The Earrings of Madame De... (1953)

The diamond earrings of a French aristocrat, a wedding gift from her husband, cause a series of conflicts as they change hands repeatedly.

Director:

Max Ophüls

Writers:

Louise de Vilmorin (novel), Marcel Achard (screenplay)

Stars:

Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux, Vittorio De Sica

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Boyer	...	Général André de...
Danielle Darrieux	...	Comtesse Louise de...
Vittorio De Sica	...	Baron Fabrizio Donati
Jean Debucourt	...	Monsieur Rémy
Jean Galland	...	Monsieur de Bernac
Mireille Perrey	...	La Nourrice
Paul Azaïs	...	Le premier cocher
Josselin
Hubert Noël	...	Henri de Maleville
Lia Di Leo	...	Lola

Storyline

In the Paris of the late 19th century, Louise, wife of a general, sells the earrings her husband gave her as a wedding gift: she needs money to cover her debts. The general secretly buys the earrings again and gives them to his mistress, Lola, leaving to go to Constantinople. Where an Italian diplomat, Baron Donati, buys them. Back to Paris, Donati meets Louise... So now Louise discovers love and becomes much less frivolous.

---

Plot Keywords:

1890s | title same as book | title appears in writing | female protagonist | death of title character | 

---

Taglines:

It was her vanity that destroyed her.

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French Turkish

Release Date:

19 July 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Earrings of Madame De...

Filming Locations:

Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, Place Sainte-Geneviève, Paris 5, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Franco London Films, Indusfilms, Rizzoli Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Louise de Vilmorin chose to keep her characters nameless in order to match the style of Belle Époque authors, who employed the technique in order to make it seem as if their characters were based on real people. Max Ophüls decided to keep the characters surnames a secret in the film adaptation, because he felt that it created the suggestion that his characters could represent anybody from the story's milieu.

---

Goofs

When the general gives the earrings to Lola on the train, she is crying and has her little bag on her lap. In the next cut, the bag is on the table.

---

Quotes

Comtesse Louise de...: I'm in financial straits at the moment and I thought of selling these diamond earrings. You'd know their value better than anyone.
Monsieur Rémy: Particularly since I sold them to your husband.

---

Connections

Featured in Danielle Darrieux: Il est poli d'être gai! (2019)

---

Soundtracks

Einmal im Leben ...(L'amour m'emporte)
music: Oscar Straus
lyrics: Robert Gilbert & Armin Robinson

User Reviews

"If one has too much to say, words fail"

What an elegant and atmospheric overlooked gem this was from Max Ophuls! Depicting in his usual florid and incredibly detailed style the lives and loves of various stereotypical characters from fin de siecle Paris, when the rich supposedly had taste and grace - before us poor diluted them.

Instead of watching people on the metaphorical merry-go-round of love as we did in La Ronde or a merry-go-round of stories as we did in Le Plaisir, this time we watch a souvenir of love, a pair of earrings on their travels back and forth between lovers and the same jeweller. The mature lovers were staid Charles Boyer, coquettish Dannielle Darrieux and romantic Vittorio De Sica engaged at first in playful flirtation but naturally turning into something far more serious: love. You are left at the end to extrapolate the outcome for yourselves, but I doubt they went on as Three! All 3 roles were played with beautiful restraint, De Sica especially, coming so soon after Umberto D's overwhelmingly serious message was ignored.

The roving camera-work paying loving attention to the period background sets was sublime, and as can only be found in Ophuls' best 6 films – this is how he would have made the film in 1900! The perfectly timed choreography for the dancing scenes of course extended to nearly everything else, even to things as simple as opening and shutting mirrored wardrobes in Madame de … 's gorgeously cluttered bedroom or people climbing up or down a rickety wooden spiral staircase at the jewellers. All in all, marvellous entertainment ravishing to the eyes, of a type you won't see anywhere outside of Ophuls. In fact, words have failed me.