Premier rendez-vous (1941)

Premier rendez-vous is a French comedy romance film first released in 1941, directed by Henri Decoin.  The film stars Danielle Darrieux, Rosine Luguet, Gabrielle Dorziat, Suzanne Dehelly and Fernand Ledoux.  It has also been released under the title: Her First Affair.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Micheline Chevassu, a solitary young woman living in an orphanage, dreams of just one thing: starting a new life with a handsome young man.  She is delighted when someone replies to an ad she has placed in the newspapers and, as she reads the letters from her unknown correspondent, she is sure she is in love.  She sets out for her first rendezvous with her prince charming, only to be disappointed when she discovers that he is a shy middle-aged man.  Micheline’s hopes return when the latter reveals that he is not the man she has been writing to...

Danielle Darrieux gives a delightful performance in this pleasing romantic comedy, which was directed by her former husband, Henri Decoin (and not long after their separation).  The film was one of the earliest to be made by the German-run company Continental Films at the time of the Nazi Occupation of France.  For some time after the war, Darrieux was tarnished by her apparent complicity with the Germans during the war, although this was mainly for her time spent entertaining German troops rather than her film work.  Compared with most French films from this period, Premier rendez-vous is a surprisingly light work, seemingly untouched by the terrible dramas being played out on the world stage at the time.

© James Travers 2003

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