Le portrait de son père

My guide on Brigitte Bardot-movies tells me that 'Le portrait de son pere' (= his father's portrait) was never issued in the USA or in England. Not even in the late fifties, when Bardot's fame had rocketed skyhigh, and her earlier movies were eagerly re-issued for a quick cash-in.

One can well wonder why. In 'Le portrait de son pere' French actor Jean Richard convincingly plays a simple country lad. He inherites the shares of a Paris department store, and becomes its succesful manager.

This very French comedy provides us with a good and consistent story, emphasizing on family values. The acting is good, too. Young Brigitte Bardot plays the manager's Parisian step-sister. She is a well educated young girl here, without even the slightest hint to sex and nudity. Throughout the entire movie the manager's behaviour towards Brigitte is strictly one of brotherly love and concern; Brigitte's behaviour towards him follows the same pattern. In the end both Brigitte and her step-brother run off with a different partner, and not with each other.

I guess it's this lack of anything immoral that makes this BB-movie so unknown outside France. Quite unjustified in my opinion, because 'Le portrait de son pere' is good. To appreciate it, maybe in your mind you should first disconnect Brigitte Bardot with her usual trademarks of slight immorality, sex and nudity.

André Berthomieu made movies by the dozen;many French critics consider him such a geek that nobody wants to hear from him now;however ,even if he never made a masterpiece,by a long shot,some of his efforts are not devoid of interest : "Le Mort En Fuite" is a pleasant comedy;"En Légitime Défense" is an honest Film Noir.

"Gringalet" ,his melodramatic comedy from 1945, is often moving ,and looks like a fable ,à la Capra,relatively speaking of course."Le Portrait De Son Père" resumes the subject: an illegitimate son is mentioned when the notary reads a wealthy man's testament,much to the widow's anger.Worse ,this stepson is a rude peasant ,who thought his father had died a long time ago.

The posh lady is surrounded by snob parasites and despises the newcomer but her rebellious daughter (BB)makes friends with her half brother. As such is often the case in this kind of screenplay,the city is evil,a world with a fair percentage of money vampires whereas the country is sane ,a healthy mind in a healthy body :what (Saint) Paul (Jean Richard) says makes good sense and he reveals himself a first-class economist,turning round his dad's department store,"Les Galeries Parisiennes".He turns the place into a paradise where you feel good when you work,after saving sister BB from Saint-Germain Des Prés "hellish" cellars where they recite existentialist poems and where they drink all night .

A very naive fable,with an ending easy to guess.But really pleasant to Watch and well acted.

If Brigitte Bardot had followed her half brother's piece of advice,she would have remained a good girl instead of becoming French greatest sex symbol of all time.Her part is here closer to her debut ("Le Trou Normand") than to her sophomore performance ("Manina La Fille Sans Voile" ) in which the ungainly moth was in the process of metamorphosing into the luminous butterfly of Legend.