Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

The Crazy Ray [Paris endormi] [Paris qui dort] (1924)

Exploring, perhaps even establishing, some of the themes of science fiction film, René Clair’s Paris endormi (1924) tells a tale of a mysterious morning when the night watchman at the top of the Eiffel Tower discovers that the world is frozen in time. People are found everywhere locked in the positions they were in at 3:25 AM.

The watchman discovers a small group of people who have escaped the effect, who flew in a plane that landed at 4:00 AM. Soon, they help themselves to food, alcohol, jewelry, money and more, as their morals begin to collapse. The group of men soon become jealous and protective of the sole, animate woman, two of them fighting bitterly at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Then, they receive a radio message from the city. They discover that the source of the crazy effect is a scientist whose experiment has gone awry. On suggestion that the scientist wake everyone, and a night of calculations later, all is right with the world.

— Carl Bennett

This older DVD edition of René Clair’s science fiction film utilizes a very-good to excellent 35mm print. The disc still looks good on high-definition equipment capable of line-doubling and conversion of an interlaced signal to progressive.

The film is accompanied by a music score performed on piano.

As this is a complete presentation of the film from an excellent print, this is our recommended home video edition of Paris qui dort/The Crazy Ray. The edition is out-of-print but still available from time to time as a used item.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

This abbreviated presentation of René Clair’s science fiction film reveals a slightly-windowboxed video transfer of a very-good 35mm American release print (under the title At 3:25, noted as “edited” by Morrie Ryskind). The print is uneven, with some darker shots and a couple contrasty shots. The video transfer of the at-times worn source material stands up well on high-definition equipment.

The film is accompanied by what appears to be a pieced-together orchestral music score from varied sources.

The disc is OK but not really recommended.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .

Other FRENCH FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Other AVANT-GARDE FILMS of the silent era available on home video.