You are here:

The Cupboard Was Bare

Name: The Cupboard Was Bare
Director: Carlo Rim
Released: 1948
Duration: 90 min

Representation Score

2.9/10

Limited

1948

Approved

Director

Carlo Rim

Runtime

90 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

This mid-20th-century French comedy emphasizes situational absurdity over social deconstruction. It adheres to traditional demographic and social structures typical of 1948 cinema. Representation is limited by the era's focus on a localized Parisian setting and a male-centric plot. The narrative does not intentionally explore diverse identities or casting. Ultimately, the film serves as a whimsical crime comedy where the plot is driven by accidental involvement in the underworld.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The Cupboard Was Bare have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film does not explicitly show non-binary or same-sex relationships. The story revolves around a death and an inheritance.

How does The Cupboard Was Bare portray gender?

Fair

The story centers on Alfred Puc, a meek male protagonist. His frantic search for answers drives the plot, even though a female relative's death is the catalyst.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Cupboard Was Bare?

Limited

Set in post-war Paris, the film focuses on a specific, homogeneous social strata. The narrative seems confined to a particular demographic.

How does The Cupboard Was Bare represent religion and culture?

Fair

The comedy relies on the absurdity of legalistic requirements like the corpus delecti. It uses Western institutions as a comedic engine without systemic critique.

Does The Cupboard Was Bare include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no characters with visible or invisible disabilities mentioned in the narrative.

Present on Screen

The protagonist offers a subtle subversion of hyper-masculine clichés by being depicted as a meek tax collector.

Limited or Absent

The film lacks visible representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-conforming characters.
The setting and cast appear to follow a traditional, homogeneous demographic pattern.
Narrative ability to act is heavily concentrated in the male protagonist, limiting female character impact.

Official Synopsis

The aunt of Alfred Puc, a meek tax-collector in Paris, dies while riding in a moving van. The driver, not wishing to be bothered by a police interrogation, hides her corpse in a cupboard before notifying Alfred. But the van is stolen. Alfred, being the heir of a rich lady, begins a frantic search to locate the missing van and the cupboard because one can't claim an inheritance if there is no 'corpus delecti.' In his search, he gets caught up in an underworld web and finds the body of a murdered gangster in his room. He finally locates the cupboard but promptly loses it again. But, wait, it isn't "finis' time, yet.

How are these scores produced? →