''Frou-Frou'', is a French

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film from 1955, directed by

Augusto Genina Augusto Genina (28 January 1892 – 18 September 1957) was an Italian film pioneer. He was a movie producer and director. Biography Born in Rome, Genina was a drama critic and wrote comedies for the ''Il Mondo'' Magazine, under advise of Aldo ...

, written by A. E. Carr, starring

Dany Robin Dany Robin (; 14 April, 1927 – 25 May, 1995) was a French actress of the 1950s and the 1960s. Career Robin was born Danielle Robin in Clamart. She performed with Peter Sellers in ''The Waltz of the Toreadors'', and co-starred opposite Kirk Do ...

and

Louis de Funès Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in fil ...

. The film is also known as "A Girl from Paris".

Plot

Frou-Frou is a 16-year-old peddler. She comes to the attention of four gentlemen who,

Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...

-like, agree on helping her to improve her situation. They teach her to behave like a lady and introduce her to the

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

. But she falls in love with an unsuccessful artist who commits suicide after he has befathered her with a daughter...

Cast

as Antoinette Dubois called "Frou-Frou" *

as Colonel Cousinet-Duval, one of Frou-Frou's mentors *

Gino Cervi Luigi Cervi (3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974), better known as Gino Cervi (), was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character ''Don Camillo'' (1952-1965), and police detective Jules M ...

as Prince Vladimir Bilinsky, one of Frou-Frou's mentors *

Philippe Lemaire Philippe Lemaire (14 March 1927 – 15 March 2004) was a French actor. He appeared in more than ninety films between 1946 and 2004. Lemaire was married three times; Nicole Pinton (1949–1951) (divorced); Juliette Gréco from 1953 to 1956, had ...

as Michel Arthus, the young painter *

Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitskij; 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a Chinese-born actor of Russian descent. Early life Desny was born in Peking, China. Career Desny was a film actor. Bilingual in French and German, he acted ...

as Henri de Gaspard, Frou-Frou's first lover *

Mischa Auer Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky (Михаил Семёнович Унковский; 17 November 1905 – 5 March 1967) was a Russians, Russian-born American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in fi ...

as Grand duke Alexis *

Jean Wall Jean Wall (1900–1959) was a French stage and film actor.Goble p. 306 He also directed two films. Partial filmography * ''La vagabonde'' (1932) - Le peintre Adolphe Taillandy * ''Chair ardente'' (1932) - Florent * ''The Beautiful Sailor'' (193 ...

as Jean Sabatier, one of Frou-Frou's mentors * Umberto Menalti as Count Sigismond Meursault, one of Frou-Frou's mentors *

Daniel Ceccaldi Daniel Ceccaldi (25 July 1927 – 27 March 2003) was a French actor. He was born in Meaux, Seine-et-Marne, France. The mild-mannered Daniel Ceccaldi is famous as Claude Jade's father ''Lucien Darbon'' in François Truffaut's movies ''Stolen Kis ...

as Chevalier des Grieux, the young man at the masked ball *

Marie Sabouret Marie Sabouret (31 January 1924 – 23 July 1960) was a French stage and film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in ...

as Grande duchess Anna Ivanovna, keeper of a Russian restaurant *

Béatrice Arnac Béatrice Arnac (23 April 1931 – 5 October 2020) was a French actress, singer, and composer. Biography The daughter of the cartoonist Marcel Arnac, Béatrice was also the niece of explorer Marie Gallaud. In 1962, she received the Grand Prize ...

as Rosemonde *

Simone Sylvestre Simone Marie Jeanne Berger (16 September 1923 – 29 March 2020), better known as Simone Sylvestre, was a French film actress. Sylvestre died on 29 March 2020, at the age of 96. Filmography * 1941: '' Ne bougez plus'' by Pierre Caron * 1941: ...

as Ketty *

Mylène Demongeot Mylène Demongeot (born Marie-Hélène Demongeot; 29 September 1935 – 1 December 2022) was a French film, television and theatre actress and author with a career spanning seven decades and more than 100 credits in French, Italian, English an ...

as The mistress *

Isabelle Pia Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

as Michèle Dubois, Frou-Frou's daughter

References

External links

* *
Frou-Frou (1955)
at the ''Films de France'' 1955 films French comedy films 1950s French-language films French black-and-white films Films directed by Augusto Genina Films based on works by Jacques Laurent 1955 comedy films 1950s French films {{1950s-France-film-stub