La Chaleur du sein (1938) - film review

Whilst Michel Quercy, a womanising archaeologist, is away from home on frequent expeditions to exotic locations, he leaves his son, Gilbert, in the care of his doting mother – or rather, mothers.  Since the death of his first wife, Michel has re-married three times – first Mathilde, then Adrienne, then Bernadette.  When they learn that their cherished Gilbert, now aged 18, has tried to kill himself, the three substitute mothers hasten to his bedside.  On discovering the reason for Gilbert’s suicide attempt, they each set about trying to remedy the situation...

La Chaleur du sein is a good example of the kind of comic farce which earned Jean Boyer his reputation as a successful and popular film director of the 1930s and 1940s.  Based on a play by André Birabeau, the film is a hilarious and sometimes poignant satire on Bourgeois life in France before World War II.  Although the plot is somewhat run-of-the-mill, the script offers a few unforgettable comic situations and some delicious one-liners, which are delivered with gusto by some very distinguished actors of the period.

Michel Simon is, as ever, faultless, as a dotty professor, and his scenes with Marguerite Moreno (playing – wait for it – a man-hungry American tourist) are to be savoured.   Equally memorable is the feisty contribution from the incomparable Arletty, that most unconventional and most enchanting starlet from this era of French cinema.   Another great actor, François Périer, makes his cinematic debut in this film.

Like so many early cinematic works, La Chaleur du sein very nearly ended up as nothing more tangible than a distant memory.  The film was thought to have been lost forever until two poor-quality prints were unearthed by chance in the 1980s.  Recently, the film has been painstakingly restored to its former glory, allowing future generations to enjoy this delightful comic gem from Jean Boyer.

© James Travers 2004

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