In case you need a smile

I like watching some unusual videos. Among them are old training films as I have written about in the past. Sometimes I find them on YouTube. Another thing I do is look ahead at the schedule for TCM. Of course TCM shows many feature films. They also fill out their schedule with interesting shorts.

Recently I saw a film called School for Postmen on their schedule. It was a short film but there was no description nor was there an indication of when it was made. Often with shorts, TCM will show the year they first showed it as the year the movie was made. Thinking it might be a film for the US Postal Office I set it up to record. When I watched it I found that it was actually a French comedy short from 1947 with Jacques Tati.

Jacques Tati was a famous French comedian/film maker known for his character Monsieur Hulot. In the mid 1980's I had a friend who showed me one of the films with Hulot. I don't recall being terribly impressed, but it has been a long time. Later I knew someone who said he was a great fan of Tati. When he told me that my thoughts were along the lines of, "Whatever floats your boat."

But I had this film, known in French as L’Ecole des Factuers, on my PVR and, since it was a short, I decided to give it a try. At first I was put off by the nasally voice of the chief postman. However, I stayed with it. I found it to be a joyful film. It is full of physical humor, but much of it is subtle. In fact it may take a few viewings to catch all of it.

As such, I am not a big fan of physical humor. I have never understood the humor of Moe poking Larry and Curly in the eyes. Pie fights leave me cold. But there is none of that in Postmen There are two scenes where people are hit in the head but they are completely accidental. The first time introduces you to one of the mannerisms of the Tati character. The second time, that character is himself the victim. Except for the opening scene, this film may as well be a silent film as there is little dialog. You are not overloaded with over-the-top humor, it is just given to you in a way that you cannot help but enjoy it. The dance scene just makes me happy.

Oh, and the music is an ear-worm.

Tati won an Oscar in 1955 for best foreign film. Because he won, the Academy told him he could have whatever he wanted. He wanted to meet Stan Laurel, Mac Sennett, and Buster Keaton. Tati was considered a master of his craft and he appreciated the masters who came before him.

I don't know how long it will be available, but for now you can find the film here. The version here uses the word "mailmen" instead of "postmen." It also has different subtitles than what they showed on TCM (which showed the release from the Criterion Collection). The subtitles here make more sense than they do in the Criterion release.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.