''Paris Frills'' () is a 1945 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Jacques Becker Jacques Becker (; 15 September 1906 – 21 February 1960) was a French film director and screenwriter. His films, made during the 1940s and 1950s, encompassed a wide variety of genres, and they were admired by some of the filmmakers who led th ...

and starring

Raymond Rouleau Raymond Rouleau (; 4 June 1904 – 11 December 1981) was a Belgian actor and film director. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1928 and 1979. He also directed 22 films between 1932 and 1981. Rouleau studied at the Royal Conservatory o ...

Micheline Presle Micheline Presle (; born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922 – 21 February 2024) was a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting her career in 1937, she starred or appeared in over 150 films ...

and

Jean Chevrier Jean Chevrier (25 April 1915 – 13 December 1975) was a French film actor and member of the Comédie-Française. He appeared in 50 films between 1936 and 1972. He was married to actress Marie Bell. He was buried alongside his wife at the ...

. It was made in 1944 during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

but not released until the following year. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Max Douy Max Douy (June 20, 1913 – July 2, 2007) was a French art director.Hayward p.245 Selected filmography * ''The Rules of the Game'' (1939) * ''There's No Tomorrow'' (1939) * '' The Trump Card'' (1942) * '' Goodbye Leonard'' (1943) * '' Paris Frill ...

. It was shot at the

Francoeur Studios The Francoeur Studios are film production studios in Paris. In 1926 Bernard Natan's Rapid Films set up production at the location, before in 1929 it was merged with the Pathé conglomerate under Natan's overall control. In the postwar era it was ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Exteriors were shot in the

16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (; ) is the westernmost of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. Located on the city's Right Bank, it is adjacent to the 17th and 8th arrondissements to the northeast, as well as to the ...

Plot

Micheline (

), a young woman from the provinces, arrives in Paris to prepare for her marriage to a silk manufacturer from

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, Daniel Rousseau (

). But she falls in love with the best friend of her husband-to-be, the fashion designer Philippe Clarence (

). He is an impenitent Don Juan who seduces her when he feels the need for some creative inspiration and then drops her just as quickly when he comes to devote himself to a new collection. Micheline no longer feels she can go ahead and get married. A few weeks later Clarence tries to reconquer her but it is too late. She refuses. Clarence goes mad and throws himself from a window.

Main cast

as Philippe Clarence *

as Micheline Lafaurie *

as Daniel Rousseau *

Gabrielle Dorziat Gabrielle Dorziat (25 January 1880 – 30 November 1979) was a French stage and film actress. Dorziat was a fashion trend setter in Paris and helped popularize the designs of Coco Chanel. The Théâtre Gabrielle-Dorziat in Épernay, France is nam ...

as Solange *

Jeanne Fusier-Gir Jeanne Fusier-Gir (1885–1973) was a French stage and film actress. She was married to the painter Charles Gir, and was the mother of the film director François Gir.Rège p. 442 Selected filmography * '' The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard'' (1 ...

as Paulette *

Françoise Lugagne Françoise Lugagne (; 1914–1991) was a French stage, film and television actress. She was married to the Belgian actor Raymond Rouleau and appeared alongside him in the 1945 fashion house Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthet ...

as Anne-Marie *

Christiane Barry Christiane Fernande Boursaud (1918–1992) was a French stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, ...

as Lucienne *

Rosine Luguet Rosine Luguet (1921–1981) was a French stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred ...

as Cousin *

Yolande Bloin Yolande or Yolanda may refer to: Royalty and nobility *Yolande of Aragon (disambiguation), several people * Yolande de Montferrat (c.1274–1317), Byzantine Empress consort * Yolande de Courtenay (c.1200–1233), wife of Andrew II of Hungary *Yola ...

* Eveline Volney as Employee * Maria Carld *

François Joux François Joux (born 11 July 1912, date of death unknown) was a French stage and film actor.Paietta p.15 Selected filmography * ''The Pavilion Burns'' (1941) * ''The Duchess of Langeais (1942 film), The Duchess of Langeais'' (1942) * ''The Trump ...

as Murier * Georges Roullet *

Marc Doelnitz Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system ...

as Cousin

Critical appraisal

Film critic

Manny Farber Emanuel Farber (February 20, 1917 – August 18, 2008) was an American painter, film critic and writer. Often described as "iconoclastic",Grimes, William (August 19, 2008) ''New York Times''Kiderra, Inga (August 21, 2008Obituary: Artist and Crit ...

in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', December 16, 1946, wrote: Farber adds: “With the efficiency of a good documentary but in a charming, casual, offhand manner, Becker acquaints you with the complicated, caste-ridden business of dress designing…the nicest group of people I have seen in current movies are the friendly, loyal, unaffected seamstresses whose characters are so different from the dresses they make.”

Influence

Jean-Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 June 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corset ...

told the

New Yorker New Yorker may refer to: * A resident of New York: ** A resident of New York City and its suburbs *** List of people from New York City ** A resident of the New York (state), State of New York *** Demographics of New York (state) * ''The New Yor ...

that seeing ''Falbalas'' made him want to go into fashion. The story, about a Parisian dressmaker who seduces his best friend's fiancée, provided a detailed look at the fashion industry of the time, and shaped Gaultier's ideas of what that world would be like.Article on Jean-Paul Gaultier i
''Business Insider''
1 February 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

References

Sources

* Farber, Manny. 2009. ''Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber''. Edited by

Robert Polito Robert Polito is a poet, biographer, essayist, critic, educator, curator, and arts administrator. He received the National Book Critics Circle Award in biography in 1995 for ''Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson.'' The founding director of th ...

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published more than 300 volumes by authors ...

External links

* 1945 drama films 1945 films Films directed by Jacques Becker French drama films Films set in Paris 1940s French-language films Films about fashion designers French black-and-white films Films shot at Francoeur Studios 1940s French films Films scored by Jean-Jacques Grunenwald {{1940s-drama-film-stub