Mademoiselle Pigalle

Bardot is gorgeous and so is the production, which aspires to a near-Hollywood gloss, but this is mainly tired, formula comedy smelling faintly of imitation Damon Runyon. Bretonniere is no Yves Montand, and BB's big dance number is a failed imitation of Leslie Caron's introduction in "An American in Paris". Fans of "Time Code" (or perhaps "Tucker") may enjoy some clever split-screen effects that appear to have been achieved with trick sets instead of multiple exposures. A potential guilty pleasure for those who crave 50s CinemaScope eye candy.

In Paris, when the owner of the nightclub Mississippi in Pigalle Paul Latour (Bernard Lancret) is wanted by the police accused of distribution of forged dollars in his club, he asks his protégée and lead attraction of Mississippi Jean Clery (Jean Bretonniére) to protect his beloved daughter Brigitte (Brigitte Bardot). Jean is engaged of the psychoanalyst Lily (Françoise Fabian) and brings the wild and rebel Brigitte from her conservative boarding school to his fancy apartment while Paul travels to Lausanne to meet a friend to clear his name. While waiting for the return of Paul, Brigitte turns Paul's life upside down and they fall in love for each other. But the Parisian police and the counterfeit ring are chasing Brigitte, but Jean, his butler Jerome (Raymond Bussiéres) and his friends protect the girl.

"Cette Sacrée Gamine" is a delightful and naive entertaining. The predictable story is silly, uses many gags, but is supported by the adorable twenty-two year old Brigitte Bardot. This movie works first because of the beauty and charm of BB and Raymond Bussiéres is responsible for the funniest moments. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Garota Levada" ("Naughty Girl")

'Cette sacree gamine' is French for 'this holy little girl'; or, to translate it better, 'this marvelous baby'.

You'll understand this points to 21-year old Brigitte Bardot. And, oh yes, in this film young Brigitte steals your heart away. The more so, while 'Cette sacree gamine' has several dancing scenes - you may know that BB was a fully educated ballet dancer.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said about this film's plot. Telling its story takes too much time, even to 1950-s standards. Its built-up, complete with dancing and slapstick, looks somewhat unbalanced. While watching you feel an urge to check your watch, wondering how long you'll have to sit this one out.

Wanted by the police, is Nightclub owner Paul Latour, as he's suspected of forgery within a counterfeit ring. So he leaves the country to try the clear his name. In doing so, he has left his "baby" daughter Brigitte to stay with his nightclub performer Jean Clery, who's soon to be married to psychoanalyst Lily. When Brigitte enters Jean's life, everything turns upside as he tries to cope until Paul returns back for her.

Knee-jerk and overly quirky French romantic comedy farce sees the drop dead gorgeous Brigitte Bardot (looking real adorable) getting into a lot of trouble with her ditsy and free-spirited character. The material (written by Roger Vadim and Michel Boisrond) isn't nothing we hadn't seen before, but it holds a solid foundation to draw upon many amusing avenues and the script had a juicy, chic and snappy vibe that only added more to the fun. Director Michel Boisrond's lively sense keeps the running gags flowing (which do work), inventive visuals (split-screens), fast rhythm and sets-up a couple of very well choreographed dance numbers that go onto show how alluring the young lady could be. A very-light weight, silly, bright and zesty feature goes onto shape it with plenty of humorous appeal and charm that streams throughout to its chaotic climax and finally surprising conclusion. Also seducing the audience other than Bardot is the tantalizing music score. Joseph Brun placed the camera in the ideal spot with some adventurous framing finding its way in too. Jean Bretonnière who appears opposite of his co-star, holds his own nicely. Mischa Auer was perfectly tailored for the zany comic touches.

An enjoyably fashionable slice of Brigitte Bardot.

A red-headed 21 y/o Brigitte Bardot is completely beautiful and charming in this easygoing tale. Ms. Bardot is charming and delightful as a klutzy young lady who completely wins you over. This is not one of her better films and she plays a complete innocent in this compared to her sexier roles.

A 5 out of 10. Best performance = B. Bardot. Misha Auer is amusing as a dance choreographer. There's not a lot to recommend except for the lovely and naive Brigitte. All of her films are worth seeing, even the sillier ones such as this. It's hard to believe she made AND GOD CREATED WOMAN the same year as this. Long live BB!