Four Flights to Love (1940)
"Paradis perdu" (original title)

In pre-World Ward I in Paris, a budding artist, Pierre LeBlanc, falls in love and marries Janine, a dressmaker's assistant. Pierre has a flair for designing clothes, and he and his bride ... See full summary »

Director:

Abel Gance

Writers:

Joseph Than (original story and scenario), Steve Passeur (dialogue),

Stars:

Fernand Gravey, Elvire Popesco, André Alerme

Cast

Cast overview:
Fernand Gravey	...	Le peintre Pierre Leblanc
Elvire Popesco	...	Sonia Vorochine
André Alerme	...	le couturier Raoul Calou
Monique Rolland	...	Laurence Aubujan
Robert Le Vigan	...	Édouard Bordenave
Robert Pizani	...	Le couturier Bernard Lesage (as Pizani)
Jane Marken	...	Madame Bonneron - la concierge (as Jeanne Marken)
Marcel Delaître	...	Le capitaine
Les Bluebell Girls	...	Les girls à l'inauguration de la Marie-Galante
Gérard Landry	...	Gérard Aubujan
Micheline Presle	...	Janine Mercier / Jeannette Leblanc

Storyline

In pre-World Ward I in Paris, a budding artist, Pierre LeBlanc, falls in love and marries Janine, a dressmaker's assistant. Pierre has a flair for designing clothes, and he and his bride live in a blissful paradise, until the war breaks out and he becomes a soldier. Janine dies in childbirth and, no longer desiring to live, Pierre volunteers for a dangerous patrol behind German lines. While recuperating in the hospital from a wound he received on the mission, Pierre spends his time drawing sketches of dresses. He becomes rich and famous after the war. Years later, after devoting himself to his daughter, Pierre seeks a marriage with a girl no older than his daughter. A conflict develops and to ensure his daughter's happiness, Pierre sacrifices his own plans.

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Plot Keywords:

artist | german | wound | hospital | happiness | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

11 April 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Four Flights to Love

Filming Locations:

Côte d'Azur, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tarice Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Radio-Cinéma Fidélité Intégrale)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in 2 x 50 Years of French Cinema (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Paradis perdu"
Music by Hans May
Lyrics by Roger Fernay
Performed by Meme Bianchi

User Reviews

Gone with the war.

Actually the right year is 1939.The title (lost paradise) tells it all.Like many works of the era,"paradis perdu" is an omen of the impending storm about to break.Abel Gance had already warned everybody with his remake of "j'accuse" two years before."Paradis perdu" is not really a manifesto,although it does include WW1 sequences ,it's actually a melodrama.Like "j'accuse" it features two distinct parts .People generally agree that the first part ,which describes the building of the "paradise" and the brief hours of happiness, is the strongest.The second part moves too fast :the daughter grows up overnight and there's a subplot (a love affair between the widower and a girl who is younger than his daughter) which gets in the way.At least it allows Abel Gance to regain his famous grandiloquence for the last sequence which compares favorably with that of Sirk's "imitation of life" .

Although Elvire Popesco is at the top of the cast ,the real star is Micheline Presles who portrays both the wife and the daughter.