6/10
LOVE AND THE FRENCHWOMAN (Henri Decoin, Jean Delannoy, Michel Boisrond, Rene' Clair, Henri Verneuil, Christian-Jaque and Jean Paul Le Chanois, 1960) **1/2
19 June 2006
This is one of the innumerable portmanteau films which flooded the European market during the 50s and 60s. I haven't watched that many of them and, actually, have a few on VHS which I still need to check out! It isn't anything special, really, but certainly passes the time agreeably enough - featuring some amusing animation during the narrated linking sequences.

None of the seven directors creates a classic with his individual segment - but, as is to be expected, some episodes are better than others: the funniest is the first by Decoin about the dilemma parents face when it is time for them to explain to their children how babies are born; the fourth segment by Clair is fairly sophisticated but rather lacks the wit of his best work; the fifth by Verneuil concerns adultery, with the two men involved played by Paul Meurisse (the husband) and Jean-Paul Belmondo (the lover); the sixth episode by Christian-Jaque about the surmounting legal problems of a couple about to divorce (despite their mutual consent to it!) is delightfully enacted by Annie Girardot and Francois Perier; the rest are watchable but not especially rewarding.

By the way, though the film is supposed to be 143 minutes long, the Fox Lorber DVD ran for only 132!
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