''Mélo'' is a 1929 play by

Henri Bernstein Henri-Léon-Gustave-Charles Bernstein (20 June 1876 – 27 November 1953) was a French playwright associated with Boulevard theatre. Biography Bernstein was born in Paris. His earliest plays, including ''La Rafale'' (1905), ''Le Voleur'' (1907), ...

which premiered in the US in 1931 at the

Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...

Plot

Pierre Belcroix and Marcel Blanc are

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ists and lifelong friends living in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

in the 1920s. While Marcel has become famous and Pierre has not, both are happy with their lives. Pierre is happily married to Romaine, a stylish young

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered accepta ...

. However, Marcel meets and falls in love with her, which Pierre little suspects. Romaine carries on her affair with Marcel, even as Pierre falls ill, which she may have deliberately exacerbated with her treatment in order to murder him. Soon Marcel goes on a concert tour, and Romaine abandons Pierre for a romantic tryst. When Marcel returns, Romaine reconsiders the affair, and realizes that she loves both Pierre and Marcel. She decides that she does not want to hurt either her husband or her lover, and as no other solution seems possible, she commits suicide. Three years later, Pierre visits Marcel to seek the truth, and Marcel tells him that no illicit affair occurred, thereby honoring her memory.

Film adaptations

It was first filmed in 1932 by Paul Czinner in two versions: in Germany as '' Dreaming Lips'' and in France as '. Czinner later remade the film in 1937 in Britain. Another German version titled '' Dreaming Lips'' was released in 1953. The 1986 French film based on the play was directed by

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

, and starred

Fanny Ardant Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award. Early life Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, ...

André Dussollier André Dussollier (born 17 February 1946) is a French actor 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 modern media such as fi ...

Sabine Azéma Sabine Azéma (born 20 September 1949) is a French stage and film actress and director. Born in Paris, she graduated from the Paris Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. Career Her film career began in 1975. Azéma appeared in '' A Sunday in the ...

and

Pierre Arditi Pierre Arditi (born 1 December 1944) is a French actor. He is the brother of French actress Catherine Arditi. Life and career Born in Paris, his father was the painter Georges Arditi, from Marseille of Jewish descent, and his mother Yvonne ...

. It won the

César Award for Best Actress The César Award for Best Actress (french: César de la meilleure actrice, link=no) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the ''Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma'' to recognize the outstanding performance in a leading role o ...

and Best Supporting Actor, and was nominated for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mélo 1929 plays French plays adapted into films