Sans lendemain

Even the great directors have made the occasional stinker with the notable exception it seems of Max Ophuls, although 'The Exile' certainly comes close! 'Sans Lendemain' is an unjustly neglected film which offers the brilliant Edwige Feuilliere one of her finest roles. Had this film been made in Hollywood the heroine would almost certainly have revealed her true situation to her former lover and discovered that he still loved her in spite of it all. In the bittersweet world of Max Ophuls this outcome would of course be too simple and her noble attempts to conceal lead instead to a tragic result. This is melodrama to be sure but raised to a different level by Mlle. Feuilliere's superb performance and by the impeccable taste, sensitivity, sophistication and artistic integrity of its director. Max Ophuls is the definitive 'auteur' whose enrichment of the 'seventh art' is immeasurable.

Evelyne (Edwige Feuillère) works as a dancer in a sleazy nightclub, trying to scrape a living for herself and her young son. When a man she loved years earlier suddenly reappears she decides to pretend, for a few days at least, that her life has been more successful. But it won't be that easy...

Evelyne is a woman imprisoned in her situation (the thick netting hanging from the walls in the nightclub remind us of this). She is trapped by poverty and by the demands of the men in her life, including her son. Her sudden impulse to escape comes like a long-suppressed scream, but succeeds only in confirming the futility of the attempt and reminding her of the happiness she has lost forever. "I can live a lie for three days," she says, "but a lifetime... no."

This is Ophüls in Poetic Realism mode. Though the story is slight (Pabst's "Drame de Shanghai" and Valentin's "L'Entraineuse" are more interesting variations on the same theme), Ophüls' elegant compositions and camera movements, and the exquisite, delicate performance of Edwige Feuillère, lift this to the level of great art.

A woman is working at a sleezy night club where she must dance and wear risqué outfits. The gentlemen that accompany her for drinks notices she is different from the typical gals. Turns out she has a son to feed and care for while her husband is out of the picture and soiled their family name, thus making it impossible for her to get respectable work. A man from her past suddenly appears and she attempts to quickly build a false façade in hopes of winning him over without him knowing the unsavory paths she has taken. The director did use some restraint with character and story direction, less over the top dramatic, near the end which totally accentuates the emotional turmoil and leads to a striking ending. An ending that lingers on the palette like a fine wine yet sends a chill up the spine.

This is the French "only yesterday" (Stahl);the title tells the whole story:it's a melodrama which follows all the rules of the game.Sandwiched,in Ophuls's filmography, between "Werther" ,a classic which he did not make very interesting,and "De Mayerling à Sarajevo" ,which dealt with the Hapsburg's tragedy,"sans lendemain" ,which is despised by the French critics does not deserve such a fate:although it's not on a par with "Lola Montès " ,"Madame de ..." or "le plaisir" ,it's worth watching.

Edwige Feuillère ,after "sans lendemain" ,would be countess Sophie Chotek,Francis-Ferdinand von Habsburg's morganatic wife in "de Mayerling à Sarajevo' the following year,actually a propaganda movie. Here she's a jaded woman ,abandoned by a shady husband with a lot of debts.She's got a son to bring up,so she works as a topless dancer in the nightclub "la sirene" .Enter a handsome man,her former love,whom she could not marry because she was already another man's wife.

She's ashamed of herself,of her life ,of her seedy apartment;so she borrows money from some kind of pimp.She knows from the start ,that not only her dream will be short-lived ,but she will also have to pay dearly for it afterwards.These three days are some kind of pilgrimage ,bringing her to places she went when they were young,particularly the ski resort where they met.The white snow will contrast with the darkness Ophuls will use at the end of his movie...

A conclusion which is not unlike that of John Stahl 's "only yesterday" (1933)Woman is sacrified,but anyway,it's a permanent feature in Ophuls' canon from "liebelei " to "Madame de..." .Edwige Feuillère gives a wonderful performance.

Edwige Feuillère (Evelyn) has a young son to look after and works in a nightclub where her role is to dance and entertain the clients. She makes 70 francs when one client buys 7 bottles of alcohol. It's a good rate. She is one of many girls who work at this particular venue a la profession de la prostitution. One day her former lover doctor George Rigaud (Georges) bumps into her on the street and so begins a chain of events that see Edwige's life tragically hurtle towards the "sans lendemain" of the title.

It's a good film with a strong performance from Edwige in the lead role. Her friend who comperes the nightclub Paul Asais (Henri) also puts in a good performance and had me rooting for these 2 characters to get together. It's a French film, so guess what - it has a downbeat ending to it, of course! That's 2 on the trot for me from France in 1939 - "Le Jour Se Leve" and this one - both with a downer "Fin". Both good films, though. Also, this film does not obey the Hollywood code and there are boobies aplenty at the beginning of the film when we see a topless routine at the nightclub.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the role of Rigaud's friend Daniel Lecourtois (Armaund). Although he plays his part well, you have to suspect his behaviour. We first see him in custody at a police station with a young boy at around 2:00 am claiming to be a children's doctor. We then have scenes of him playing rather too fondly with Edwige's young son. We are then again reminded by Rigaud that he has around 200 children in his care back home in Canada. Err, hello!

If you don't like the ending to this film - I think it is done well - you can imagine your own ending with this one so it can be seen in a positive light if you wish things to be so.