, but also two French women - the owner of a brothel and a lady who had problems with the tax authorities. And all would be fine, to live cheerfully to Jean Lecouer and reap the fruits of his resourcefulness, but only the newly minted husbands very quickly got bored and decided to visit their “well-believing”...
With his film, Sacha Guitry shows the mores that reigned in the 30s in France, focuses on representatives of various classes with their cares and routine of life. All this is done in a light, playful and slightly naive manner, which is characteristic of films of the time. The only point that still aggravates the perception of what is happening on the screen, was the attempt of the Director to combine in one picture too many stories and ideas — still about 20 main characters with, often, similar motives and actions, sometimes make frankly bored.
7 out of 10