Destini di donne

A portmanteau movie,made of three sketches flouting chronology ,since the first segment takes place just after WW2 whereas the final segment takes us back to,so to speak ,Aristophane .The main thread is " women through the war' as a man whose face we never see warns us:"you don't know me,just call me destiny!I want you to meet three women :Elizabeth,a victim of the war,Jeanne,who made war and Lysistrata,who fought against the war."The connection between the segments is somewhat tenuous though.

Segment one :"Elizabeth" a routine military melodrama ,"to each his own " style ,the short has emotion and sensitivity going for it;it was one of Claudette Colbert's few European parts (her most famous here is Madame DE Montespan in Sacha Guitry's " Si Versailles M'Etait Conté ) and she gives a restrained performance,displaying a quivering sensitiveness .Colbert Portrays a war widow,coming to Italy to take the remains of her husband killed in a small village where a peasant (Eleonora Rossi-Drago)gave him a shelter.There's a good chemistry between the American and the Latin actress and Marcello Pagliero's directing is effective when it does not succumb to some clichés such as the stormy night(s).Prologue and epilogue in the cemetery are a nice tribute to the American soldiers killed in action .And this line of Colbert is moving: "his father will be near him".

Segment two :"Jeanne" :you've guessed it ,the Jeanne in question is the maid of Orleans ,who else?one of the greatest tales of French history told and told and told and TOLD.So it is to Jean Delannoy's credit to spare us Domremy,the king in Chinon,Orleans,Reims ,Rouen ,Reims and the stake .Delannoy 's story which happens in a couple of hours is the beginning of the end when Jeanne had her moments of doubt and fear .Charles The Seventh had almost let her down and she would have to continue the fight with a handful of soldiers .Delannoy's directing,which the Nouvelle Vague trashed in a shameful way,is up to scratch and the dreary landscape (created in studio) reflects Joan's debacle .The lines by Aurenche and Bost show Jean Anouilh's influence ("L'Alouette" ,his play about Joan was staged the year before).But Delannoy was a believer and when Joan is about to give up,she becomes a miracle worker:a baby ,dead before christening ,to his mother's great despair ,comes back to life for a short while in the heroine's arms.

The main problem is the choice of the actress:Michèle Morgan,34 at the time,was twice Joan's age and it shows !She was obviously too old for the part and Otto Preminger did not make the same mistake with Jean Seberg.A moment of real happiness: fabulous Andrée Clément plays the small part of the mother ;she had already teamed up with Morgan and Delannoy ("La Symphonie Pastorale" ) :in her memoirs ,Morgan speaks highly of her co-star :" La Symphonie Pastorale" belongs to her ,it's her film,not mine"

Segment three:"Lysistrata".It's a big disappointment,mainly when so many great names are involved :Christain -Jaque,his then-wife Martine Carol,Raf Vallone and Henri Jeanson ! It's the first time I've found the writer's lines crude and witless .Jeanson was a pacifist ,his anti-militarism was famous,and he was the man who could tell the tale of Lysistrata ,a hippie-before-time ,who urges men to make love not war .But the actors overplay and are almost unbearable ,left by director Christian-Jaque to their own devices .A farce which is not funny at all.If at least they had borrowed from Guitry! The plot:Lysistrata urges Greek women to refuse to give themselves to their husbands till they do not declare peace!A good subject but a bad treatment and an anti-climax.You can leave after "Jeanne",you will not miss a lot!

The best films of the type known as 'Portmanteau' are generally more effective when there is one director at the helm. To have in this case not one but three might very well be an interesting gimmick but the differing styles of each segment can prove frustrating.

The first and indisputably the most effective of the three episodes concerns Elisabeth, an American war widow who has come to visit her husband's grave in Italy and is shown hospitality by a local farm-girl, Angela. One senses pretty quickly that the girl's relationship with the wounded soldier was far from platonic and when a little boy named Anthony appears on the scene plenty of soul-searching ensues...... This is directed by Marcello Pagliero, probably best known to non-Europeans as being on the receiving end of a blow-torch in 'Rome, open City.' Unsurprisingly this has a neo-realist feel with oodles of chiaroscuro, threatening skies and a powerful score by Roman Vlad. Both Claudette Colbert and Eleonora Rossi Drago are simply splendid as Elisabeth and Angela and despite the hit-and-miss nature of Italian post-synchronisation Miss Colbert is well dubbed. This touching piece is well-rounded and complete in itself.

There could not be a greater contrast in episode two as we find ourselves in France of the Middle Ages and are given a brief portrait of the ill-fated Jeanne d'Arc. Although it is studio bound director Jean Delannoy typically evokes a real sense of 'being there' and the unutterable grimness of life in those times is all too apparent from the outset. In terms of her comparative maturity Michele Morgan is of course totally miscast as Jeanne but her charisma and professionalism carry her through whilst looking great in a medieval outfit designed by Christian Dior! She is ably supported by Daniel Ivernel, Robert Dalban and the wondrous but short-lived Andrée Clément. The eagle-eyed might spot a youthful Michel Piccoli. Delannoy emphasises here Jeanne's spirtuality and this director's firmly held religious beliefs were to be fully realised in his later films on Bernadette and Mary of Nazareth.

Unlike the previous segment this one felt strangely incomplete and left this viewer wanting more.

In the last and decidedly least of the trio we are transported to ancient Greece and the legendary tale of Lysistrata and her fellow wives who go on strike sexually until their husbands cease going to war. Whatever his merits as a director, this sort of material is simply not Christian-Jaque's tasse de thé whilst Henri Jeanson's dialogue lacks its customary bite. This plea for pacifism in a broad comedic style on the part of director and writer is totally misjudged. Raf Vallone is wasted as a Neanderthal nitwit and scrumptious Martine Carol is, well...scrumptious.

Neither complete nor incomplete this segment's end came as a relief.

Aristophanes' original from 411 BC is infinitely more amusing.

As 'Portmanteaus' go I suppose 2/3 isn't at all bad!