''One Only Loves Once'' (French: ''On n'aime qu'une fois'') is a 1950 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

Jean Stelli Jean Stelli (6 December 1894 in Lille – 2 February 1975 in Grasse) was a French screenwriter and film director.Rège p.939 Selected filmography * ''The Hurricane on the Mountain'' (1922) * ''Durand Jewellers'' (1938) * ''Gibraltar (1938 film), ...

and starring

Françoise Rosay Françoise Rosay (; born Françoise Bandy de Nalèche; 19 April 1891 – 28 March 1974) was a French opera singer, diseuse,''Design'', Volume 9 1965 p. 24 and actress who enjoyed a film career of over sixty years and who became a legendary figure ...

Renée Faure Renée Faure (born Reneé Paule Nanine Faure; November 4, 1918 – May 2, 2005) was a French stage and film actress. Early life Renée Faure was born Reneé Paule Nanine Faure on November 4, 1918, in Paris, France. Her father was René Fau ...

and Marcel Herrand. It was based on a novel by

Paul Vialar Paul Vilar (; 18 September 1898 – 8 January 1996) was a French author and writer of novels, tales and essays. In 1960, he wrote the lyrics for the song ''Les Étangs de Sologne'' with music by Henri Betti which was sung the same year by Jean ...

.Goble p.478 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 ...

Lucien Carré Lucien Carré (born 1904) was a French art directorCapua p.127 active in the French cinema designing film sets from the late 1920s to the late 1950s. He worked frequently with the director André Hunebelle as well as Julien Duvivier and Anatole ...

Synopsis

Danièle, a young woman, dreams of marrying her childhood friend Jean Monnier. His mother wishing to prevent the match sends him away to

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 ...

to study to become a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

. Left alone Danièle is forced to marry the only suitor available, who subsequently takes her money and abandons her. In order to bring back her true love to her she arranges to be injured.

Cast

as Louise Monnier *

as Danièle de Bolestac * Marcel Herrand as Hyacinthe Carrier *

Pierre Larquey Pierre Larquey (10 July 1884 – 17 April 1962) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1913 and 1962. Born in Cénac, Gironde, France, he died in Maisons-Laffitte at the age of 77. Selected filmography * ''P ...

as Le docteur Ravenel *

Jacques Berthier Jacques Berthier (27 June 1923 – 27 June 1994) was a French composer of liturgical music, best known for writing much of the music used at Taizé Community, Taizé. Biography Berthier was born in Auxerre, Burgundy (region), Burgundy; both o ...

as Jean Monnier * Marcel Raine as Gouttemel *

Robert Lussac The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

as Le professeur Trousselier *

René Hell René Hell (1891–1965) was a French actor. Selected filmography * '' Special Mission'' (1946) * ''Mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mir ...

as Le cabaretier * Jean Nosserot as Un docteur *

Mady Berry Mady Berry (14 October 1887 – 18 January 1965) was a French stage and film actress.Waldman p.146 Selected filmography * '' Gloria'' (1931) * '' All That's Not Worth Love'' (1931) * '' Moon Over Morocco'' (1931) * '' The Girl and the Boy'' (193 ...

as Marie - La bonne des de Bolestac * Henri Nassiet as Le marquis Antoine de Bolestac *

Dominique Davray Dominique Davray (born Marie-Louise Gournay; 27 January 1919 in Paris – 16 August 1998 in Paris) was a French actress. She performed in more than 90 films from 1942 to 1983. Filmography External links

* 20th-century French actres ...

as La fille au café-restaurant

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. * Rège, Philippe. ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1950 films French drama films 1950 drama films 1950s French-language films Films directed by Jean Stelli French black-and-white films 1950s French films Films based on French novels French-language drama films {{1950s-France-film-stub