Desfolhando a Margarida

This is a harmless screwball comedy, mostly fast-paced, always amusing, but never laugh-out-loud funny. The striptease is a tiny and almost incidental part of the film, and Mlle Bardot never undresses on camera. A damn shame. But she really could act, and is better than the rest of the deservedly unknown cast. Maybe that is why they were chosen, so as not to upstage the luminously beautiful star.

The year 1956 finally made the French actress Brigitte BARDOT the "super-vedette" of French cinema. As a sex bomb from the service, she became one of the most successful export hits from France in the coming years.

Here BARDOT plays the young general's daughter Agnes, who publishes a satirical investigative novel about her hometown of Vichy (warning! Nazi involvement!) under a pseudonym. Encouraged by the surprising success, Agnes sets off for Paris to find a nationwide publisher. But in the megacity Paris the money is by no means on the streets. But the extremely advantageously built Agnes has another success story: as a striptease dancer!

Of course, BARDOT plays itself here. And of course there are more daring insights in French cinema than in the other cinema nations of the time. Other roles include GULDENBURG star Daniel GELIN (in the West German television series DAS ERBE DER GULDENBURGS / THE LEGACY OF THE GULDENBURG on ZDF he was briefly seen as the lover of the countess played by Christiane HÖRBIGER) as a mega-picker reformed by BARDOT and the later BOND villain Luciana PALUZZI ( THUNDERBALL) is also a busty exchange student from Bella Italia. Also worth mentioning is Mischa AUER (1905-1967), who was born in Saint Petersburg, as a funny Parisian taxi driver. An absolute must for avowed fans of BARDOT!

Made right before AND GOD CREATED WOMAN, this little comedy is no great shakes, except for the lively and vivacious Ms. Bardot who is charming as always. The guy who plays her brother is strangely bizarre and amusing. A pretty tame film (considering the title), the plot isn't worth discussing, but Brigitte is coy and beautiful.

A 5 out of 10. Best performance = Ms. Bardot. Her next film (GOD) would completely change her image from fun and innocent to passionate and a lasting sexual creature of the 50's. Roger Vadim, who wrote this one finally got to direct her and make a lasting impression. This film is enjoyable, but nothing to brag about.

On a sheer entertainment level this film delivers some good gags, a breezy delivery, and of course the incomparable talents of Ms Brigitte Bardot to breathe her signature innocence into a sexually charged role. But, much like watching Al Jolson do blackface in the 1927 classic "The Jazz Singer", this movie requires a lot of... shall we say, 'nostalgic license'?

Plot: an 18 year old female writer (played by 22 year old Bardot) runs away to Paris to try to get published, since her ultra conservative hometown and ultra-ultra conservative father is not so accommodating. In Paris nobody bothers to read her manuscripts (and in fact the whole premise of her being a writer disappears in the first 15 mins) as every male tries to seduce, grope, manipulate and objectify her. The worst part is that she herself soon becomes resigned to being a simple object of desire, forsaking any greater ambitions, and deeper plot themes, than to snare the most eligible suitor. What began with a great setup (a talented female writer cracking the male dominated field) devolves into a basic boy(s)-chase-girl formula. And she goes along with it.

On the plus side: Toward the end it turns into a fun little Shakespearean comedy of errors & mistaken identities, and that is the story's saving grace. I just wish some of the other scenes, like all the drooling office workers propositioning anyone wearing a skirt, could've been toned down. Like seriously, male office workers randomly groping and kissing coworkers may have been funny to audiences 60 years ago, but it's a little disturbing today, and that kept distracting me from the real strengths of the film.

As a historical document detailing the unique career of Brigitte Bardot, this film deserves its place. It shows her to be a naïve yet morally confident young woman who can handle herself in tough situations without losing sight of her femininity. Unfortunately this role kept her submissive the whole time, so it's as if this early work was just a primer for her later roles where she triumphs. I would sooner suggest watching "Naughty Girl" released the same year (1956), where Bardot shines with her impish portrayal of a young girl who is smart enough to turn all the drooling men into playthings, rather than this where she seems to be just below that level of command.

Looking back on Bardot's movies which were banned by the Office Catholique du cinema, it's sometimes difficult to understand what all the screaming was about ; it's certainly less hot and less "scandalous" than,say , Rita Hayworth in "Gilda".

This actress with un petit je ne sais quoi brought something new on the Gallic scene ,and perhaps one of the first manifestoes of woman's lib,showing a firm independence of men ,in fact burning with a desire to live as free as them ,considering the sexual act natural and no big deal .

Her way of life threatened the bedrocks of the French society ,the family ,the Church and the army.It would be even stronger when she was directed by great directors such as Claude Autant -Lara ("en cas de malheur" ) and most of all Henri-Georges Clouzot ("la vérité ", BB's favorite movie of hers ,and the one to choose if you want to undertand what she meant to the French audience ).

"En effeuillant la marguerite" can't be mentioned in the same breath ;it's a harmless comedy ,but it features a small rebellion against the establishment ,here represented by her father ,a general ,no less, who intends to rule his family with an iron hand ; the heroine 's brother has already left the family nest to become a would be painter ,and she too wants to leave her native Vichy for the broader horizons of Paris.

There are good funny moments : the visit of the Balzac museum by the brother/guide (although Darry Cowl is not very credible as BB's sisters ,he's palatable for once) , BB selling a rare signed copy of the writer's "le lys dans la vallée " ,an invaluable item from the museum ;her strip tease,principally showing the males salivating like Pavlov's dogs ,although it 's going to look chaste for today's audience .

Directed by Marc Allégret whose career spanned almost half a century and who made estimable works .

This film features future Bond Girl Luciana Palluzzi ("thunderball")as a shy Italian girl .