Madame Sans-Gêne

This woman is not embarrassed about anything. ACADEMY AWARD winner Sophia LOREN (she won the award in 1962 for LA CIOCIARA) plays Catherine Hübscher, who was very popular in France and rose from Paris washerwoman to Duchess of Danzig during the Napoleonic years.

The man at LOREN's side is the French actor Robert HOSSEIN. Director Christian-Jaque probably had 6 million FRF at his disposal for his spectacle. There was an enormous film budget at the beginning of the 1960s, which you can see in the film.

And LOREN probably never looked better than in this film. The role of the stunner is practically tailored to the CINECITTA diva.

Fortunately, the television program makers seem to have rediscovered this entertaining historical ham. Good this way!

Sophia Loren is the sole star of this expensive-looking but empty costume picture, in which she plays a washer-woman with ready opinions who, after adventurous goings-on, gains status in the napoleonic times.

It is such a shame to see this film that came out in the same year that Loren won an Oscar for her great performance in Two Women. In Madame, she is only used to bring in the charm (which she does, as always) and to display her undeniably shapely bosom through a constantly wet dress, as in some cheap wet T-shirt competition.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the only thought that the producer or the director had in mind; the plot is very undramatically presented, the latter part of this relatively short film seems slow and the rest of the cast is wasted. The film is obviously expensive and good-looking, but the opulent sets and costumes only underline the unimaginativeness of the presentation.

For those only whose interest in Loren's breasts is enough to keep them satisfied. Others avoid.

So funny so witty

This is glorious French theatre all the way at its best, and of course Sophia Loren is predominantly the shining star that outshines even Napoleon, who nevertheless is very well played by Julien Bertheau, who is especially convincing as the young twerp fooling around with exploding artillery in Paris in August 1792. Christian-Jacques made many historical films and was if anyone an expert of them, and they are all sumptuous and glorious in rendering history alive. The washer-woman Sophia Loren, "Madame Sans-Gêne", meaning the lady who is not ashamed of herself, makes one of her best performances in this thoroughly French film and, as Napoleon admits himself, is the only one who masters him successfully. Since they knew each other well in the gunsmoke of the Paris revolutionary gutters, when it comes to a crisis and Napoleon threatens to dishonour her, forcing her to an involuntary divorce, she recalls the young prig Napoleon of the gutters and finds him rather changed as an emperor, while she hasn't changed at all and still knows how to rebuke him and put him in his place. It's above all glorious theatre, and the historical scenery gives the comedy full justice and a perfect frame. Any admirer of Sophia Loren should never miss this one.

9 out of 10 for me.

Even Sophia Loren's spectacular cleavage cannot sustain interest in this elaborately produced but incomprehensible, unengaging Napoleonic-period mishmash. Scripted by seven (!) different writers - presumably in seven different rooms with no contact with each other at any time. * out of 4.

Catherine Lefebvre,Duchesse de Danzig ,was a pure Parisian:so casting Sophia Loren and her Italian accent is beyond me.Particularly if you have seen Roger Richebé's version (1941) starring Arletty.Arletty shone in this part which was tailor made for her:she was hilariously funny,which Loren is not.When compared to the actresses who played the part on stage (Jacqueline Maillan,Sophie Desmarets) Loren's performance is lackluster.The same goes for Robert Hossein,an excellent thespian ,but who is ill-at-ease in a comedy .

Only the second part is an adaptation of the Sardou/Moreau play.The first one is filmed on location and deals with Napoleon's wars ,but as historian Jean Tulard writes,everything rings bad.This second part,which takes place in the court of the Emperor ,is supposed to be funny:I dare you to laugh once.The subplot (which involved Napoleon,Marie-Louise and Neipperg) was ruled out to make room for the ridiculous scenes with the Prussians.

It's a long way from "Fanfan la Tulipe" ,Christian-Jaque's and Henri Jeanson's fans! The story was actually watered-down in the play:the historic Marechale was a crude vulgar woman whose manners beggared belief.