Darò un milione (1937)
Directed by Mario Camerini

Film Review

Darò un milione (a.k.a. I'll Give a Million or Je donnerais un million) was one of a series of popular socially minded comedies that director Mario Camerini made in collaboration with his lead actor Vittorio De Sica, who was later to become a distinguished filmmaker in his own right and a leading figure in the Italian neo-realist movement.  Along with Alessandro Blasetti, Camerini was the most important filmmaker in Italy during the fascist period, and his films - mostly lighthearted, non-political fare such as this - were hugely popular.

For Darò un milione, Camerini clearly takes his cue from René Clair's early comedies, notably Le Million (1931) - the story is even set in France, presumably because no self-respecting Italian filmmaker would dare admit to there being poor people in Italy under Signor Mussolini's nice new regime.  Vittorio De Sica turns in another slick, energetic performance as the morally unimpeachable good guy, in a boisterous fable whose messages are all too apparent but fun all the same.  This is the kind of film that Charlie Chaplin would have made a few years earlier, one that condemns, in a humorous vein, the hypocrisies of the middle classes and champions the virtues of the working poor, here represented by a good-natured dog-tamer charmingly played by Assia Noris.  Darò un milione is not a particularly subtle or profound film, but it makes its point effectively and is one of Camerini's most enjoyable films.  It was subsequently remade in Hollywood by Walter Lang as I'll Give a Million (1938), with Warner Baxter and Peter Lorre.

Film Synopsis

Monsieur Gold may be one of the wealthiest men in France, but he is bored with life and decides to drown himself by jumping from his luxury yacht.  Before he can carry through his plan he feels impelled to come to the aid of another man, a tramp named Blim who has just fallen into the water to escape a ferocious stray dog.  Tired of parasites and lackeys, Gold tells Blim that he would give a million francs to anyone who could do him a kindness without expecting anything in return.  After the two men have gone their separate ways, Blim wastes no time telling the journalists about his meeting with Gold and his strange proposition.  Within no time, everyone in town is showing kindnesses to the city's unwashed poor, hoping to cash in on the one million franc reward.  Meanwhile, Gold has met an attractive young woman named Anna who works for a circus.  In the guise of a penniless vagrant, Gold joins the circus to be close to Anna...