La Garçonne (1936 film)

Infobox film
name =La Garçonne


imagesize =200px
caption =Marie Bell in "La Garçonne" (1936)
starring =Marie Bell
director = Jean de Limur
producer =
writer = Victor Margueritte (novel)
Albert Dieudonné (scriptwriter)
music = Jean Wiener (including the music for "Quand même", sung by Édith Piaf, lyrics by Louis Poterat)
cinematography = Roger Hubert
Charlie Bauer
editing = Jean Oser
distributor = Franco London Films
released = 21 February 1936
runtime = 95 minutes
country = France
language = French
budget =
gross =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0027658

"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, and starred Marie Bell (in the title role), Arletty and Edith Piaf.

Plot

The eponymous "garçonne" or flapper is Monique Lerbier, an emancipated French woman who leaves home to escape a marriage of convenience 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 love affair by a chanteuse character (played by Edith Piaf), ensuring the film became a succès de scandale. Another actress in the film, Arletty, said of it:cquote|It was advanced, as an idea. Victor Margueritte, the author of the novel, took a major part in the production process. I maintained Marie Bell, in the film. One of the last times we saw each other, shortly before her death, we recalled this memory. "I maintained you in "La Garçonne", I said to her, "and luckily this was not real life, otherwise you would have cost me dearly!" It has to be said of Marie that she was not cheap to keep! And how we laughed! [...] The film was a success thanks to the scandal it provoked. Seeing "bonnes femmes" as flappers, smoking opium [...] Seeing female homosexuals, in that epoque!" [Extract from "Arletty ou la liberté d’être", biography by Christian Gilles, Librairie Séguier, Paris, 1988, ISBN 2906284866.]

Cast

* Marie Bell : Monique Lerbier
* Arletty : Niquette
* Henri Rollan : Régis Boisselot
* Maurice Escande : Lucien Vigneret
* Jacque-Catelain : 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 : the chanteuse
* Jean Tissier : Monsieur des Souzaies
* Marcelle Géniat : Aunt Sylvestre
* Junie Astor
* Jane Marken

Crew

* Director : Jean de Limur
* Writers: Albert Dieudonné after the novel of the same name by Victor Margueritte (Éditions Flammarion, 1922)
* Adaptation : Marion Fort
* Dialogue : Jacques Natanson
* Music : Jean Wiener
* Song : "Quand même", sung by Édith Piaf, lyrics by Louis Poterat, music by Jean Wiener [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4EUQkFrmzY Video] of the song] [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 : Jean Oser

Production details

* Production company : Franco London Films ()
* Principal photography : Began in December 1935
* Format : Black and white — Monophonic sound — 35 mm
* Duration : 95 minutes (1 h 35 mn)
* Release date : 21 February 1936 in France

References

External links

*imdb title|0027658|La Garçonne