Evening star., 1954-09-17

GdI1os 4S OI1llld1tly gdTldIlQGO
Boyer, Danielle Darrieux and
Vittorio de Sica. The names of
these should assure 1.-THE Ear
rings of Madame De" the box
office popularity the picture
merits.
Once in the theater, however,
audiences will realize that the
genius name associated with the
production is that of Ophuls,
whose last effort was the French
import "LaRonde. It is he who
aims his camera into the shall
lowness of upper crust Paris of
the period and finds dramatic
depths that might be succinctly
summarized in one of M. Boyer's
lines:
'"I am only specifically super
fetal"
The surprise in this Ophuls
recall of a period is endless and
subtle; sometimes over subtle.
What he finds behind the
posturing of his absurd, over
INDUCED creatures is at once
amusing and touching and a
revelation of where sensitivity
can lead an artist. Another mer-
1t of the film is that it leaves
the eye no choice but to be en-
chanted by Ophuls wizardry with
a camera. And still another is a
lively Straussy musical score,
which implies that violins were
q prime factor in the giddiness Of
the COS.
It is essentially a three-char-
acter story Ophuls takes from
the novel of Louise de Valmorin
for his latest film. These are
General De (the family name
Is never mentioned), a military
aristocrat played by Boyer; his
piquantly pretty, feather-braided
wife. Mile. Darrieux; and a
widowed diplomat who would
like to explore manhood's au-
tumn with a tastefully chosen
companion. The latter character
is De Sica's, a superb actor but
better known to American au-
diences as the director Of "Shoe-
shine" and "The Bicycle Thief"
r + y X
Trivial is the circumstance
that arranges these three in so
finally decisive a triangle. Nine.
De, in debt, sells back to the
family jeweler a pair of earrings
her aristocratic husband gave
her on their wedding day. The
jeweler, made uneasy by the
ethics of such a deal, takes the
baubles to the husband. He,
tolerant man, smilingly buys
them for a second time, and
gives them to a mistress as a
farewell gift as she is leaving
for Constantinople. Like the
wife, the mistress also sells the
baubles to a dealer who in turn
sells them to the diplomat. He,
innocent man, returns them to
the original owner when he
meets and falls in love with her
upon his return to Paris.
The dramatic Importance OF
the earrings in Ophuls screen
play is what they reveal OF
Madame De to the men who. at
such different times and under
such different circumstances,
make her a present of them.
They symbolic the sparkle of
the triangle which reduces two
such impeccable and courtly
males to romantic primitives
who ultimately settle their affair
on a field of honor, with pistols.
X \ X
It is an exquisitely styled piece
of visual storytelling that
Ophuls produces in '"The Ear
rings of Madame De-" He Is
concerned not merely with the
most searching examination OF
his characters and their motives,
but with the background that
shapes them.
In his quest for the more
than-meets-the-eye in triangular
relationships, he is vividly abet-
ted by the pictures star trio
Here, Boyer is the actor Holly
wood never discovered; or was
too awed to use. His general is
an intelligent, tolerant, wisely
amused, impeccably aristocratie
creature who truly sis only su-
perficially superficial" His single
and fatal, damaging concession
to outside opinion is the one he
= 4.