It is a crime that this film is not available on DVD. It should be required viewing for anyone considering becoming an actor.

This comedy is painfully acute on the subject of the million humiliations a working actor must face. Marcello Mastroianni and Jean Rochefort are both superb in playing second-raters who will never achieve stardom, and who scramble desperately to hold their lives together in the precarious world of showbiz.

Neil Simon's "The Goodbye Girl" has dated badly, but "Salut l'artiste" remains as pointed and relevant today as when it was released. This is a much better film.

Now for that DVD......

Marcello Mastroianni does a fine comic turn as the self-centered Nicholas Montei, a struggling actor still trying to be discovered after years of paying dues with his buddy, wonderfully played by Jean Rochefort.

Ultimately, his life imitates his art. If his acting talent has yet to lead Montei to a successful career, he is terrible at being himself, and he is always transparently exposed by his audience, whether it is his new lover (the lovely Francoise Fabian) or his ex-wife (the lovely Carla Gravina).

Marcello has never been so charming as his portrayal of this handsome loser. I have both the dubbed and subtitled copies of this film. It's a joy in either format. The ending is especially effective, as art imitates life. There is pathos here - but it is never heavy handed.

Mastroianni was the Italian Cary Grant. He never seemed full of himself in any of his roles. You wind up feeling legitimately sorry for Nicolai, who is left wondering what part to play next at the end of the film.

Genuinely funny and sad.