Put in the shade by abutting classics (CASQUE D’OR/’52; TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI/’54), this lighter domestic piece from Jacques Becker gets little notice. Another look at love & marriage, after ANTOINE ET ANTOINETTE/’47 and ÉDOUARD ET CAROLINE/’51*, and not quite their equal, it begins as conventional boulevard comedy (Louis Jourdan & Anne Vernon’s rocky marriage hits a crisis just as Jourdan ends a meaningless dalliance), before Becker goes to his long suit, quotidian observation & Paris-specific verisimilitude when the wife rents garret space for a room of her own next to bohemian songster (and Dustin Hoffman lookalike) Daniel Gélin who's quickly besotted by this chic figure of grace, class & beauty just down the hall.* Becker has these three play out the usual misunderstandings and missed opportunities of sex farce, yet avoids dropping the narrative ball or playing dumb to keep things moving. Instead, smart characterizations from everyone and a unique milieu to play in. Such a cool little apartment Mme. Vernon rents. Once servants’ quarters four flights up in a 300 yr-old mansion, her small space was a maid’s room, her kitchen across the hall, water (et bain?) down the corridor. A delightful comedown from her airy apartment with race car operator Jourdan and live-in housekeeper on le Rive Droite. The film, just as small and charming, with a special kick for Stateside audiences able to see Jourdan work in French, sans M-G-M glacé, but with quite the burly, exposed chest. Plus loads of Hollywood censorable touches: a single bed for the married couple, a randy gay boss at a favored boutique and dress designer/boyfriend jealous of the attention he’s giving Madame, a general acceptance of amorality. And note that while Gélin 'reads' a generation younger than Jourdan, they were both born in 1921.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Scripter Annette Wademant’s other 1953 credit also keeps this sleeper in the shade: Max Ophüls THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE . . .
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: As mentioned, the superior ANTOINE ET ANTOINETTE or ÉDOUARD ET CAROLINE, also with Gélin. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2020/08/antoine-et-antoinette-1947.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/05/edouard-et-caroline-edward-and-caroline.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *She likes him too. But when he forces the issue . . . well, even in France, attitudes have changed radically since 1953.
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