Bel Ami

Willi Forst is demobilized from Morocco. He returns to France and after a night in Paris hasn't a sou in his pocket. A chance encounter with an old friend who is now a journalist, good manners, and bravery when he doesn't think about it, all endear him to a series of women who gradually push him upward and onward as various characters institute a governmental crisis over Morocco.

Forst also directed and co-wrote the screenplay form the de Maupassant story, and I was pleasantly surprised. With a release in 1939 -- albeit in early 1939 -- I expected some sneering at the French. True enough, it does seem to be a society that is run by women, but oh, such charming and beautiful and kind and intelligent and patriotic women! Meanwhile, the motivation of the men seem a lot more base, usually a matter of making millions through speculation in Moroccan land, or outright bribery.

Perhaps Goebbels, in his imagined control of every aspect of German film-making, thought a charming piece of fluff was called for; occasionally, and this was it perhaps Forst was a profitable enough film maker that his desire to do this movie his way could not be gainsaid. Or perhaps the producers simply pointed out that good films brought money in from foreign lands, and everyone knew how the French carried on. Whatever the motivation for making this movie in such a way, it is charming and ultimately good-hearted.