Amours célèbres (1961)
Directed by Michel Boisrond

Film Review

In the 1940s, film director Michel Boisrond undertook his apprenticeship with such luminaries as Jean Cocteau, Jean Delannoy and René Clair.  In the 50s, he went on to specialize in light comedies, beginning in 1958 with Cette sacrée gamine, followed by Une parisienne, Faibles femmes, Le Chemin des ecoliers and Voulez-vous danser avec moi?  Boisrond was a popular film director and had only one goal: to entertain the public.  His one and only ambitious project came in 1961 when he filmed Les Amours célèbres.  This colourful Franco-Italian production premiered at the cinemas Rex/Normandie and Moulin Rouge on 3rd November 1961.

Les Amours célèbres is a pure 1960s fantasy made up of sketches with an incredible cast, based on cartoons published in the 50s and 60s in France Soir, a popular French newspaper.  The dialogue was written by Marcel Achard, Françoise Giroud, Jacques Prévert and Michel Audiard, and the music was composed by Maurice Jarre.  Film director Gérard Oury lent his voice to link the four vignettes which make up a loose anthology of love stories that are supposed to have some historical basis.  Two million spectators were evidently seduced by this uneven film.

The first segment, Lauzun, is an amusing piece of vaudeville revolving around Louis XIV and a rival for his love, and features Dany Robin, Philippe Noiret and Jean-Paul Belmondo, with witty dialogue supplied by Marcel Achard.   The segment Jenny de la cour is a well-drawn drama sensitively scripted by Françoise Giroud.   Simone Signoret gives a moving performance as an older society woman who is ready to do anything to keep her unfaithful young lover (Pierre Vaneck).

The segment Agnès Bernauer is a medieval drama which brings Brigitte Bardot and Alain Delon together for the first time; they are perfectly cast as a tragic Bavarian and a nobleman of the Middle Ages.  Pierre Brasseur and Suzanne Flon put in some fine supporting contributions and the costume designs are impressive, but this does not detract from the obvious weaknesses in the story.

The last segment, Les Comediennes, closes the film with panache and is an astonishing character-based comedy about amorous rivalry set in the Directoire period (late 18th century France).  This offers some juicy parts for Edwige Feuillère and Annie Girardot, who relish the dialogue supplied to them by Michel Audiard.  Les Amours célèbres was certainly influenced by Sacha Guitry's Si Versailles m'était conté.  One can believe that, ten years after he played a part in this film, producer Gilbert Bokanowski was so mesmerized by the script of Les Amours célèbres that he promised to do it justice with a dream cast.  The film has yet to make it out onto DVD.

Film Synopsis

Part 1: The Duke of Lazun is in love with Madame de Monaco, so he is understandably nonplussed when he learns that she has caught the eye of Louis XIV.  To keep his beloved from the king without incurring his majesty's displeasure will require every ounce of wit he possesses...  Part 2: Around 1880, a middle-aged woman named Jenny de Lacour is passionately in love with René de la Roche, a handsome but unfaithful young man.  To keep her wayward lover, Jenny is prepared to do anything, no matter how monstrous... Part 3: In 15th century Bavaria, Prince Albert creates a scandal when he secretly marries a barber's daughter Agnès Bernauer, knowing full well that his father is against the union.  Agnès is kidnapped and sentenced to death for witchcraft... Part 4: In the early 1800s, the famous actress Mademoiselle Raucourt is outraged when she is replaced by Mademoiselle Duchesnois in the affections of a nobleman, the Baron de Jonchère.  Mademoiselle Raucourt will have her revenge one day...