Gringalet (1946)
Directed by André Berthomieu

Film Review

André Berthomieu is not a filmmaker who is widely known today but, with around seventy full-length films to his name, he was one of the most prolific French film directors of his day.  Alternating melodramas and light comedies, Berthomieu had the knack of making films audiences wanted to see and Gringalet is typical of his output - a sentimental comedy-drama whose main interest is that it touches on a problem that would become increasingly prevalent in the years following WWII, namely the gulf between the generations.  Gringalet originated as a stage play by Paul Vandenberghe, who not only adapted the play for the film but also plays the eponymous central character in it.  Vandenberghe had already adapted one of his plays for cinema with Berthomieu - J'ai dix-sept ans (1945) - and he would also script several of the director's subsequent films, most notably his early collaborations with Bourvil - Pas si bête (1946), Blanc comme neige (1948), Le coeur sur la main (1949).

With his quiet charm and sweet, self-effacing persona, Paul Vandenberghe looks remarkably like the young Bourvil and is perfectly suited for the role of the nobler son, effectively contrasted with Jimmy Gaillard's pretty contemptible spoiled brat of a half-brother.  The casting of Charles Vanel as the father of this chalk-and-cheese pair of siblings is hardly a surprise - Vanel was invariably cast as the thick-skinned industrialist and patriarch in pretty well every French film of this period - his character is effectively a well-blended potpourri of the ones he had already portrayed in Curtis Bernhardt's Carrefour (1938), Jean Dréville's Les Affaires sont les affaires (1942) and Les Roquevillard (1943).  Vanel's penchant for playing sympathetic double-sided characters with thick exteriors and fragile interiors was pretty well unrivalled.

The once legendary star of French operetta, Marguerite Deval, now in her late seventies and looking remarkably spry for her age, almost manages to steal the film as Vanel's antagonistic mother-in-law, leaving Suzy Carrier and Christiane Sertilange to bring the requisite feminine touch as the two eye-catching female supports.  The script is a pretty humdrum and predictable affair to say the least, perhaps a tad mawkish for modern tastes, but you would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Vanel and Vandenberghe, both of whom bring a welter of authenticity to their suitably underplayed performances.  Gringalet hardly rates as a classic but it is one of André Berthomieu's few films that still packs an emotional punch and deserves to be preserved for posterity.

Film Synopsis

Lucien Bavaud is a highly successful industrialist who runs his factories with ruthless efficiency.  After his wife's death, Lucien lives alone in his grand house with his son and mother-in-law, neither of whom he gets on with.  He would like to have seen the same honest virtues in his son Philippe that he expects from his employees, but his ungrateful offspring is a constant disappointment.  The archetypal spoiled son, Philippe detests his father and shows no interest in work, preferring instead to spend his days living the life of the rich playboy.  Unbeknown to any other member of his family, Lucien also has an illegitimate son, Francis, nicknamed Gringalet, who, having had to make his own way in the world, has turned out to be a promising young artist and the ideal son.  Francis graciously accepts an invitation from his father to spend a few days at his house so that he can get to know his half-brother, but instead of a warm welcome the young artist is treated with abject disdain.  The only person in Lucien's household who warms to Francis is Philippe's fiancée Josette.  It is she who coerces Philippe into persuading his step-brother to stay after he has made up his mind he is not welcome.  Once he has realised that Francis has no interest in his father's wealth, Philippe begins to take a liking to his half-brother and not only does he start to show his father more respect, he even begins working in earnest for Lucien.  Through Francis's influence, the Bavaud household is transformed for the better, but amidst this newfound bonhomie Lucien sees that something is wrong.  It appears that Francis has fallen hopelessly in love with Josette...