Un carnet de bal (1937)
Directed by Julien Duvivier

Film Review

Un carnet de bal is a good example of French cinema of the late1930s, and one of the earliest successful attempts at the episodic film which became so popular in subsequent decades.

The multi-part structure of the film (effectively a series of loosely connected vignettes) is a little unsatisfying, but the individual stories are themselves almost perfectly formed.  It is worth seeing if only for the remarkable performances of the legendary actors that make up the cast list: Jouvet, Fernandel, Raimu, Baur...

The director, Julien Duvivier, was so pleased with this film that he remade it during his time in Hollywood, in 1941, as Lydia.

Film Synopsis

To take her mind off the recent death of her husband, Christine de Guérande begins sorting through her old possessions and is surprised to find her dance card for her coming out ball many years ago.  She was sixteen at the time and can't help wondering what became of the eight handsome young men she danced with on that memorable evening.  Her curiosity leads her to undertake a special kind of pilgrimage - to look up each of the men listed on her dance card and renew their acquaintance.

The expedition does not get off to the best of starts, as the first man on the list committed suicide after learning that Christine intended marrying another man.  Pierre, his successor, did not fair much better.  At first a promising lawyer with a glittering career ahead of him, he managed to get himself disbarred and is now mixed up with a gang of crooks.  Alain and Éric likewise had their share of misfortunes, but both overcame their disappointments in love, the first by taking holy orders, the second by becoming a mountain guide.

François, suitor number five, ended up getting himself elected mayor of a small village and is now about to get married - to his lowly housemaid.  Then there is Thierry, a man so plagued with misfortune that he now earns his crust by performing illegal abortions.  With Fabien, a modest hairdresser, Christine returns to the ballroom where she first danced and reflects on how the dreams of youth have perished before her eyes in recent days.  After learning that the last of her suitors died not long after being ruined, the widow feels duty-bound to adopt his son Jacques.