''Come Dance with Me!'' (french: Voulez-vous danser avec moi?; Italian release ''Sexy Girl'') is a

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

French-Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Michel Boisrond Michel Jacques Boisrond (9 October 1921, Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais – 10 November 2002, La Celle-Saint-Cloud) was a French film director and screenwriter. His work spanned five decades, from the 1950s to the 1990s. Career A former apprentice ...

and starring

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

. The film is based on the novel ''The Blonde Died Dancing'' by Kelley Roos.

Plot

Against her wealthy industrialist father Albert's wishes, young Virginie (

) marries dentist Hervé Dandieu (

Henri Vidal Henri Vidal (26 November 1919 – 10 December 1959) was a French film actor. Film career Henri Lucien Raymond VidalSource Les Gens du cinéma/ref> was first noticed after he won the "Apollo of 1939" contest in Paris. He was spotted by Éd ...

). After three months, all passion has disappeared, and after an argument, Hervé leaves the house for a drink at a club. There, he is seduced by Anita Florès ( Dawn Addams), a red-headed dance instructor. Unbeknownst to him, Anita is a scam artist who has sent her boyfriend Léon (

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

) to photograph her in companionship with Hervé. Although Hervé eventually decides to stay faithful to his wife, Léon is able to take some pictures of their intimate moments. Hervé refuses to give in to any of her attempts to blackmail him, until she calls him one night. Virginie and Albert overhear the conversation, after which Virginie concludes that her husband is having an affair. The next day, she follows him to Anita's dance studio, and when looking through the keyhole, she spots Anita's murdered body next to Hervé, who is holding a gun. Hervé convinces her that he is not guilty and they flee the place of crime through the back door, although they are noticed by some of the staff members. To prove her husband's innocence, she charms Anita's husband Florès (

Darío Moreno David Arugete (3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968), commonly known under his stage name Darío Moreno, was a Turkish-Jewish polyglot singer, an accomplished composer, lyricist, and guitarist. He attained fame and made a remarkable career centred ...

) into hiring her as a dance teacher in order to gain the opportunity to find more information. While going through the studio, Virginie catches Léon stealing money from her wallet and overhears a conversation between Léon and his mistress Daisy (Maria Pacôme), who plan on misleading the detectives. After several investigations of the inspectors, Virginie is convinced that she has found the murderer through a letter. According to her, this man is Gérard Lalemand. Because the detectives do not believe her, she decides to contact Gérard herself. She talks to him over the phone and arranges a meeting, but when he fails to show up, she locates his residence, where she is told that Mr. Lalemand has been dead for over three years. Virginie realizes that she has been talking to Gérard's son (

Georges Descrières Georges Descrières (15 April 1930 – 19 October 2013) was a French actor. He appeared in 52 films and television shows between 1954 and 1996. He starred alongside Anna Karina in the 1962 film '' Sun in Your Eyes'' and portrayed the gentlem ...

), who is the same charming

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

man whom she met earlier at the studio. Meanwhile, Léon has been arrested for blackmailing Hervé. He admits that he is the mysterious person who left the studio over the roof on the night of the murder, but claims that Hervé is the guilty one. To Hervé's surprise, Albert proves his innocence to the detectives. In the meantime, Virginie believes that she has tracked Lalemand down to Blue Fetish, a gay nightclub where he is performing as a

transvestite Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western ...

under the alias Daniel. Upon confronting him, she realizes that the man (Philippe Nicaud) is not Lalemand, and she leaves soon afterwards to return to his residence. There, she finds out that the real Lalemand is an acquaintance to Florès and Daisy, who have given a false statement when Lalemand was still a suspect. Virginie is told that Anita was Lelemand's father's mistress and that she had permission to profit from Lelemand's $50 million inheritance while she was still alive. Therefore, Lalemand has sent his boyfriend Daniel to kill Anita. Hervé's innocence is proven, and he gratefully kisses his wife.

Cast

as Virginie Dandieu *

as Hervé Dandieu * Dawn Addams as Anita Florès *

as Florès *

as Gérard Lalemand *

as Léon * Maria Pacôme as Daisy *

François Chaumette François Chaumette (1923–1996) was a French actor. Filmography External linksFrançois Chaumette
at IMDB. 1923 births 1996 deaths French male voice actors Sociétaires of the Comédie-Française French National Academy of Dramatic ...

as Joseph * Noël Roquevert as Albert Decauville-Lachenée *

Philippe Nicaud Philippe Nicaud (27 June 1926 – 19 April 2009) was a French actor and singer, was married to Christine Carère from 1957 till her death in 2008. Nicaud appeared in the episode "Jet Trail" of the 1966 American television espionage drama seri ...

as Daniel

Production

Unlike her earlier films, for which she received a notably lesser salary,

demanded $200,000 when she was cast."Brigitte Bardot Washed Up, Says Man Who Made Her Star" by Joe Hyams, ''

The Tuscaloosa News The '' Tuscaloosa News '' is a daily newspaper serving Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, and the surrounding area in west central Alabama. In 2012, Halifax Media Group acquired the ''Tuscaloosa News''. Prior to that, the paper's owner was T ...

'', February 21, 1961, p. 7

Sylvia Lopez Sylvia Lopez (November 10, 1933 – November 20, 1959) was a French model and actress. Career as a model Born Tatjana Bernt, she was raised in Paris, where she began a career in modelling. Eventually she modeled for couturier Jacques Fath, ...

was originally cast as Anita Florès, but terminal

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

prohibited her from finishing the film. She withdrew after a few days of shooting and was replaced by Dawn Addams. Shooting took place at the

Victorine Studios Victorine Studios (French: Studios de la Victorine) are a film studio in the French city of Nice. They are also known as the Nice Studios. Several small studios have also existed in the city. Originally built in 1921 in an attempt to create a H ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. 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 ...

Jean André.

Reception

The film in US grossed $2 million, a dissatisfactory amount compared to Bardot's earlier films. The flop inspired Raoul Lévy, the producer who made Bardot a star, to stop his collaboration with Bardot.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0053428, title=Voulez-vous danser avec moi? 1959 films 1950s French-language films 1959 romantic drama films French romantic drama films Italian romantic drama films Films based on American novels Films directed by Michel Boisrond French mystery drama films Italian mystery drama films French LGBT-related films Italian LGBT-related films 1950s LGBT-related films 1950s mystery drama films Films shot at Victorine Studios 1950s Italian films 1950s French films French-language Italian films