IMDb > La ronde (1950)
IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   1,238 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 18% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Max Ophüls
Writers:
Arthur Schnitzler (play)
Jacques Natanson (adaptation) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for La ronde on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
16 March 1954 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama more
Tagline:
A Wonderful Merry-Go-Round of Love With Eleven Stars
Plot:
An all-knowing interlocutor guides us through a series of affairs in Vienna, 1900. A soldier meets an eager young lady of the evening... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Celebration's F*cking Men Spin 'Round Like the Windmills of Your Mind
 (From BroadwayWorld.com. 15 September 2009, 5:38 PM, PDT)
La Ronde Plays FringeNYC At Here Arts Center 8/15 Thru 8/21
 (From BroadwayWorld.com. 13 August 2009, 2:33 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
The Magic Roundabout more (21 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)
Anton Walbrook ... Raconteur

Simone Signoret ... Leocadie, the Prostitute
Serge Reggiani ... Franz, the Soldier
Simone Simon ... Marie, the Housemaid
Daniel Gélin ... Alfred
Danielle Darrieux ... Emma Breitkopf
Fernand Gravey ... Charles Breitkopf, Emma's Husband
Odette Joyeux ... Anna, the Grisette
Jean-Louis Barrault ... Robert Kuhlenkampf, the Poet
Isa Miranda ... Charlotte, the Actress
Gérard Philipe ... The Count
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
97 min | 110 min (1989 restored version)
Country:
France
Language:
French
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Iceland:12 | UK:A (1982) | UK:PG (1990) | UK:X (1951) (cut) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15
Company:
Films Sacha Gordine more

Fun Stuff

Movie Connections:
Referenced in Dayereh (2000) more
Soundtrack:
Der Reigen more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
13 out of 24 people found the following comment useful.
The Magic Roundabout, 18 September 2004
Author: writers_reign from London, England

I've just read all the previous comments on this and I'm surprised that none of them apparently grasped that the main thrust of the plot was the passing of venereal disease from one character to another. It's not just coincidence that the first coupling is between a prostitute and a soldier - prostitutes traditionally work near army barracks and are, or arguably were in 1900, more likely to be carriers of venereal disease than most other women simply because by definition they had sex with more men than the average woman, married or single, in 1900. The vastly overrated semi-Amateur film maker Jean-Luc Godard dismissed both the film and one of France's leading actors (Gerard Philippe) with the words 'France's worst actor in France's worst film', which in itself should be sufficient to send all intelligent people flocking to see La Ronde. It is, of course, dated. It has to be, it was made 54 years ago yet it still retains that quality that has always eluded and will always elude Godard, Style. What if not stylish should we call it when our self-appointed narrator, Anton Walbrook, discards his slightly down-market raincoat and dons an opera cape to lead us to a sleazy quarter of Vienna and make us privy to the initial sexual encounter, the first, of course, of many, between prostitute Simone Signoret and soldier Serge Reggiani (soon to play similar roles in Jacques Becker's 'Casque d'Or') and provide the first 'take' on love/sex which is indifference; even when Signoret is prepared to waive her fee Reggiani disdains free sex on the grounds that her room is a ten minute walk from where they met and only reluctantly does he finally agree to an al fresco coupling from which he hurries away with barely a 'thank you', let alone a cigarette. Cynicism is still rampant in the next encounter in which Regginani seduces Simone Simon's comely housemaid then hurries back to the dance where they had met. Cynicism of a different sort informs the next encounter when the young man of the house (Daniel Gelin) where Simon is employed practices his seduction technique on her before attempting it with the real thing in the shape of older, married Danielle Darrieux. This episode, together with its successor (Darrieux and her husband, Fernand Gravey) serves as a filmic equivalent of an interval in a theatre (the film is based, as is widely known, on a play by Viennese playwright Artur Schnitzler)and Gelin's initial impotence is metaphored subtly (for 1950) by the breaking down of the roundabout which allows Ophuls to cut away to Walbrook in mechanic mode and then back to a now successful Gelin consummating his infatuation for Darrieux. And so it goes on, brief encounters, longer liaisons, just like life in fact. Virtually all of the cast had or would appear in classic films, not least Jean-Pierre Barrault, so memorable in 'Les Enfants du Paradis', Gerard Philippe, the original 'Fanfan le Tulipe' with 'Les Orgueillex' still to come, Serge Reggiani, a veteran of 'Les Portes de la Nuit', laughed off the screen in 1946 and now regarded rightly as a masterpiece, and so on, arguably only Isa Miranda as the actress let the side down. All in all a triumph. 8/10

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (21 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for La ronde (1950)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
New, In Depth Review of La ronde robhiphop
Criterion September 2008 colvinis
DVD version asturley
Is that Isa Miranda's Real Voice ??? moondog-8
UK re-release date? Kiasan
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
La ronde The Unbearable Lightness of Being The Libertine The Bodyguard The Ice Storm
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Drama section IMDb France section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.