En effeuillant la marguerite

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!

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.

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.

Plucking the daisy (in the us..) aka "en effeuillant la marguerite" in europe. A twenty two year old brigitte bardot is agnès dumont, who has written a scandalous book, embarrassing her father. So she is sent away. But she runs away to where she thinks her brother lives. And ends up at le musée de balzac! She sells a first edition book. But when she realizes what she has done, she enters a "contest" to win money so she can buy it back! Can she solve this dilemma before she goes to jail for theft ? Rather convoluted. And the subtitles were also not translated as spoken. But all's well that ends well. Directed by marc allégret. One of the writers, roger vadim, was actually married to brigitte bardot while this was being filmed. Vadim also did the screenplay for barbrella!

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.