This is a very welcome release in the Masters of Cinema series and whilst academics will no doubt seize the opportunity to use it as a tool in the 'teaching' of film the admirers of French Cinema will relish the chance to view and/or even own a genuine early masterpiece. Marcel LHerbier made some 58 films between 1917 and 1975 and by 1921 he had already explored the world of finance with Promethe, banquier but he trumped that fine effort three times over with this adaptation of Zola in 1928. The technique on display is awesome in its ambition and staggering in its execution as time and again L'Herbier pulls off brilliant effects not least a sumptuous party that was possibly inspired by Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby which had been published some three years earlier. Though there is a substantial plot involving rival financiers, publicity stunts, solo flights, deceptions and seductions this is merely a peg on which to drape some of the most outstanding directorial flourishes in French Cinema. Unmissable.

As a treatise on the evils of bankers, this film was quite prescient. However, this nearly three hour film is quite a slog. Recounting the story, I cannot come up with a reason it needed to run over 90 minutes. Pierre Alcover is the fat, evil banker in question (he might even be Jewish; he sort of looks it). He comes up with a scheme to increase his banks funds by backing a trans-ocean flight using a new fuel in which his bank is investing. Henry Victor is the victim. As a bonus, his beautiful wife, Marie Glory, is left alone for Alcover to hit on when Victor is dead, or at least trapped in South America. Brigitte Helm also co-stars. I was never 100% sure how she fit in, but it's nice to have her here. The performances are all very good, and there are actually plenty of fine moments, and L'Herbier's camera glides around beautifully. Unfortunately, the excellent filmmaking is only in small portions of the film. Since its subject is financial wheelings and dealings, most of the time the film consists of people standing in rooms and talking to each other.

Marcel L'Herbier's "L'Argent" clocks in at 195 minutes. Nothing strange about that you might think but this is a silent film, made in France in 1928 and dealing, not in the epic themes of a "Ben Hur", an "Intolerance" or a "Napoleon" but in the contemporary, in the everyday, though not in the mundane. The title translates as 'Money' and money permeates every aspect of this picture which is 'inspired by' rather than based on a novel by Zola. It may not be a masterpiece but it is quite extraordinary just as it is extraordinary to think audiences ever took to this film, set largely in the world of stock exchanges and high finance, which isn't just on the long side but is also sophisticated and challenging. It requires more than patience; it requires intelligence. The plot may be melodramatic, necessary at the time perhaps to draw its audience in, but it is a film that deals in depth with unusual themes. It is also superbly acted, (the large cast includes the great Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel and in a small part, Jules Berry),photographed and edited. Indeed, this is one of the great 'lost' silent pictures and it really needs rediscovery.