I wrote a review of this film back in 1986. It starred Ingrid Bergman in what was a truly a delightful comedy in lovely color but which proved to be a box office failure. I hadn't seen it since 1986 when I followed up on a review in the LA Times which highly recommended the film. To re-address this review I ordered a DVD copy from Netflix and viewed it again.
The film was originally filmed in both English and French. The DVD I received was in French. I always enjoy hearing French spoken, though I understand little of it. Fortunately the DVD included excellent subtitles in English.
Another feature of the DVD is an interview with the films director, Jean Renoir. Renoir made several memorable films in France before World War II devastated that country. The most famous of these are Rules of the Game and The Grand Illusion. The latter dealt with a German prisoner of war camp in the Bavarian Alps during World War I. In Rules of the Game Renoir dealt with French attitudes just before the start of World War II. It's tangled activities are somewhat similar to Renoir's work on Elena Et Les Hommes. Renoir made several films in the United States, after he fled France before the German occupation in 1940. These were largely not as successful as his earlier French output. However, one of these is a poetically beautiful film set in 1946/7 India during the British administration. This film, called The River, featured the coming of age of three young women, two of which were British. The third was a girl with an English father and Indian mother.
In the interview with Renoir he discussed why he made Elena Et Les Hommes. He had decided he wanted to make a film starring Ingrid Bergman and that he wanted it to be a comedy. After analyzing what he wanted to do, he presented his ideas to her, and she agreed to do the film.
As I mentioned before, the film didn't attract audiences in either the US or France though this was for entirely different reasons. At that time, 1956, naturalism was the name of the game. Films depicted life, the sordid, the untamed, the degeneration of society. Stemming from the neo-realism of the postwar Italian film makers, spreading into France where the new wave of directors emulated the realism of Renoir of the thirties, and into America where the film noir was at it peak. The French were strong adherents to film naturalism, and the frothy Elena Et Les Hommes was completely out of step with filmgoer interests and attitudes. In that sense it was typical of American escapist films of the thirties and war years, which dealt quite often with wealth and the wealthy.
In the United States, a different reality short-circuited Elena Et Les Hommes. The film's star, the beautiful Ingrid Bergman was then falling into her exile and disgrace for having succumbed to raw romance with Italian film director Roberto Rosselini, while making his production Stromboli. The general population who had pedestaled Bergman in the '40s now turned against her in vengeance for her perceived flawed behavior, resulting in a general resistance to seeing her films. So alas, Elena et les Hommes died a quick and complete death.
Back in the fall of 1986 the film was revived and given a one-week showing at West LA's Nuart Theatre, one of the revival houses then operated in the LA area by the Landmark Theatre's group. Michael Wilminton's review in the LA Times indicated that it would be worth the writer's time to drive the nearly 40 miles for a viewing. It was a decision that I was glad I made for the film was indeed a delight and a pleasure to watch. it was beautifully mounted, with gorgeous costumes in keeping with its time frame of the 1880s and was loosely based on French history. In addition to the beautiful Ingrid Bergman it starred from the distaff side Juliete Greco and two male leads in the presence of France's handsome Jean Marais and Puerto Rico's Mel Ferrar. Renoir had captured much of the light fluffiness that one found in Gigi a few years later.
I will only touch briefly on the story. Elena, Ingrid Bergman, is an impoverished Polish princess, who needs to marry well to assure financial well being for herself and her servants. She has been betrothed to a silly young pianist, but finds more opportunity in a wealthy up and coming merchant in shoes and boots. She attends a great street/sidewalk fete celebrating Bastille Day, with the merchant, and in the crush of the celebrating crowd she becomes separated from him. This is a beautifully done scene, loaded with people, excitement, brilliant costuming, confetti, streamers and the joy of life. In the crush Elena is aided by a handsome young man, mel Ferrar, who is a friend of the French military hero of the time General Rollan (Marais). All France is in love with the general, including Bergman as Elena, and this is where the slight touch of history fits, since Rollan is loosely based on France's Boulanger, whose followers pushed a crisis in the 1880s.
Elena and Rollan first meet through the offices of Ferrar; he is Henri in the film, a wealthy but basically not very active man.
Following this long opening episode the film switches to the second of its three settings, a beautiful estate/chateau. The army is involved in military maneuvers nearby and Rollan is, of course, a participant. Bertin, the wealthy bootmaker, owns the estate, and has invited Elena to spend a weekend there. A typical Gaelic farce of misidentification, liaison, and revelry then ensues including a duel and a sumptuous banquet. Bertin's son falls in love with Bergman's maid, though he is betrothed to another. Bertin is planning on a big wedding. All kinds of confusion results between the various principals, including Rollan, who also visits the estate.
The final scene is set in a brothel in another part of France. This is a very idealized brothel. The scene involves some very humorous dialogue. Intrigue is in the air, since the supporters of Rollan are trying to talk him into taking over the government and setting up a dictatorship. Gypsies are also a part of the activities. Elena arrives for a liaison with Rollan. There are escapes and mistaken identities, and the film quickly moves towards its conclusion with nothing really decided except that an important incident in history has occurred. These are exciting times in the lives of several people when the film reaches its lighthearted close, with Elena's selection of the dispassionate Ferrar as the man she really loves.
The film doesn't sound like much in the telling, but it really is a charming piece. Bergman is never more beautiful, full figured, her erotic mouth ever set in a delightful smile with her brilliant teeth adding to her delicious appearance. She is also beautifully gowned. The film, in fact, resounds in gorgeous costuming, for both female and male performers. All in all it's a delightful film, one that any viewer who loves the presentation of nostalgic pieces in a fantasy world will surely love.
Dick Gardner, Classic Films
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