Customer Reviews

The Grand Maneuver [Region 2]

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Is it possible to hurt those who are incorrigibly superficial? Probably. In René Clair's Les Grandes Manoeuvres, an amusing film of manners, morals and seduction, you can watch how to do it in style.

Lieutenant Armand de la Verne (Gerard Philipe) is a dashing young officer of the 33rd Dragoons. His regiment is based in a small provincial French town. The time is well before World War I. de la Verne has a reputation of having seduced just about every daughter, wife and mistress among the town's grande bourgeoisie and petit nobility, not to mention their maids and a number of night club singers. He's charming, confident, light-hearted and may even mean some of those endearments and pledges he whispers, at least when he's whispering them. His regiment will be going on maneuvers in 30 days, and a wager is placed between his friends in the regiment and their civilian friends. A woman will be chosen at random, and if Armand has not seduced her before the regiment leaves, he and his friends will pay for a sumptuous farewell dinner. If he succeeds, their friends will pay. Armand is supremely confident. So are his friends. The woman turns out to be Marie-Louise Riviere (Michelle Morgan), single, divorced and the proprietor of a millinery shop. The women of the town have been polite toward her but suspicious. She is, after all, an outsider and divorced. A reputation can be extraordinarily fragile when upper-class gossips start whispering together. Not only does Lt. de la Verne begin finding reasons to be gallant toward Madame Riviere, so does Victor Duverger (Jean Desailly), a cautious citizen of the town who is just as worried about his own reputation. He has two sisters who don't approve. Marie-Louise has no wish to see her reputation ruined, despite all those who are observing and who love to have something to talk about behind their fans. Then, to Armand's befuddlement, in the process of seduction he begins to fall in love. By then, everyone is aware of his attempts with Marie-Louise, and all his well-worn (and previously successful) lines are repeated with laughter by his friends, by the women he has seduced and in some cases even by those he didn't. Marie-Louise hears the whispers...even worse, she learns of the wager. This movie which is so stylish, which glows and smiles with such elegant artificiality, has a decidedly ironic ending.

The movie is permeated with a gorgeous sense of unreality. The costumes and colors are vibrant; the scenes in the town streets, the drawing rooms, the ball rooms are almost like exquisite drawings. The officers strut along in their red pants, polished black boots and stiff collars. It's apparent that to be a success as an officer one must dance well. Michelle Morgan is a vision with her long neck, blond hair and enigmatic eyes. Gerard Philipe, however, is the center of the story. He's a seducer, a happy comrade, a man who loves a challenge in love and is unafraid of a challenge for a duel. He is so completely superficial that his growing acquaintance with love and his final look at a pair of closed shutters is touching. Gerard Philipe was one of France's greatest actors and leading men in the Fifties. He was 33 when he made this film. He was dead four years later. He said he was feeling poorly and went to his doctors for a check up. They discovered he had cancer of the liver. He died weeks later at the age of 37.

And for those whose pulse may not quicken at the thought of watching a foreign language film, remember that René Clair worked in Hollywood during WWII (and was stripped of his French citizenship by the Vichy government). Look for I Married a Witch, It Happened Here and And Then There Were None.

Les Grandes Manoeuvres can be found on VHS if you look for it. I thought the color lacked some of the vitality of the original film. There is a Region 2 DVD which the reviews say is a knock out.

Rene Clair was -if I may- the long expected French filmmaker, inheritor of a vast theatrical tradition (Beaumarchais, Rabelais and even Moliere) capable to convey, express and transcribe with such artistic freedom, those dynamics stages, double sense jokes, allusive proposals with such glamour, imaginative flight and sumptuous elegance.

Since the first shot (with the well opened objective in which we realize the march of priests, our protagonist leaving from the house of one of his favorites just when an officer crosses the street and almost captures in the act.

Clair constructs since these basic premises, a formidable tour de force script, in which we assist to a weird bet; in which Armand La Verne will have to get the favors o an unknown lady, once her ticket number 34 be announced.

Of course this is a dramatic comedy, in which the ambitious script will explore with zealous detail, minuscule and representative insights, those little and unsaid sins backstage, the visible complicity among the members of the military statement, the hopes and reams of those women of light skulls and obviously the acidic comments of the women of the high society.

Once the bet is done, the destiny will appear and will make a tragic shift for this handsome and irresistible Lieutenant when he really falls in love with a divorced and very alluring Parisian woman - Michelle Morgan - who eventually will correspond him, until ...

Gerard Phillipe, a first rate cast, a solid and smart script, delirious stages and a kinetic direction will involve you from star to end in this outstanding classic

A must-see. Another brilliant gem from the French answer to Fellini: the unique and irreplaceable Rene Clair, one of the top ten French filmmakers ever born.

Yes, it's mostly fluff, but it is VERY engaging, charming and clever. I saw it years ago and always wanted to see it again, and I am glad it is now available in DVD with all the beautiful colors intact. It's the quintessence of Belle Epoque nostalgia. So don't expect a realistic portrayal of that era. But if you are in the right mood this is a very rewarding movie.

You couldn't find an actor more suited than Gérard Philipe to inhabit the rakish Armand, and Michèle Morgan is exquisite as Marie-Louise. The smaller roles in this movie are also extremely well done, right down to "La dame au chapeau jaune."

