Yoyo

The second and possibly the best of Etaix's features, which starts out by dogging Buster Keaton's footsteps as he plays a bored millionaire waited on hand and foot in his cháteau. This first half-hour, set during the last days of the silents, is shot without dialogue (though not without sound effects) and at slightly accelerated speed. Come 1929, the film shifts into a Chaplin mood when, ruined by the Wall Street crash, the millionaire joins a circus to rediscover his first love (who became an equestrienne after bearing him a son). Etaix has just enough astringency to keep sentimentality at bay, and his mastery of the sight gag amply justifies Jerry Lewis' enthusiasm for the film, which is singularly beautifully shot by Jean Boffety.