Quadrille

"Quadrille" was remade by Valerie Mercier in 1997,with some success.Although I like Sacha Guitry's works very much,"Quadrille" is not in my top ten of his works.I'd rather have his historical extravaganzas or "Ils Etaient Neuf Celibataires " or "La Vie D'un Honnête Homme" ,probably his neglected masterpiece ,any day.

More than other Guitry efforts , it's mostly stage filmed production.It's very talky,particularly this interminable scene between the author and Gaby Morlay which occupies the center of the movie .Guitry has some good lines (I dig the one when the says to the American actor "you're not used to thinking" ) ,but not much ,compared to "Les Perles De La Couronne" in which almost all the lines are pure gold .There are only four characters (unless Pauline Carton ,cast as usual as the chamber maid ,counts : she is the only one to see the American male star completely naked!): the old beau (Guitry) his mistress ,a journalist and an American buck .Hence the title .

Guitry is once again the center of attention of all the young, beautiful ladies of Paris. A visiting American matinée idol seduces his girlfriend, causing him to consider leaving her. After an attempted suicide, her best friend suggests that they get married instead. He agrees, but only if she becomes his lover on the wedding day. Guitry's double standard is appalling to watch: he berates his girlfriend for her affair, barely keeping himself from hitting her, all the while plotting his next conquest. As with all of Guitry's films, it's dialog driven and tedious to sit through, only the presence of Jacqueline Delubac makes it bearable, but when you realize she is Guitry's wife in real life, even that loses its appeal.

Guitry's films are often relegated to the category of "filmed theater." While this is an inaccurate categorization of his films as a whole, it does apply to this very talky picture. Not only is it based on a play, it is also very clumsily "opened up" with cutaway "meanwhile" inserts, brief exterior shots showing characters entering buildings, etc., which break up the theatrical continuity and add little, if anything. A rather long 91 minutes (the running time of the Gaumont DVD in the "Guitry Coffret d'or" boxed set -- though two Guitry books and IMDb list it as 109), despite the exceptionally appealing presence of young star Georges Gray -- a very handsome man, who is seen in a (non full-frontal) nude scene. He's very chipper and genial (if not exactly funny -- he doesn't really have any good lines). Guitry gives a typical Guitry performance. He himself said he was no actor, and, indeed, Guitry is always Guitry (as John Wayne is always John Wayne). Sometimes that's fine -- when he plays historical characters it seems to work well -- but here one could use something more. The women are all fine, the decors and costumes are lovely. And it's a bit of a bore.

"Quadrille" is a film written, directed and starring Sascha Guitry. And, like the few films of his I have seen before, it's a comedy about sex and the upper class. Guitry plays a man who has lived with a woman for six years. Finally, he's getting around to the notion of asking her to marry him. Unfortunately, his timing is terrible as his beloved just met an international movie star--and this star is intent on bedding her. What is Sascha to do?

While the general plot idea wasn't bad, the execution left a lot to be desired. So, although the acting was good, the film was bogged down because almost nothing happened...other than the characters talking and talking and talking. In fact, compared to other films, this one had very few scenes--just very long and dull ones where the folks talked and talked about love and sex but didn't do much of anything. I found it to be a well-acted but very dull affair indeed--and perhaps my vote of 5 is being charitable. I noticed that the other reviews were much more positive and so I am definitely the odd man out here.

The introduction of the Hollywood heartthrob "Carl Erickson" is an interesting novelty but he adds nothing memorable - kind of like one of those bland singing beefcakes MGM kept forcing into the later Marx Bros films that only slowed the jokes down.

Jacqueline Delubac is as beautiful as always to look at, but it's actually Gaby Morlay who shines this time around. I'd not seen her before, but her breezy, fluid performance reminded me most of Margaret Sullavan in 'The Shop Around The Corner'. Other than that it's all a little stagebound and sometimes dull.

The best stretch by far is the long, half-hour, post-infidelity showdown between Guitry and his lover Morlay halfway through: it's well-observed, funny and insightful and covers so many different emotional bases, in such an effortless and natural way. So flippant and precise, so throwaway and sincere: exactly the kind of thing Sacha Guitry does so well.