Bécassine (1940)
Directed by Pierre Caron

Film Review

The first film to feature the comicbook heroine Bécassine provoked an outrage in Brittany on its release in 1940 for its unflattering portrayal of a crude Breton stereotype.  The character had in fact been created 35 years earlier by Joseph Pinchon for a popular girls' magazine named La Semaine de Suzette.  Interpreted by Paulette Dubost (bubbling with star quality in one of her few leading roles in a career that saw her appear in over 150 films, including a notable part in Jean Renoir's La Règle du jeu (1939)), Bécassine has something the original character lacked (a mouth) and uses it to great comic effect, most notably in one of the film's two musical numbers.

The film was directed by Pierre Caron, who had previously directed two iconic French singers in similar crowdpleasing comedies - Tino Rossi in Marinella (1936) and Charles Trenet in La Route enchantée (1938).  Caron's career in France was cut short after the war when he was condemned for links to the black market and ended up making films in Spain.  Bécassine is far from being Caron's best work but its rambling, episodic plot is sustained by Paulette Dubost's unflagging performance as the likeably ill-tempered maid and some admirable support from Grade A eccentrics Marcel Vallée (remembered for his portrayal of Muche in cinema's first screen adaptation of Topaze (1933)) and Alice Tissot, who just manage to be outstaged by an adorable piglet.  It's an amiable little comedy that wears its age well and perhaps deserves to be better known than it is.

Film Synopsis

Bécassine, a young Breton girl, works as a maid for the Marquise de Grand-Air, who lives with her daughter Annie and Uncle Coretin in a grand house by the sea.  Bécassine resents the fact that her workload is doubled when her mistress invites a paying guest, Madame Tampico, to her house, in the company of her daughter Arlette and son José.  When Madame Tampico's precious jewels go missing, Bécassine is suspected of stealing them but it is Annie's boyfriend Dr Chancerelle who is arrested, as he was seen loitering on the grounds of the house on the night of the robbery.  In fact, the jewels have been hidden by José in one of Bécassine's suitcases, so that his mother can claim on the insurance.  When the Marquise dismisses her maid, Madame Tampico and her children are thrown into a panic, since she has no doubt left with her suitcases.  Despite their best efforts, Bécassine seems to have disappeared, along with the jewels...