''La Garçonne'' (''The Bachelor Girl'' or ''The Flapper'') is a 1936 French black-and-white film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Victor Margueritte. It was directed by

Jean de Limur Jean de Limur (13 November 1887, Vouhé, Charente-Maritime – 5 June 1976, Paris) was a French film director, actor and screenwriter. His works include ''La Garçonne (1936 film), La Garçonne'' (1936) and ''The Letter (1929 film), The Letter' ...

and starred Marie Bell (in the title role), Arletty and

Edith Piaf Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English word , meaning ''wealth'' or ''prosperity'', in combination with the Old English , meaning '' strife'', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian lang ...

Plot

The eponymous ''garçonne'' or

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women prominent after the First World War and through the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee length was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their ...

is Monique Lerbier, an emancipated French woman who leaves home to escape a

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. Cases whe ...

to a man she does not love which her parents have forced on her. She then falls into all sorts of carnal temptations and artificial pleasures previously unknown to her. These include her being seduced into a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

love affair by a chanteuse character (played by

), ensuring the film became a

succès de scandale ''Succès de scandale'' ( French for "success from scandal") is a term for any artistic work whose success is attributed, in whole or in part, to public controversy surrounding the work. In some cases the controversy causes audiences to seek o ...

. Another actress in the film, Arletty, said of it:

Cast

* Marie Bell : Monique Lerbier * Arletty : Niquette * Henri Rollan : Régis Boisselot * Maurice Escande : Lucien Vigneret *

Jaque Catelain Jaque Catelain (9 February 1897 – 5 March 1965) was a French actor who came to prominence in silent films of the 1920s, and who continued acting in films and on stage until the 1950s. He also wrote and directed two silent films himself, and he ...

: Georges Blanchet * Pierre Etchepare : Plombino * Philippe Hersent : Peer Rys * Jean Worms : Monsieur Lerbier * Marcelle Praince : Madame Lerbier * Vanda Gréville : Élisabeth * Suzy Solidor : Anika *

Édith Piaf Édith Giovanna Gassion (19 December 1915 – 10 October 1963), known as Édith Piaf (), was a French singer and lyricist best known for performing songs in the cabaret and modern chanson genres. She is widely regarded as France's greatest popu ...

: the chanteuse * Jean Tissier : Monsieur des Souzaies * Marcelle Géniat : Aunt Sylvestre * Junie Astor * Jane Marken

Crew

* Director :

* Writers:

Albert Dieudonné Albert Dieudonné (26 November 1889 – 19 March 1976) was a French actor, screenwriter, film director and novelist. Biography Dieudonné was born in Paris, France, and made his acting debut in silent film in 1908 for ''The Assassination of the ...

after the novel of the same name by Victor Margueritte ( Éditions Flammarion, 1922) * Adaptation : Marion Fort * Dialogue : Jacques Natanson * Music :

Jean Wiener Jean Wiener (or Wiéner) (19 March 1896, 14th arrondissement of Paris – 8 June 1982, Paris) was a French pianist and composer. Life Wiener was trained at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied alongside Darius Milhaud, and worked wit ...

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

: ''Quand même'', sung by

, lyrics by

Louis Poterat Louis Poterat (2 January 1901 – 6 January 1982) was a French lyricist. Career Poterat was born in Troyes, Aube. He studied law, before turning to journalism. Poterat switched to a more commercial environment and began writing for local revu ...

, music by

The lyrics give some idea of the film's atmosphere: :Mes sens inapaisés, :Cherchant pour se griser, :L'aventure des nuits louches, :Apportez-moi du nouveau. :Le désir crispe ma bouche. :La volupté brûle ma peau… ("My unappeased senses, /Seeking to intoxicate themselves, /The adventure of the decadent nights, / You bring me anew. / Desire makes my mouth tense. / Exquisite delight burns my skin…") * Cinematography: Roger Hubert, Charlie Bauer * Sound engineers : Robert Tesseire * Design : Lucien Aguettand *

Editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...

: Jean Oser

Production details

* Production company : Franco London Films (France) * Principal photography : Began in December 1935 * Format : Black-and-white —

Monophonic sound Monaural sound or monophonic sound (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce sou ...

— 35 mm

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garçonne (1936 film), La 1936 films French LGBTQ-related films Lesbian-related films Films directed by Jean de Limur Films based on French novels French drama films 1936 drama films French black-and-white films 1930s LGBTQ-related films Flappers 1930s French films Films scored by Jean Wiener 1930s French-language films French-language drama films