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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

It was her vanity that destroyed her.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,409, 18 March 2007

Gross USA:

$130,561

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$135,636

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

The movie most likely takes place in 1880, for at one point the general mentions that he and the countess are off to see Sarah Bernhardt in the play Adrienne Lecouvreur--a role that Bernhardt adopted only in 1880 before leaving for a long tour of the US. He had also mentioned earlier that his wife had fainted for 20 minutes during the Lisbon earthquake--almost certainly a reference to the 1880 quake (estimated at 6.1 on the Richter scale). (The most recent earlier significant Lisbon quake had been in 1856, and the next one not until the early 1900s.)

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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.

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Quotes

Général André de...: We'll be dining at home.
Comtesse Louise de...: Why? All your friends are waiting.
Général André de...: Your suitors annoy me. Each by himself is a bore. Together, they're insufferable.

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Connections

Referenced in Made in U.S.A (1966)

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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.