The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)

Two sisters leave their small seaside town of Rochefort in search of romance. Hired as carnival singers, one falls for an American musician, while the other must search for her ideal partner.

Director:

Jacques Demy

Writer:

Jacques Demy

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, George Chakiris, Françoise Dorléac

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Delphine Garnier
George Chakiris	...	Etienne
Françoise Dorléac	...	Solange Garnier
Jacques Perrin	...	Maxence
Michel Piccoli	...	Simon Dame
Jacques Riberolles	...	Guillaume Lancien
Grover Dale	...	Bill
Geneviève Thénier	...	Josette
Henri Crémieux	...	Subtil Dutrouz
Pamela Hart	...	Judith
Leslie North	...	Esther
Patrick Jeantet	...	Bouboo Garnier
Gene Kelly	...	Andy Miller
Danielle Darrieux	...	Yvonne Garnier
René Pascal	...	Pépé (as René Bazart)

Storyline

Delphine and Solange are two sisters living in Rochefort. Delphine is a dancing teacher and Solange composes and teaches the piano. Maxence is a poet and a painter. He is doing his military service. Simon owns a music shop, he left Paris once month ago to come back where he fell in love 10 years ago. They are looking for love, looking for each other, without being aware that their ideal partner is very close... A film whose scenario is much less important than its feeling of euphory, according to the director Jacques Demy.

---

Plot Keywords:

city name in title | rochefort france | model boat | playing trumpet | cigarette smoking | 

---

Taglines:

...they're Singing and Dancing in the Streets

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

11 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Young Girls of Rochefort

Filming Locations:

Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$91,837

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$98,221

Company Credits

Production Co:

Parc Film, Madeleine Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Underwent a 2K restoration in 2010 by Digimage Cinema.

---

Goofs

In the dance sequences when Andy first arrives, the dancers are in full sun in the street but by the end the shadows have almost covered the entire width of the street.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
[in French, using English subtitles]
Bill: Set up here?
Etienne: OK.
Bill: OK.

---

Alternate Versions

This film was filmed in a double version (French and English) with different sound and dialogues, with each scene shot twice (once for each version)

---

Connections

References The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

---

Soundtracks

Andy Amoureux
(uncredited)
(or "Chanson D'Andy")
Written by Michel Legrand
Courtesy of Warner Chappell Music France /BMG Publishing
Performed by Gene Kelly (dubbed by Donald Burke)

User Reviews

Demy Paradis

It's probably pure chance that I saw this film for the first time - in the restored version by Agnes Varda - a few days after I was leafing through Demy's Collected Lyrics which have recently been published in France. It's clear from Frame #1 that this is a film to which you either have to surrender as the credits roll or squirm in embarrassment for the next two hours. Demy's 'fairy-tale' is as unashamedly full of coincidences as any Shakespeare comedy even to the extent of employing one set of twins, albeit non-identical but played by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Francois Dorleac. If you're going to stop and wonder why the streets are always available for dancing in - i.e. traffic-free - or why Danielle Darrieux runs a cafe/bar which is little more than a counter, a glass roof and no substantial walls, then you're in the wrong movie. Demy loved chocolate-box movies and he complemented them with chocolate-box music from Michel Legrand - I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I already knew the main love them via its English lyric by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, You Must Believe In Spring, recorded definitively by Marlene VerPlanck - and the score, on the whole is lush without being memorable and ranging from fifties type small combo jazz to all-out string ensembles and if everyone - including Gene Kelly - except Danielle Darrieux is dubbed so what. Jacques Perrin is also on hand as a love-sick sailor, what else, and after seeing him play more or less the same role (narrator) in both Cinema Paradiso and Les Choristes the effect is like seeing a photograph of a friend acquired in middle age when he was a young man. Definitely worth a second viewing and who knows, I may even go so far as to buy the DVD.