Madame Sans-Gêne (1941)
Directed by Roger Richebé

Film Review

The true-life rags-to-riches story of Cathérine Hübscher, a laundry maid who rose to the position of Duchess of Danzig under Napoleon I, provided the subject for one of the most popular French stageplays of the 19th century, Victorien Sardou and Émile Moreau's Madame Sans-Gêne.  First performed in Paris in 1893, the play proved to be such a hit that it was adapted as an opera in 1915 and, in 1900, was one of the first plays to be adapted for cinema, in a short silent film featuring Gabrielle Réjane, the actress who first played Madame Sans-Gêne on stage.  Since, there have been around a dozen screen adaptations of the play, the first sound version being directed by Roger Richebé in 1941 and featuring that much-loved icon of French cinema, Arletty.

Richebé's film is a respectable period piece, faithful to the play and impressing both with its production design and the quality of its lead performances.  Arletty is an obvious shoe-in for the role of Madame Sans-Gêne, a plain-speaking commoner who humorously shows the po-faced imperial court to be a mockery of the revolutionary ideals that brought Napoleon to power.  Wonderfully out of place amidst the pomp and pomposity of court life, Arletty's portrayal is witty and captivating, and it is a shame that her arresting performance isn't matched by that of her co-stars.

Playing Napoloen on screen for the last time is Albert Dieudonné, the actor who famously portrayed the great historical personage in Abel Gance's 1927 masterpiece Napoléon and its subsequent sound remake.  Dieudonné is clearly comfortable in the role and bears an uncanny physical resemblance to the great man himself, although what makes him the best of all screen Napoleons is the ease with which he manages to humanise him, playing him not as a mythic superman but as an ordinary man elevated to an extraordinary position of power.  Dieudonné's scenes with Arletty are by far the most rivetting in the film, touchingly truthful as they reveal the human side of both characters.  Overall, the film lacks the inspired touch and is hampered by screenwriter Jean Aurenche's dogged reluctance to stray too far from the original stageplay.  As a result, the film often feels stilted and airless, lacking in both dramatic intensity and atmosphere.  Arletty's glittering star presence brightens what might otherwise have been a very dull piece of theatre.

Film Synopsis

In 1792, Cathérine Hübscher is employed as a modest laundry maid in the rue Sainte-Anne in Paris.  With the help of her fiancé, Sergeant Lefebvre, she saves an Austrian nobleman, Count Neipperg, from the militia.  Nine years later, under the reign of Napoleon I, Lefebvre has become the Duke of Danzig and Cathérine his wife.  Catherine's habit of speaking her mind causes offence at court, leading Napoleon to insist that Lefebvre must divorce her and marry someone of more refined manners.  The Emperor has a change of heart when Catherine visits him in person and reminds him of her past loyalties to the Revolution.  The Lefebvres then faces disgrace when an enemy, Savary, implicates them in a scandal involving Count Neipperg...