Film Review
Adapted from a stage play of same title by Raymond Vincy and Jean
Valmy,
J'y suis, j'y reste
stands out as one of director Maurice Labro's most enjoyable comedies,
and this it owes mostly to the irresistible performances from the two
lead actresses, Jane Sourza and Marguerite Pierry. At the time,
Sourza was the most popular comedienne in France, thanks to her
phenomenally successful radio show
Sur le banc, which she
performed regularly with her comedy partner Raymond Souplex. The
Josiane Balasko of her era, Sourza makes an effective chalk-and-cheese
contrast with the more genteel Pierry, and this is what makes the film
so especially enjoyable. You wouldn't think it, given that she
looks as sprightly as an ingénue, but Pierry was in her mid
sixities and approaching the end of her busy screen career, which began
almost two and half decades previously with a similar farce, Jean
Renoir's
On purge bébé
(1931). Sourza and Pierry are a delight in their own right
but together they make an effervescent cocktail.
Maurice Labro directed a fair number of popular comedies - including
some so-so Fernandel fare such as
Boniface Somnambule (1951) -
but few of these have the charm and sophistication of his lively
adaptation of Vincy and Valmy's celebrated play. Although the
improbably well-matched lead actresses come close to monopolising our
attention, Robert Pizani steals a fair number of scenes with his
punctilious Cardinal de Tramone, who has the Sisyphus-like ordeal of
correcting every social faux pas that Jane Sourza makes as she is
dragged by her ankles up the social ladder. It's the classic
French farce, driven by misunderstandings, class collisions and the
usual jibes about Italian cuisine, but the well-worn formula works a
treat. With a cracking script and some great comedy performances,
J'y suis, j'y reste can
hardly fail to please.
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Nénette, the owner of a downmarket bar-café, has decided
to marry her barman, Jules, but it seems she is already married without
her knowledge - to the Baron Hubert de Mont-Vermeil.
Nénette recalls that, ten years previously, she lost her handbag
containing her identity papers and deduces that someone has 'borrowed'
her identity to marry the Baron. To clear the matter up, she
calls on the Baron at his stately residence, hoping she can persuade
him to agree to a divorce. As he himself is planning to get
married, Hubert is more than willing to oblige, but his aunt, the
Countess Apolline de Mont-Vermeil, a staunch traditionalist,
refuses. Nénette's visit is ill-timed, as the Cardinal de
Tramone is due to spend a few days with the Mont-Vermeils and the
Countess is resolved to create a good impression. Nénette
and Hubert have no choice but to pretend to be the model couple, whilst
Jules amuses himself with the Baron's maid. The Cardinal's wish
that Nénette and Hubert's apparently happy union should be
blessed by childbirth is granted when a baby suddenly appears from
nowhere. It seems that, during her rest cure in Switzerland,
Nénette's troublesome impostor had a brief liaison with a
stranger, the fruit of which has come back to haunt her husband, the
Baron. For the Countess Apolline, this is the last straw...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.