AllMovie

Sacha Guitry not only wrote and directed Remontons les Champs-Elysses (Remounting the Champs Elysses), but also plays five roles, including Louis XV and Napoleon III. The film proposes to detail the history of the famous Parisian thoroughfare of the title, beginning with its inception under the aegis of Marie de Medicis. Other famous historical personages depicted herein are Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who allegedly came up with the idea for the first open-air restaurant, and composer Richard Wagner, here seen as a frustrated café musician. At the time of its release, Remontons les Champs-Elysses was compared unfavorably to Guitry's earlier historical pageant Pearls of the Crown. Today it can be appreciated as one of his most entertaining pre-war efforts.