One of French cinema's most poignant, and caustic, portraits of the world of theater. Duvivier, who attempted (with little success) to be an actor on the French stage in the 1910s, collaborated with longtime screenwriting partner Charles Spaak on this story of an old-age home for destitute, forgotten actors who wistfully relive their past triumphs and defeats. Giving credence to Jean-Luc Godard's claim that in the theater there is life, and in life, theater, Duvivier masterfully contrasts the illusory world of the stage with the cold reality of life-and death-off it. In keeping with the film's elegiac tone, Michel Simon, Louis Jouvet, Victor Francen, and other great French actors, performing at the peak of their careers, show astonishing subtlety, intelligence, and pathos.