Boule de suif

This is a combination of two Maupassant stories set in the Franco-Prussian war, with the ladies in the carriage from one story also serving as the ladies imported to entertain the Prussian officers in the château in the other.

It's a strong morality tale where the French bourgeoisie and nobility hardly come out better than the permanently strident Prussian officers.

A real gallery of character actors are thrown together in a horse-drawn carriage, bourgeois and nobles selfishly trying to flee Rouen when the Prussians arrive.

Pipe-smoking Cornuder (Alfred Adam) acts as a sort of observer of proceedings. It has to be said he is a little irritating but he is the only one to support the heroine, Elisabeth the prostitute. Her qualities of generosity, selflessness, bravery and patriotism are in contrast to the solipsism of the wine-seller, the mill-owner, the aristocrat and their snobbish wives.

The always-sympa Micheline Presle is excellent.

Louis Salou is memorably vile as the officer called 'Madamoiselle Fifi', who times his popping of a champagne cork to the shots of an execution they have ordered, in a scene that makes brilliant use of Haydn's clock symphony.

A quality piece of story-telling stuffed with great actors.

I was actually trying to watch "Grease" (which I'd never seen), gave up to go to this film version of one of the great Guy de Maupassant's greatest short stories. No regrets. The main theme of the original story is the rank hypocrisy of various bourgeois and two nuns when their fortunes depend on a good-hearted prostitute they have all treated with contempt. This version covers that angle but, even before getting to the added-on adaptation of "Mademoiselle Fifi" adds in some other touches, notably a lone male who probably for post-war French suggested a maquisard hero. Here, he also serves as a bit of a Greek chorus in his regard of the despicable behavior of the townsfolk. Knowing this was made just after the war, one might think the hideous portrayal of the Prussians was a disguised take on the Nazis, and it may have been, but de Maupassant's portrayal of the Prussians was close to what one sees here. Micheline Presles (who apparently is still acting) is magnetic here. It is also fun to see the nuns portrayed here in a far more positive light than in the original. For those who know the original story, it might have been interesting to see how a director would show Boule de Suif's reaction at the end of the story, but the shift the story takes here is actually pretty gratifying. The core social commentary survives, but is extended here to a richer story.

These are two short stories of MAUPASSANT transferred to the screen but this is not the usual film made up of sketches .The two stories "Boule de Suif " and "Mademoiselle Fifi" are blended with skill:as Boule de Suif was coveted by a Prussian officer,it was easy to introduce the hero of another short story ,a sadistic soldier nicknamed "mademoiselle Fifi".THe smug mean bourgeois of Maupassant are present and Micheline Presles is a memorable heroine.This is one of Christian-Jaque 's best films and it should be more known.

NB:Maupassant's short story also inspired Dudley Nichols for "Stagecoach" (1939) whose main character played by Claire Trevor is some kind of "Boule de Suif".

There's a school of thought that makes a case for Pyshka as the finest adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's short story Boule de Suif. Directed by Mikhail Romm and starring Galina Sergeyava this was also the last silent film produced in Russia but I'd have to ask another Galina, a valued friend, for more information on this version. Another friend, dbdmonteuil is slightly mistaken when he says that Dudley Nichols used Boule de Suif as a basis for Stagecoach. Nichols adapted a short story, Stage To Lordsburg, by Douglas Haycox, a well-known Western novelist so it is Haycox who may have been inspired by Boule de Suif.

What matters ultimately, of course, is what kind of fist Christian Jacque and Micheline Presle made of it and the answer is a pretty damn good one. Jacque had a penchant for period films - his Fanfan La Tulipe - remains a benchmark in French cinema and he exhibits a sure touch with his material. For good measure another Maupassant story, Mademoiselle Fifi, is thrown into the mix and blends in perfectly and seamlessly; the Hollywood Bomber Crew are all out of the right bottle with stalwarts such as Gabrielle Fontan (Porte de Lilas, Les Portes de la nuit, etc) lending sterling support but ultimately it is Presle's movie and she takes it with both hands and runs with it. A minor gem.