It's a busy morning in the household of Jacques Louvigny. Michel Simon is coming to discuss an army contract for hundreds of thousands of chamber pots; his wife, Marguerite Pierry, is wandering around distraught in her bath robe, complaining that their son is constipated and won't take his mineral oil; and he can't find the Hebrides under 'Z' in the dictionary.

It's Jean Renoir's first sound film (he had already written one to be directed by Alberto Cavalcanti),from a play by Georges Feydeau, a specialist in satirizing the middle classes. There's gossip. There's ranting. There's cuckolding -- Simon's wife has been having an affair with Fernandel -- and there's bowling with unbreakable porcelain chamber pots that shatter. It's all very middle-class and rude and very funny.

It's basically a one-set, one hour play opened up slightly for the camera. It's certainly not typical work for Renoir, but it's still a delight.

"On Purge Bébé" ("Baby's Laxative") is a very strange film for Jean Renoir to make as his first sound movie. This master director had already made several pictures before this and had established a good reputation in the French film industry...and he chose to make a film about a constipated child and his REALLY annoying and clueless mother! A weird choice, to direct this movie version of a play by Georges Feydeau about some bourgeois knuckleheads!

When the story begins, a mother is obsessing over her son, 'Baby'. Well, Baby is 7 years-old! Certainly he's no baby and this 1930s helicopter mom is very upset that the boy hadn't had a bowel movement that morning. It's no big deal...but she soon turns the home into chaos with her ranting.

As for her poor husband, he is trying to convince her to stop worrying about the boy, get dressed and look her best as a government minister is coming any minute. It seems that the French army is looking to buy chamber pots and Mr. Follavoine wants to impress this visitor. But the wife is walking about the house in her bathrobe, with her hair a mess and she couldn't care less that she might destroy his business deal. And, when the important visitor arrives, the woman walks about the house dressed this way AND talking non-stop about bowel movements! She even tries to get the visitor involved in this 'crisis'!! It's all very crazy and very out of proportion and you wonder where it will all go next. See the film and find out for yourself. All I can say is that it DOES get crazier and more embarrassing to watch!

This film features some amazing actors of the day...Michel Simon and Fernandel...both known for their French language comedies. Them, combined with Jean Renoir as director, then the film can't help but be enjoyable...no matter than the film is all about crap! Overall, a good film but an incredibly strange one...one that is funny but in a very strange and droll way.

This is Jean Renoir's first talkie and he was probably delighted to let his audience hear...the sound of a flush!Preceding "la chienne" ,which was Renoir's first masterpiece ,"on purge bébé" is a hilarious farce which is not totally harmless.Georges Feydeau who wrote the play and was the specialist of the "théâtre de boulevard" satirized the bourgeois society,the social conventions and even the Army.Baby's dad's problem is to sell chamberpots to provide the soldiers with the comfort they deserve!But the very day M.Follavoine meets M.Chouilloux,from the ministry of war ,coming to make the deal,Baby refuses to go to the toilet!So his mother Julie has got to give him a purgative.A mad mad mad story ,involving a love triangle ,Follavoine throwing a chamberpot through the room to test its solidity,his wife trying to get his client to have a little purgative too (so baby will understand he must take some).Renoir's intellectual fans will probably disdain it.They do not know what they are missing!