Volpone

'Beast fables' have been around since Aesop and Ben Jonson's Jacobean masterpiece depicts his beasts in human form. It is both satire and morality play but Jules Romains' adaptation, despite being hugely enjoyable, has somewhat blunted the satirical edge and with the exception of sly Fox Volpone's comeuppance, we are not shown the punishments meted out in Jonson's original to the other four members of the beastly quintet, namely the parasitical flesh-fly Mosca, the avaricious Raven, the greedy Crow and the lawyer appropriately named Vulture.

It requires actors of great presence and theatrical skill to bring these characters to life and here we have the magnificent Harry Baur in the title role, one of the very few actors able to hold his own against inveterate scene stealer Louis Jouvet who is in his element here as Mosca. It is however the brilliantly observed characterisation by Charles Dullin as the wonderfully wily Corbaccio that practically hobbles away with the film whilst another of France's finest, Fernand Ledoux, plays the unctuous Corvino. Jean Témerson alas is not in the same league as this quartet but looks suitably well-fed as the lawyer who gets Volpone acquitted of a charge of attempted rape. The object of Volpone's lust is the suitably named Colomba played by the exquisite Jacqueline Delubac whilst the woman who requires no encouragement at all is the courtesan Canina of the excellent Marion Dorian.

Most of the cast from Jacques de Baroncelli's earlier aborted attempt have reappeared and although some scenes from that remain in the final print Maurice Tourneur receives sole credit as director. That being said this is certainly one of Monsieur Tourneur's most interesting projects from the sound era and his renowned compositional skill together with the lush sets of André Barsacq and the peerless performances make this a film to savour.