La Beauté du Diable

In spite/because of what must have seemed impeccable credentials - Clair, the two leads, a screenplay by dramatist Armand Salacrou, and nostalgic, Méliès-inspired sets by Barsacq - this version of the Faust legend is a turgidly literary cocktail of escapist fantasy and Sartrean engagement, which could not even plead the excuse of Carné's comparable Les Visiteurs du Soir of having been filmed during the Occupation. (A colour and detail-enhanced IMAX version restores a previously omitted 11-minute song-and-dance number.