Topaze

This was Pagnol's second go at putting on the screen his 1928 stage hit. Schoolmaster Topaze clings to his sense of right and wrong, despite being exploited at work and then tricked into becoming the front for a crooked businessman. Finally seeing himself as others do - a dupe and a dope - he changes character, seizes control and takes revenge on bullies past and present. Besides Pagnol's own adaptations, there are at least five other films of Topaze; this is the definitive text, of interest to students but way too long for ordinary purposes. However, stars love to play him, audiences enjoy watching him, so it's unlikely, even now, that we've seen the last of old Topaze.