En effeuillant la marguerite (1956) - film review

When he find out that his daughter, Agnes, has written a saucy novel, General Dumont orders her to go to a convent.  At the last moment, Agnes escapes on a train bound for Paris, where she meets a newspaper reporter, Daniel.  When Daniel refuses to lend her some money, Agnes is forced to sell a valuable book taken from the Balzac museum where she is staying (which she has mistaken for her brother Hubert’s home).  When she realises what she has done, Agnes decides that she must earn some money to buy back the book and safeguard her brother’s job as the museum caretaker.  Her only option is to enter a strip-tease competition...

This is a good-humoured romantic comedy – often veering towards farce – which takes a light-hearted swipe at bourgeois attitudes and, to some extent, male chauvinism.  This is not by any stretch of the imagination an intellectual film, and the comic situations are often too contrived and pantomimesque to be wholly believable.  However, there are some memorable comic performances and the script is relentlessly funny, making the ensemble both rewarding and entertaining.

The film succeeds mainly because it plays on the strengths of its lead actress, Brigitte Bardot.  In her early films, Bardot manages to convey an impression of hapless naivety and vulnerability which – whilst making her obvious prey for exploitative directors and film producers – gives substance to her performances.

© James Travers 2000

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