The Little Cafe (1931 film)

Le Petit Café

Directed by	Ludwig Berger
Written by	Tristan Bernard (play) Jacques Bataille-Henri Vincent Lawrence
Produced by	Ludwig Berger
Starring	Maurice Chevalier Yvonne Vallée Tania Fédor André Berley
Cinematography	Henry W. Gerrard
Edited by	Merrill G. White
Music by	Newell Chase
Production company	Paramount Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	May 8, 1931 (French premiere)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	French

Le petit café is a 1931 French-language American Pre-Code musical film directed by Ludwig Berger and starring Maurice Chevalier, Yvonne Vallée and Tania Fédor. The film is a foreign-language version of the 1930 film Playboy of Paris, which was based on the play The Little Cafe by Tristan Bernard. Multiple-language versions were common in the years following the introduction of sound film, before the practice of dubbing became widespread. It was shot at the Joinville Studios in Paris.

The film received a better reception from critics than the English-language version had.^[1]

Synopsis

Albert Loriflan, a waiter in a Paris cafe, unexpectedly inherits a large sum of money from a wealthy relative. His unscrupulous boss, Philibert, refuses to release him from his long-term contract in the hope that Albert will buy him off with a large payment. But Albert refuses, and continues to work at the cafe even though he is now very rich. Before long he falls in love with Philibert's daughter Yvonne.