Premier rendez-vous (1941)

Director:

Henri Decoin

Writers:

Richard Busch (German post-synchronized version)
Henri Decoin (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 February 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Micheline Chevassu is a young, naive woman living in an orphanage. Through classified ads, she has a date with an unknown man...

Plot Keywords:

Personals Column

Cast

Danielle Darrieux	...	Micheline Chevassu
Rosine Luguet	...	Angèle
Gabrielle Dorziat	...	La directrice de l'orphelinat
Suzanne Dehelly	...	Mademoiselle Christophine
Fernand Ledoux	...	Nicolas Rougemont
Jean Tissier	...	Roland
Louis Jourdan	...	Pierre Rougemont
Jean Parédès	...	Max de Vatremont
Sophie Desmarets	...	Henriette Lefranc (as Jacqueline Desmarets)
Elisa Ruis	...	Mademoiselle Marie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Simone Valère	...	Une pensionnaire de l'orphelinat

Also Known As:

Her First Affair (USA)

Runtime:

USA:91 min | France:105 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Paris Studios Cinéma, Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company:

Continental Films

Trivia:

Presented at the Cabourg Film Festival (France, 1998);

Movie Connections:

Featured in La vie sera belle (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Chanson d'espoir

Charming comedy

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Premier Rendez-Vous" was made to show Danielle Darrieux to advantage :she was the star of the era and the director's then wife.But its screenplay is extremely well written ,full of humor ,and it's a comedy which compares favorably to the best contemporary American ones.A topflight supporting cast includes Fernand Ledoux,Louis Jourdan-later the par excellence Hollywood French lover-,Gabrielle Dorziat and ,uncredited ,Daniel Gélin and Georges Marchal among others.

Micheline is an orphan;to brighten her life,she has engaged a lengthy correspondence with a young man .She pretends she comes from a good family.One day she has a rendezvous with him and she escapes from the orphanage.She meets a man in a café :an old less-than-handsome man;he pretends he is not the one she's looking for.He is a Literature teacher in a high school for rich kids (male only).He takes Micheline to his home where she's got to hide cause he lives next to the school.

Good scenes: Micheline asking for a Manhattan (cocktail) in a lousy bistro cause that's what chic girls drink;an orphan,pretending to be fainting so as to allow Micheline to leave the rows;the heroine ,dressed up as a boy ,visiting the school (a scene that should have been more developed).

But behind the scenes,the other Henry Decoin appears.In France he's best remembered for his films noirs ("la Verite sur Bebe Donge" "non Coupable""les Inconnus dans la Maison" "La Fille du Diable"....)"Premier Rendez-vous" is admittedly a comedy ,but there are already elements of what will be developed later: Micheline's arrival in the teacher's house and the disturbing lighting effects;the teacher's humiliations.

Darrieux sings the title tune which was a big hit at a time when charts did not exist.Though old-fashioned,the song retains a certain freshness.