Special Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary featuring film scholars Susan White and Gaylyn Studlar
- Introduction by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
- Interviews with Ophuls collaborators Alain Jessua, Marc
- Frédérix, and Annette Wademant
- A visual analysis of the movie by film scholar Tag Gallagher
- Interview with novelist Louise de Vilmorin on Ophuls's adaptation of her story
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Plus: A booklet featuring a new essay by Molly Haskell, an excerpt from costume designer Georges Annenkov's 1962 book Max Ophuls, and the source novel, Madame de, by Vilmorin
Synopsis
Madame de...
Max Ophüls' masterpiece stars Danielle Darrieux as the titular Madame Louise de..., who in the film's opening scenes is forced to discreetly sell a pair of earrings, a gift from her military officer husband Andre (Charles Boyer), in order to make good on her debts. After she claims the earrings to be lost, the story of their possible theft hits the newspapers, prompting the jeweler who bought them (Jean Debucourt) to secretly sell them back to Andre, who then gives him to his mistress Lola (Lia Di Leo) as she prepares to leave for a holiday in Constantinople. There, the earrings again change hands as Lola pawns them to cover her gambling losses. They are then purchased by Donati, an Italian diplomat (Vittorio de Sica) on his way to France to meet with Andre. Of course, the earrings soon find their way back to Louise. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
Max Ophüls' masterpiece stars Danielle Darrieux as the titular Madame Louise de..., who in the film's opening scenes is forced to discreetly sell a pair of earrings, a gift from her military officer husband Andre (Charles Boyer), in order to make good on her debts. After she claims the earrings to be lost, the story of their possible theft hits the newspapers, prompting the jeweler who bought them (Jean Debucourt) to secretly sell them back to Andre, who then gives him to his mistress Lola (Lia Di Leo) as she prepares to leave for a holiday in Constantinople. There, the earrings again change hands as Lola pawns them to cover her gambling losses. They are then purchased by Donati, an Italian diplomat (Vittorio de Sica) on his way to France to meet with Andre. Of course, the earrings soon find their way back to Louise. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
Cast & Crew
- Charles Boyer - Gen. Andre de...
- Danielle Darrieux - Countess Louise de . . .
- Vittorio De Sica - Baron Fabrizio Donati
- Jean Debucourt - M. Remy, the jeweler
- Mireille Perrey - Mme. de. . .'s Nurse