''La Parisienne'' (original French title: ''Une parisienne'') is a 1957

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

French comedy film 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 ...

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

and

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 ...

, 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 ...

. Bardot plays the daughter of the French President who marries her father's secretary, but the couple become jealous of each other's purported sexual flings. Costumes are by

Pierre Balmain Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain (; 18 May 1914 – 29 June 1982) was a French fashion designer and founder of leading post-war fashion house Balmain (fashion house), Balmain. Known for sophistication and elegance, he described the art of dre ...

. Dialogue is in French, with dubbed versions in other languages.

Plot

Brigitte Laurier (

), daughter of the

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

, is madly in love with Michel Legrand (

), the chief of staff of her father. He tries to evade her, but she follows him to the airport as he meets his mistress, Mrs. Wilson (

Madeleine Lebeau Marie Madeleine Berthe Lebeau (10 June 1923 – 1 May 2016) was a French film actress who also appeared in American films, most notably ''Casablanca''. Early life Lebeau married actor Marcel Dalio in 1939; it was his second marriage. They had ...

), who intends to divorce her husband to marry Michel. He continues to shut down Brigitte's repeated sexual advances, but he finds that hard to do, as she has just appointed herself to an internship as Michel's secretary. She creates a ruse whereby Michel is tricked into delivering urgent papers to the President ( André Luguet), who is spending the weekend hunting in the countryside. Michel's former mistress, Caroline d'Herblay, and her politician husband are also at the same hunting event, and Mrs. d'Herblay insists that Michel stay the weekend. The President asks his daughter why she tricked Michel like this, and she proclaims her unrequited love for Michel as her father balks at her silliness. Michel and Mrs. d'Herblay reunite secretly in the woods and they arrange a rendezvous later in the night once her husband is asleep. As she slips out of her room later that night, her husband fakes snoring and follows her, suspecting she is up to no good. At the same time, Brigitte heads to Michel's room and surprises him—as he was expecting Mme d'Herblay—and she tells him she wants to be his mistress and promises never to speak of marriage. They kiss, but Mrs. d'Herblay walks in on them and a scene erupts. Mr. d'Herblay ( Noël Roquevert) himself hears vaguely sexual sounds emanating from the President's room (as he is lighting his smoking pipe), and a separate scene erupts whereby Mr. d'Herbaly wakes up everyone in the house—i.e., the

Cabinet of France The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...

—as they investigate who is in Michel's locked room. Mrs. d'Herblay is hidden and Brigitte is revealed to be in Michel's bed in front of the entire French government, thus embarrassing the President. Not wanting to cause a scandal, Michel and Brigitte are forced to be married by her father. During their honeymoon, Michel tells Brigitte he is glad he married her, but she is unsure. When they return to France, she tells her father she is sure Michel will cheat on her sooner or later, but her father is sure he will not. The next day, Prince Charles (

) starts his state visit to France. As she is preparing to go to the gala ball, Mrs. Wilson calls Michel—apparently not realising he is married now—and Brigitte picks up. She is sure Michel is cheating on her with Mrs. Wilson, and she confronts him at the ball. Michel laughs it off, but in a fit of jealously, she tells Michel she will cheat on him with the next person to walk through the door. Michel laughs and bids her good luck as Prince Charles is that person. Not backing down, she curtsies to make herself known to him, and slips into a side room. Prince Charles follows her, and they both get on their knees to look for Brigitte's broken pearl bracelet. She admits to him that she is in love with him, and Michel becomes jealous that the two of them are flirting. He slaps her in public, and brings her home. Mrs. Wilson calls the next morning, and when Brigitte answers, she sets up lunch for her and Michel for that afternoon. Mrs. Wilson shows up and is still infatuated with him and kisses him as Brigitte watches. Brigitte plays the role of maid, but is surly as she serves Mrs. Wilson. Michel's office calls, but Brigitte pretends to be having a phone conversation with the Prince and says that she is going to the embassy to meet him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wilson storms off as she finds out the Brigitte is actually Michel's new wife. As the women leave, Michel's office calls back and he realises it was just a ruse that the Prince called, and he knows Brigitte is lying. However, Brigitte actually does go to the

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

and meets Prince Charles, who decides to cancel his plan to open a nursery with the Queen and instead spend the afternoon with Brigitte. He offers to fly her in a new French fighter jet to have tea with the

Queen of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...

, and they go to the airport. While at the airport, Brigitte calls Michel to brag that she is flying with the Prince, but he doesn't believe her. As they fly off, the Prince asks what Brigitte's name is, the Prince decides not to go to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, but instead fly to

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 ...

and go for a swim. After swimming, the Prince and Brigitte go to a beach restaurant, where the Prince is mistaken for a rowdy local. The other locals stop them from leaving and a fight occurs until they realise he is actually the Prince. Meanwhile, while the Queen is speaking at the nursery opening, the President and Michel realise the Prince actually did leave with Brigitte and is not sick with a migraine as is told to the press. Michel becomes enraged with jealously that the Prince is with his wife, but the President begs him not to make a big issue out of this. Michel goes to see the Prince to prove he is not sick, but the Queen stalls him until the Prince is able to return and act sick. Michel apologises for his apparent mistake. When Brigitte tells Michel she went to Nice with the Prince for a swim, having just left the embassy, he does not believe her and thinks she is making a fool of him. They promise to always tell each other the truth, but when she again tells him she was with the Prince—the truth—he doesn't believe her. Ultimately, she tells him she was at the cinema with a friend and crosses her fingers.

Cast

as Brigitte Laurier *

as Michel Legrand * André Luguet as President Alcide Laurier *

as Prince Charles *

Claire Maurier Claire Maurier (born Odette-Michelle-Suzanne Agramon; March 27, 1929) is a French actress who has appeared in more than 90 films since 1947. Life and career Maurier was born Odette-Michelle-Suzanne Agramon on March 27, 1929 in the French commune ...

as Caroline Herblay * Noël Roquevert as Mr. d'Herblay *

as Monique Wilson *

Nadia Gray Nadia Gray (born Nadia Kujnir; 23 November 1923 – 13 June 1994) was a Romanian film actress. Biography Gray was born into a Jewish family in Bucharest. Her father moved to Romania from Russia, and her mother was from Akkerman (Bessarabia). ...

as Queen Greta *

Fernand Sardou Fernand Sardou (September 18, 1910 – January 31, 1976La Gloire de Pagnol
p. 235.) was a French singer ...

as Fernand the Barman * Robert Pizani as Ambassador Mouchkine *

Judith Magre Judith Magre (born 20 November 1926) is a French actress, born in Montier-en-Der, Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture i ...

as Irma * Harry-Max as L'ambassadeur * Vera Talchi as Titine * Marcel Pérès as The General (as Marcel Pérés)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parisienne 1957 films French comedy films 1957 comedy films Films directed by Michel Boisrond Adultery in films Films about presidents Films produced by Angelo Rizzoli 1950s French films