The Devil Who Limped (1948)
The film is a 125-minute, black-and-white biography of French priest and diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838), who served for 50 years under five different French regimes: the Absolute Monarchy, the Revolution, the Consulate, the Empire, and the Constitutional Monarchy. Its title comes from one of the main historical nicknames for Talleyrand, that he shares with demon king Asmodeus and English poet Lord Byron.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Reviews
Very disappointing...
Boring
Best movie of this year hands down!
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
-On the contrary,he is a bishop! Another settlement of scores for Guitry ;More were to come :"Assassins Et Voleurs" ,"La Poison" ...Guitry who was interned after the Liberation never really got over it."Le Diable Boiteux" (what a title!) is a transparent metaphor and Reductio ad Absurdum (as was often the case with this auteur)that cashing in on all sides,changing sides ,can be "useful" ,good for the homeland ,because if you do it,it is because you do love your country .Anyway opportunism has always been the rule for many politicians and we still find many of these persons today in France or all around the world.And we always will."Le Diable Boiteux" might seem less palatable than Guitry 's other "historical " extravaganzas ,particularly in its first part.But it hits its stride halfway and the final is brilliant beyond belief :extraordinary lines ,with puns galore ,wit is here there and everywhere .One thing that Guitry does best: his character gets older and older in front of our eyes ;when he meets the English ambassadors,we really feel he is about to die.Death and obsession for immortality were always present in Guitry 's best later movies.Outstanding scenes: -the servants ,talking about their master,before HE appears ,a trick Guitry borrowed from Molière.-the wall with its "long live the emperor" "long live the king" "down with the emperor" "long live the republic" etc...The writing may be on the wall ,but French people are as opportunistic as their leaders ,ready to disown what they liked yesterday.-the "Restauration" with the three kings ,all waiting for their turn and hoping for an interesting death.-the meeting in Vienna where the allied (France ain't one of us!they were defeated!),full of finer feelings ,are actually carrion eaters ,ready to carve up Poland and Belgium.But "Le Diable Boiteux" is so rich a movie everyone will find his favorite sequences .