Le Fauteuil 47 (1937) - film review

Gilberte Boulanger is a distinguished stage actress.  Paul Séverac is her most fervent admirer.  Each night, Paul attends Gilberte’s performance, taking seat number 47 in the theatre.  When she learns that she is facing financial ruin, Gilberte insists that the loyal occupant of seat 47 be brought to her dressing room so that she can work her charms on him.  During the interval, another man, the Baron Edouard Lebray, takes Paul’s seat and is mistakenly taken to see Gilberte.  For the ageing baron, this is a great honour and he wastes no time in winning his way into Gilberte’s affections.  Later, when Paul visits Gilberte at her home to declare his love for her, the actress mistakenly thinks he has come to ask if he can marry her daughter, Loulou.  Unable to disentangle himself from the misunderstandings, Paul ends up marrying Loulou, a satisfactory arrangement at first, but it isn’t long before they start to fall out.  When Loulou arranges to dine out with a male friend, Paul decides to take a mistress.  It will take all of Gilberte’s guile and charm to resolve this domestic rift.  Her ex-husband, the down-to-earth gym instructor Theillard, feels obliged to lend a helping hand...

Louis Verneuil’s stage play Le Fauteuil 47 was first adapted for cinema by Gaston Ravel in 1926.  This stylish 1937 re-make was directed by Fernand Rivers and starred four high-profile actors of the 1930s – Raimu, Françoise Rosay, André Lefaurn and Henri Garat.  The strong cast brings a touch of class to what is pretty much a conventional French farce in which the plot is driven by curious coincidences and improbable misunderstandings.  Although somewhat dated, the film, with its cheerful score and two uplifting musical numbers, retains its sense of fun and still makes entertaining viewing.

© James Travers 2006

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