I have to mention Jean Desailly in particular, since the last reviewer mistakenly wrote that he played the lieutenant in love with Lucie, the Brigitte Bardot character. Desailly was actually Victor, the local guy burdened with the two awful sisters, who wanted to marry Marie-Louise. Desailly was one of the best actors of his generation and he deserves to get the correct credit -- he makes Victor, who could easily look a bit ridiculous, into a sympathetic and almost tragic figure. (The lieutenant in love with the Brigitte Bardot character was actually Yves Robert. Robert was good too but it was a much easier role to pull off.)

I'm kind of amazed at the reviews here that take this movie so seriously and worry so much about chauvinism, mysogyny, etc. Lighten up a bit, is all I can say. You would think this was Liaisons Dangereuses or something. It's true, there is an LD element here -- the seducer who falls in love with the object of his game. (And Philipe was an excellent Valmont in Vadim's modern-dress LD.) But the tone here is very different.

It could be tragic. There is, in fact, an alternate ending which was quite tragic, which Clair filmed, but then decided not to use. (You can see both endings on YouTube.) Clair knew what he was doing. The ending he used is just about perfect.

Such a lovely film!!! A great story of Love Found and Love Betrayed. Innocent young Love and love far older and wiser as portrayed by two couples in a Pre World War One French Garrison town. Rene Clair produced and Robert Lefebvre photographed this delightful confection of a film. The setting and clothing are exquisite . The story very interesting. {No spoilers here} And the good looking cast brilliant. It was to be expected that Gerard Phillipe as the seductive Officer and the elegant Michelle Morgan as the object of his attentions would do well in their roles and Jean Desailly is Fetching as the younger Officer in love with the mayors Daughter as played by a young and very pretty Brigitte Bardot. It was one of her first major parts and she has great freshness and charm and to me was the biggest surprise in the film.The DVD is great quality. It is region 2 but since I have a player that plays all regions that was no problem at all. I recommend this film highly.

Is it possible to hurt those who are incorrigibly superficial? Probably. In René Clair's Les Grandes Manoeuvres, an amusing film of manners, morals and seduction, you can watch how to do it in style. Beware for those who care: Elements of the plot are discussed.

Lieutenant Armand de la Verne (Gerard Philipe) is a dashing young officer of the 33rd Dragoons. His regiment is based in a small provincial French town. The time is well before World War I. de la Verne has a reputation of having seduced just about every daughter, wife and mistress among the town's grande bourgeoisie and petit nobility, not to mention their maids and a number of night club singers. He's charming, confident, light-hearted and may even mean some of those endearments and pledges he whispers, at least when he's whispering them. His regiment will be going on maneuvers in 30 days, and a wager is placed between his friends in the regiment and their civilian friends. A woman will be chosen at random, and if Armand has not seduced her before the regiment leaves, he and his friends will pay for a sumptuous farewell dinner. If he succeeds, their friends will pay. Armand is supremely confident. So are his friends. The woman turns out to be Marie-Louise Riviere (Michelle Morgan), single, divorced and the proprietor of a millinery shop. The women of the town have been polite toward her but suspicious. She is, after all, an outsider and divorced. A reputation can be extraordinarily fragile when upper-class gossips start whispering together. Not only does Lt. de la Verne begin finding reasons to be gallant toward Madame Riviere, so does Victor Duverger (Jean Desailly), a cautious citizen of the town who is just as worried about his own reputation. He has two sisters who don't approve. Marie-Louise has no wish to see her reputation ruined, despite all those who are observing and who love to have something to talk about behind their fans. Then, to Armand's befuddlement, in the process of seduction he begins to fall in love. By then, everyone is aware of his attempts with Marie-Louise, and all his well-worn (and previously successful) lines are repeated with laughter by his friends, by the women he has seduced and in some cases even by those he didn't. Marie-Louise hears the whispers...even worse, she learns of the wager. This movie which is so stylish, which glows and smiles with such elegant artificiality, has a decidedly ironic ending.

The movie is permeated with a gorgeous sense of unreality. The costumes and colors are vibrant; the scenes in the town streets, the drawing rooms, the ball rooms are like exquisite drawings. The officers strut along in their red pants, polished black boots and stiff collars. It's apparent that to be a success as an officer one must dance well. Michelle Morgan is a vision with her long neck, blond hair and enigmatic eyes. Gerard Philipe, however, is the center of the story. He's a seducer, a happy comrade, a man who loves a challenge in love and is unafraid of a challenge for a duel. He is so completely superficial that his growing acquaintance with love and his final look at a pair of closed shutters is touching. Gerard Philipe was one of France's greatest actors and leading men in the Fifties. He was 33 when he made this film. He was dead four years later. He said he was feeling poorly and went to his doctors for a check up. They discovered he had cancer of the liver. He died weeks later at the age of 37. To see him at his best as a high-spirited seducer of rambunctious and energetic charm, while trying to escape being killed in the interminable Seven Years War, watch him as Fanfan La Tulipe.

And for those whose pulse may not quicken at the thought of watching a foreign language film, remember that René Clair worked in Hollywood during WWII (and was stripped of his French citizenship by the Vichy government). Look for I Married a Witch, It Happened Tomorrow and And Then There Were None.

The Region 2 DVD of Les Grandes Manoeuvres looks just fine...one more reason to buy a region-free DVD player. Amazon sells them.