A Certain Smile

A Certain Smile tells the story of young Christina Carrere, student at the Sorbonne who falls for the charming and middle-aged Rosanni Brazzi. Carrere is ostensibly going out with fellow student Bradford Dillman who's about as French as Sessue Hayakawa. Dillman still had a lengthy and good career after this debut. But a faux pas at herparent's home cools things with Carrere and she's ripe for a rebound with charming Brazzi.

Joan Fontaine has a nice part in this film as Brazzi's patient and most tolerant wife. He alays comes home, but will she stop hearing him knock on the door.

The Best Thing about A Certain Smile is its theme and the best scene in the movie is Fontaine and Carrere going to a club to hear Johnny Mathis perform. That song was all over the radios in 1958 and no doubtsold many a movie ticket.

Hope the public got its money's worth.

Francoise Sagan's novel, tailor-made for sunbathers on the Riviera, has been adapted into the kind of schoolgirl-romantic movie the book deserves. French law student in Paris, a petite lass with doe-eyes, meets her fiancé's family for the first time: his wealthy snob of a mother, her overly-solicitous daughter and the daughter's husband, a suave charmer with a seductive manner. This older man takes the girl for a walk alone in the garden and kisses her; soon after, on a secret date, he proclaims his love for her. Twentieth-Century Fox had high hopes for new discovery Christine Carère, French film actress brought to Hollywood to dazzle Americans audiences. She followed this picture later the same year with the musical "Mardi Gras", but audiences weren't smitten and it's clear why. Carère's English is thick and astonished-sounding, her smile flirtatious, her stare coquettish and knowing. It isn't clear how much of a flirt or a tease this girl is meant to be, but when her heartbreak comes and Alfred Newman's romantic music is poured over the images, it's clear we're supposed to be mad about her. Although Carère's performance improves in the film's third act, it would take a gallant screen lover to find her irresistible. Seasoned pro Rossano Brazzi tries, much to his chagrin. ** from ****

Here's a film that's boosted by its spectacular scenic splendor and a lovely title tune, A CERTAIN SMILE, sung by Johnny Mathis and immediately becoming one of his favorite hit tunes, which is about the only thing that will linger in your memory once the tawdry tale is over.

The simple story is a trifle (as all of Francoise Sagan's novels are), dealing as it does with the subject of flirtation and affairs. The affair is between a pretty young law student studying at the Sorbonne, CHRISTINE CARRERE, and ROSSANO BRAZZI, her Uncle Luc who is married to the sophisticated JOAN FONTAINE. Christine is also being pursued by a fellow law student, BRADFORD DILLMAN, but seems to prefer Brazzi's continental charm to callow youth.

Most of the trite story centers on the budding romance between Brazzi and Carrere, leaving Fontaine on the sidelines wondering what the glances between the two really mean. Does it really matter? She gazes with sophisticated charm at Johnny Mathis as he sings "A Certain Smile", all the while knowing that her husband is a philanderer.

It really has nothing new to say, but can be enjoyed on the basis of its CinemaScope grandeur and the performances of the leads, all of whom have done better work elsewhere and are pretty much wasted here.

Francoise Sagan's novels have all in my opinion suffered at the hands of writers and directors bringing her work to the screen. I even find the often praised Otto Preminger version of ' Bonjour Tristesse ' unconvincing, and like ' A Certain Smile ' suffers from uncertain casting. Only ' La Chamade ' made in French partly works in Sagan's favour despite again one poor actor nearly ruining it, and saved by Catherine Deneuve. But against all the odds against it I find ' A Certain Smile ' to be very watchable. Jean Negulesco catches the exterior's of Paris in the late 1950's well, and the film is worth watching for any Paris lovers. It is not the over polished Paris that we see now (I am talking of the centre and not the suburbs) and the sight of it caught at my throat with nostalgia. The sad news is that only one fairly to poor copy of this film seems to be available, and I cannot imagine why there is no decent DVD of it. Christine Carere has charm, but her tortured English is painful to hear. Rossano Brazzi was ill chosen, and looked rather bored as her older lover, and Bradford Dillman in his first role is very good indeed as Carere's ill treated boyfriend. And Joan Fontaine as Brazzi's wife is excellent, especially in the scenes where she confronts her husband with his infidelities. She is the most capable actor as she shows she has perhaps read the book closely enough to try to get to the heart of it. Despite perhaps justifiable criticism the film strangely works, and it is a shame that Christine Carere was not given more time in learning English, and those who decided to make the film should have realised that. She is good with the ending and that counts. And to repeat what I have said it is better than some other more worthy Sagan translations to the screen, and I could watch it more than once.

It has some beautiful scenery, and a very hummable theme song, but other than that it's not very effective. Director Negulesco did much better with the studio-bound "Best of Everything." One doesn't really care about any of these self-involved people (well, maybe a little for the Joan Fontaine character). Zero chemistry between supposed lovers Brazzi and Carrere. For some much better film adaptations of Francoise Sagan novels, try Bonjour Tristesse and Aimez Vous Brahms (in which Yves Montand plays the same compulsive-womanizer type as Brazzi in "Smile," but somewhat more compellingly). I have to admit that Sagan's characters in general are pretty boring to me.