This rarely screened gem is one of only two films believed to exist from the brief eight-film career of director Harry d’Arrast (1893–1968): "eight of the loveliest films ever made by anyone," according to Herman G. Weinberg. Adapted from Marcel Pagnol’s play of the same name, Topaze is the bittersweet story of an impeccably honest but naïve schoolteacher in France who teaches his students that "honesty is the best policy," only to find that in real life it is just the reverse as he unwittingly becomes the dupe for a wealthy baron’s business scheme.