"Au Bonheur des Dames"
1930
Directed by Julien Duvivier

German-born romantic actress Dita Parlo (Grand Illusion) stars in this late silent film from one of the masters of French poetic realism, Julien Duvivier. She plays Denise, an orphan girl who comes to Paris to find work in her uncle's small shop, but instead takes a job in the big, glamorous department store across the street. When her employer begins demolishing buildings in the neighborhood, her uncle's store is the last one in the crosshairs. "I see Walter Ruttman's Symphony of a City in its portrait of urban destruction and renewal, presented with a sense of loss as well as a sense of the unstoppable force of progress by Duvivier" (Sean Axmaker, GreenCine Daily). Based on a novel by Emile Zola. Original music by Gabriel Thibaudeau, interpreted by l'Octuor de France. Silent with French, German, and English intertitles.  89 minutes.