Sept hommes, une femme (1936)
Directed by Yves Mirande

Film Synopsis

Widowhood definitely does not suit the Countess Lucie de Kéradec.  Ever since the premature death of her husband, she has pined away in solitude in her luxurious apartments on the avenue Henri-Martin, with only her aged mother to keep her company.  Her good friend the Viscount Jean de Brémontier would make an admirable second husband, but alas he is hors de combat, having lost his own personal fortune.  The countess finally decides to take matters into her own hands by inviting seven possible suitors to her country estate, La Girauderie, in Sologne for a hunting party.  She leaves it to Brémontier to choose the seven possible candidates, as he is best qualified to know the kind of man mostly likely to meet her specific requirements.

The seven guests chosen by the faithful Brémontier are all prominent figures of Parisian high society.  They are: the Marquis de Villiers; the deputy Derain; the best-selling novelist Barfleur; a public works contractor, Langlois; the renowned musician Messa; the financier Vaucouleur; and a man who evidently does not need to work for a living, Bizulier.  All seven of these distinguished personages gladly accept the countess's invitation and throw themselves into the hunting party with enthusiasm, not knowing that as they do so they are being carefully eyed up for matrimony by their hostess.

Several of the guests soon turn out to be a disappointment.  If they have any interest in the countess at all, it is of the fleeting kind, a brief liaison soon forgotten.  One of them, the bounder Vaucouleur, even has the impudence to go chasing after the chambermaid!  Fortunately, the latter already has a man in her life, the valet Pierre.  In the end, Lucie has to resort to subterfuge to decide which of her guests will be the most suitable consort for her.  One by one, the suitors let her down as a party of bailiffs show up, ostensibly to carry out an inventory of her belongings.  The only man who doesn't disappoint the countess is her faithful friend Brémontier.  What does it matter that he is poor if he can make her happy...?