En Effeuillant la Marguerite (1956)

Alongside filmmaker Marc Allégret, budding sex symbol Brigitte Bardot, as well as Daniel Gélin and screenwriter Roger Vadim—neither of whom are immune to female beauty, as the saying goes—are responsible for this romantic comedy, which comes across as much livelier and fresher in the beginning than what the second part presents.

The storyline is thin, of course, which causes the film to falter, but there is BB and that was what it was all about, if only to demonstrate that the French Brigitte certainly held her own against that American Marilyn.

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Rather old-fashioned, but much more bearable than the unbearable Et Dieu Crea La Femme. Farce-like, even literally with doors at the end. Often lame, but sometimes actually genuinely funny. BB certainly has comedic talent.

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BB #16

The film shares quite a few similarities with BB #14 Cette Sacrée Gamine – in both cases, BB plays the lead role, the script for both was written by her husband Vadim, and both are in pleasantly high-contrast black and white. And in both cases, too, BB plays no femme fatale or vixen, but a casually fun and fairly innocent young girl in a somewhat bland farce – which would have long since fallen into oblivion without her presence.

Nevertheless, it is quite enjoyable viewing, and hardly truly old-fashioned or outdated. There are plenty of films from that era—especially from Hollywood—that suffer from that much more.

I thought I saw a perhaps intended association in the French series Au Service de la France (2015-18). The roles of Mathilde Warnier (yes, Sophie) and her father Wilfred Benaïche bear a strong resemblance to père et fille Dumont – or is it just the kepi?

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