Chotard and Company

Fernand Charpin has built up his provisions business from the ground, and now he is looking for a good husband for his daughter, Jeanne Boitel. Being bourgeouise, he's hoping for a good connection, but when she falls in love with penniless novelist Georges Pomiès, he tries to take him into the business, only to find that the young man isn't as enthralled with the work as Charpin is. In a temper, he drives Pomiès away.... and then discovers that his scribbler of a son-in-law has won the Prix Goncourt.

At this point, the movie seems to turn into a polemic about the middle class, with Charpin looking upon the financial possibilities of the new situation, and Pomiès driven mad by his isolation and suffering writer's block.

It's this section that makes the film seem obvious and rather ordinary; director Jean Renoir seems contemptuous of the hard-working and hot-tempered Charpin, and Charpin offers a far too stereotyped performance, a blowhard and a climber. Even the ending, which turns things on their heads doesn't entirely redeem matters, although since this is Renoir, there's always something of interest to keep the audience engaged.