Pension Mimosas (1935) User Reviews

Hotel du Sud

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 5 January 2007]

For lovers and/or students of French Cinema there's a fascinating moment in Pension Mimosas when Monarch and Pretender come face to face (a situation perhaps more clearly defined at Fox when, in Tin Pan Alley, undisputed 'Queen' of the Lot in the 1930s Alice Faye co-starred with Betty Grable, destined to usurp her and 'reign' throughout the subsequent decade; history was to repeat itself in 1953, the year Grable played opposite her own successor, Marilyn Monroe in How To Marry A Millionaire). By the mid thirties Francoise Rosay, active in movies since 1911, was arguably the closest thing to a 'queen' in the business although she seldom got to play a leading role in the 'romantic' sense of the word (unlike say, Danielle Darrieux, who was already on the scene but yet to establish her own 'regal' status) and was invariably cast as someone already long married and/or a parent. Pension Mimosas finds her once more long-married and godmother to Pierrot, about whom her 'maternal' feelings are compromised by something a shade darker. For trivia buffs there's a nice autobiographical touch when she recalls her days as a would-be Opera star several years before and in real life Rosay performed four roles (her range was soprano) at the Paris National Opera in the 1919/20 season though nothing came of it. Complications and/or plot developments arise in the shape of Pierrot's biological father, a ner'do-well, who emerges out of the woodwork to whisk the boy off to Paris (the Pension Mimosas is located in Nice). Time passes as time will and some ten years later (more or less the 'present', i.e. 1934) with the father on the menu and Pierre gone to the bad Rosay sets off for Paris to 'save' him and it is here she encounters Arletty who, in a short time will have displaced Rosay and become herself a glittering jewel in the crown of French cinema (of all her subsequent roles none were more memorable than those in the four films she made with Marcel Carne, a mere 'assistant' to Feyder on Pension Mimosas who would first use Rosay on his directorial debut, Jenny, before casting Arletty in Hotel du Nord, Le Jour se leve, Les Visiteurs du soir and subsequently in the piece de restistance of French Cinema, Les Enfants du paradis). The encounter is intriguing for the observer as Rosay quietly dominates the scene doing little overtly; stirring coffee, sipping it and listening politely as Arletty unleashes about five per cent of her trademark volatility so that the end result is a hugely rewarding (to the viewer) workout of two major talents. Eventually Rosay takes Pierrot back to the Pension Mimosas but it's not as easy as that, of course, and more conflict arrives in the shape of a low-life girl who follows him. Predictably it all ends in tears - and a scene that Kubrick 'borrowed' for The Killing - when Rosay, having won a fortune in the casino that will get Pierrot out of trouble is too late to save him in the other sense of the word. There's a final arguably incestuous kiss on the lips, the wind blows the shutter open and the paper money is scattered to the four winds.

Françoise Rosay:THE mother of the era

[dbdumonteil · 1 January 2007]

All along the thirties,and long after,Françoise Rosay's part was par excellence that of the mother.From "Jenny " (Carné,1936) to "Le Ruisseau" (Lehmann,1938) and from "Un Carnet de Bal" (Duvivier,1937) to "Paix sur le Rhin" (Choux,1938) : in turn ambitious and unscrupulous (Lehmann's work) ,grotesque in an Alsatian folk costume (Choux's) ,mad in Duvivier's masterpiece where she portrays a mum whose son died along ago (but she believes he is still alive),but above all over possessive .

"Pension mimosas" -probably because she worked with her husband Jacques Feyder- is her most interesting part of a mother; an over possessive one,but a sweet loving one;actually she is not Pierrot's mother but his godmother.Her feelings in a word are complex: critic Georges Sadoul best describes them: there is something of Phaedra here;Louise,whose husband is a good man but not particularly handsome,was an opera star but as she tells to her godson's girl "it was short-lived ,and you have got to eat!";and that girl gets the picture when she enters the "Pension Mimosas" :"She is in love with you! "

There's something of a Greek tragedy here.The key scene is to be found when Pierrot is still a kid.We see him play with a small roulette."I'm mesmerized by this small ball" he says to his disturbed "mom".His fate seems doomed .On his Communion day -the depiction of the Communion meal is colorful and predates that of "Hotel du Nord" (Carné) by four year- his true father (an ex-con) comes and takes him away with him...his family has a history of mental illness.

Ten years have passed:the boy's dad is dead ,and it seems he is in a real jam.So Louise goes to Paris where his lives among hoodlums and bad gals and takes him back to Nice .But there's a casino near her boarding-house ,and his hussy,Nelly,comes from Paris to live with him ...Then his fate is sealed.Between these two woman,only hate can grow;with that girl,Pierrot's downfall is only a matter of time.

This is arguably Feyder's most endearing film: the final kiss ,when the wind blows away the banknotes ,is one of the most memorable of the French cinema of the thirties.

For the record: Marcel Carné was Feyder's assistant and while filming "pension mimosas ", he met Arletty ,who played a small part here ("la Mome Parasol" ).She would become his favorite actress,and ten years later,they would make together the absolute unsurpassed masterpiece of the French cinema "les Enfants du Paradis" .