Madame de... (1953)

Director:

Max Ophüls

Writers:

Louise de Vilmorin (novel)
Marcel Achard (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

19 July 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It was her vanity that destroyed her.

Plot:

In the Paris of the late 19th century, Louise, wife of a general, sells the earrings her husband gave...

Plot Keywords:

Earring | Countess | Debt | Lover | Diplomat

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Charles Boyer	...	Général André de...
Danielle Darrieux	...	Comtesse Louise de...
Vittorio De Sica	...	Baron Fabrizio Donati
Jean Debucourt	...	Monsieur Rémy
Jean Galland	...	Monsieur de Bernac
Mireille Perrey	...	La Nourrice
Paul Azaïs	...	Le premier cocher
Josselin
Hubert Noël	...	Henri de Maleville
Lia Di Leo	...	Lola
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Madeleine Barbulée	...	Une amie de Madame de... (uncredited)
Charles Bayard	...	Un convive (uncredited)
Jacques Beauvais	...	Un majordome (uncredited)
Gérard Buhr	...	Le douanier (uncredited)
Jean Degrave	...	Le clubman (uncredited)
Claire Duhamel	...	La demoiselle de compagnie (uncredited)
Guy Favières	...	Julien (uncredited)
Émile Genevois	...	Un soldat (uncredited)
Serge Lecointe	...	Jérome Rémy (uncredited)
Franck Maurice	...	Un témoin (uncredited)
Max Mégy	...	Un domestique (uncredited)
Daniel Mendaille	...	Un passant (uncredited)
Albert Michel	...	Le second cocher du baron (uncredited)
Robert Moor	...	Un diplomate (uncredited)
Georges Paulais	...	Le premier témoin du duel (uncredited)
Léon Pauléon	...	Un huissier (uncredited)
Colette Régis	...	Vendeuse de cierges (uncredited)
Louis Saintève	...	Un passant (uncredited)
Michel Salina	...	Un témoin (uncredited)
Germaine Stainval	...	L'ambassadrice (uncredited)
Jean Toulout	...	Le doyen du corps diplomatique (uncredited)
Roger Vincent	...	Le second témoin du duel (uncredited)
Georges Vitray	...	Vieux reporter (uncredited)
Léon Walther	...	L'administrateur (uncredited)
René Worms	...	Un convive (uncredited)

Directed by
Max Ophüls

Writing credits
Louise de Vilmorin		(novel)
Marcel Achard		screenplay &
Max Ophüls		screenplay &
Annette Wademant		writer
Marcel Achard		(dialogue)

Produced by
Ralph Baum	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Oscar Straus
Georges Van Parys

Cinematography by
Christian Matras

Film Editing by
Borys Lewin

Production Design by
Jean d'Eaubonne

Costume Design by
Georges Annenkov
Rosine Delamare

Makeup Department
Carmen Brel	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Henri Baum	....	production manager (as H. Baum)
Ralph Baum	....	production manager (as R. Baum)
André Hoss	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marc Maurette	....	first assistant director
Willy Picard	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Maurice Barnathan	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Antoine Petitjean	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Alain Douarinou	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Georgette Fillon	....	wardrober

Other crew
Francine Corteggiani	....	script girl

Production Companies

• Franco London Films
• Indusfilms
• Rizzoli Film

Distributors

• Gaumont (1953) (France) (theatrical)
• J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (1953) (UK) (theatrical)
• Gaumont DVD (2009) (France) (DVD) (box-set)
• Arlan Productions (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Janus Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Connoisseur Video Collection (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Second Sight Films (2006) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Capilianeo  foot-gear
• Gaucherand  jewellery
• Ortiphone  sound recording

Also Known As:

Gioielli di Madame de ... (Italy)
The Earrings of Madame de... (USA)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Forêt de Rambouillet, Yvelines, France

Company:

Franco London Films

Trivia:

Was originally released with a longer ending where you see the earrings being passed from a young Nun to a young woman marrying a General. This was meant to create a circular structure for the film with the young woman representing the next Madam DE. However 'Max Ophuls' felt it weakened the film when it was finished and personally cut it from the final prints.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the general gives the earrings to Lola on the train, she is crying and has her little bag on her lap. In the next cut, the bag is on the table.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Working with Max Ophuls: Alain Jessua on the Making of 'Madame de...' (2006) (V)

An exquisite film from abroad...

Max Ophuls directs this tale of romance and jealousy set near turn-of-the century France. Danielle Darrieux plays the unsatisfied wife of an adulterous French General, Charles Boyer. In order to pay off other frivolous expenses she has incurred, she sells off the earrings that her husband had presented to her on the day after their wedding, and then claims that she lost them. She meets a princely Baron, Vittorio de Sica, and romance slowly blooms. Meanwhile, the earrings she has sold keep turning up in her life only to haunt her. The three leads are wonderful, as is the atmosphere in this luxuriously elegant French film. The change in Darrieux's feelings for the earrings keeps the film fascinating throughout. The emotions of all the characters are presented in a romantic, yet somehow realistic nature.