''The Pretty Miller Girl'' (French: ''La Belle Meunière'') is a 1949 French musical film directed by

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie française. Although his work is less fashionabl ...

and starring

Tino Rossi Constantin "Tino" Rossi (29 April 1907 – 26 September 1983) was a French singer and film actor of Corsican origin. Born in Ajaccio, Corsica, Rossi was gifted with a voice well suited for opera. He became a tenor in the French cabaret style. ...

Jacqueline Pagnol Jacqueline Andrée Pagnol (née Bouvier; 6 October 1920 – 22 August 2016) was a French actress. She acted in many French films in the 1940s and 1950s. She was the wife of French author and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol. Biography Early life Jacq ...

and

Raoul Marco Raoul Marco (22 November 1892 – 3 April 1971) was a French film actor.Phillips p.215 Partial filmography * ''Bric à Brac et compagnie'' (1931) - Monsieur Verly * ''Le gendre de Monsieur Poirier'' (1933) - Le premier créancier * '' The Red Ro ...

. It is part of the tradition of

operetta film Operetta films (German: Operettenfilm) are a genre of musical films associated with, but not exclusive to, German language cinema. The genre began in the late 1920s, but its roots stretch back into the tradition of nineteenth century Viennese oper ...

s. The title is a reference to Schubert's song cycle ''

Die schöne Müllerin ' (,"The Fair Maid of the Mill", Op. 25, D. 795), is a song cycle by Franz Schubert from 1823 based on 20 poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the first of Schubert's two seminal cycles (preceding '' Winterreise'')'','' and a pinnacle of '' Lied'' ...

''.

Synopsis

Composer

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

goes to the countryside to find inspiration.AlloCine
/ref>UniFrance Films
/ref>La Belle Meunière
'' Premiere'', He meets a girl, Brigitte, near a windmill. However, the local lord wants her as his lover. Distraught, Schubert leaves and writes some new music to get over it. The film was shot with Rouxcolor technology.Brett Bowles, ''Marcel Pagnol'', Manchester: Manchester University Press, p. 4 The film's sets were designed by the art director

Robert Giordani Robert Giordani (1902-1981) was a French art director.Pirolini p.182 He designed the sets for more than eighty productions during his career. Selected filmography * ''Arlette and Love'' (1943) * ''Rooster Heart'' (1946) * '' The Three Cousins'' ...

Cast

as Franz Schubert *

as Brigitte *

as Maître Guillaume * as the Countess *

Raphaël Patorni Raphaël Patorni (1911–1986) was a French film actor.Hayward p.439 Selected filmography * '' The Mysteries of Paris'' (1943) * ''The Island of Love'' (1944) * '' Jericho'' (1946) * '' Barry'' (1949) * '' Doctor Laennec'' (1949) * '' The Martyr ...

as Count Christian * as the Baroness * Suzanne Desprès as the lavender-girl *

Roger Monteaux Roger Monteaux (1879–1974) was a French stage and film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such a ...

*Christian Bertola *Jean-Paul Coquelin *Pierrette Rossi *

Gustave Hamilton Gustave Honoré Hamilton (27 March 1871, in Brussels – 5 January 1951, in Villefranche-sur-MerSite ''Les gens du cinéma'/ref>) was a 20th-century Belgian film actor. He was the nephew of actor, theatre director and playwright Louis Péricaud an ...

*Edouard Hemme *Jules Dorpe

References

1949 films Films directed by Marcel Pagnol 1940s French-language films French black-and-white films French historical musical films Films based on songs Films set in the 1820s Films set in Austria Films about classical music and musicians Films about composers Cultural depictions of Franz Schubert 1940s historical musical films Operetta films Gaumont Film Company films 1940s French films {{historic-musical-film-stub