''At Your Command, Madame'' (French: ''À vos ordres, Madame'') is a 1942 French

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Jean Boyer and starring

Jean Tissier Jean Tissier (1896–1973) was a French stage, film and television actor.Goble p.440 A prolific actor, he had more than two hundred fifty appearances on screen during his career. He was married to the actress Georgette Tissier. Selected filmograp ...

, Suzanne Dehelly and

Jacqueline Gauthier Jacqueline Gauthier (7 October 1918 – 18 September 1982) was a French stage and film actress.Goble p.115 Selected filmography * '' Louise'' (1939) * ''At Your Command, Madame'' (1942) * '' Frederica'' (1942) * ''Shop Girls of Paris'' (194 ...

. It is based on a story by

André Birabeau André Birabeau (6 December 1890 – 1 October 1974) was a French novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Novels and short stories * ''La débauche'' (1924), English trans. ''Revelation'' (1930). Cited as the first novel about a homosexual man f ...

.Goble p.41 It was made by

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

at the company's

Francoeur Studios The Francoeur Studios are film production studios in Paris. In 1926 Bernard Natan's Rapid Films set up production at the location, before in 1929 it was merged with the Pathé conglomerate under Natan's overall control. In the postwar era it wa ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Lucien Aguettand Lucien Aguettand (28 January 1901 – 14 February 1989) was a French art directorHayward p.205 who designed the sets for over eighty films during his career. Selected filmography * ''Little Devil May Care'' (1928) * ''All That's Not Worth Love' ...

Synopsis

When their car breaks down in the country, a couple have to stay at a nearby

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

. Despite being well-off, the miserly wife takes advantage of a special offer to get her husband a cheap room by pretending he is her

chauffeur A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine. Originally, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to speciali ...

while taking an expensive one for herself as a "

baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

". Complications ensue however when a chambermaid begins to fall for her husband, while she herself is courted by one of the guests.

Cast

as Hector Dupuis * Suzanne Dehelly as Odette Dupuis *

as Angèle *

Jacques Louvigny Jacques Louvigny (1884–1951) was a French stage and film actor.Hayward p.241 Selected filmography * '' Delphine'' (1931) * ''On purge bébé'' (1931) * ''Fanfare of Love'' (1935) * ''The Lover of Madame Vidal'' (1936) * ''Hôtel du Nord'' (1938 ...

as Monsieur Palureau *

Albert Duvaleix Albert Duvaleix (1893-1962) was a French stage and film actor. Bessy & Chirat p.138 A character actor he appeared in a number of supporting roles in French comedies and drama films. His son Christian Duvaleix also became an actor. Selected fil ...

as Le portier *

Gaby Wagner Gaby may refer to: People Gaby is short for Gabrielle, Gabriella or Gabriel, and in particular may refer to: * Gaby (singer) (born 1965), Panamanian Reggae en Español and Reggaeton singer and rapper *Gaby, a Spanish clown, one of Los Payasos d ...

as La cocotte du 27 * Pierre Labry as Le mécanicien-chef * Jean-Louis Allibert as Le directeur de l'hôtel * Nane Germon as Léa *

Gaston Modot Gaston Modot (31 December 1887 – 20 February 1970) was a French actor. For more than 50 years he performed for the cinema working with a number of great French directors. Biography Modot lived in Montmartre at the beginning of the 20th cen ...

as Le garçon d'étage * Léonce Corne as Victor * Agnès Raynal as Rose Palureau * Alfred Adam as Ferdinand - le chauffeur de Palureau

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* 1942 films French comedy films 1942 comedy films 1940s French-language films Films directed by Jean Boyer Pathé films Films shot at Francoeur Studios 1940s French films {{1940s-France-film-stub