With this film I confess I committed the greatest sin of all (when you are a true cinema lover, that is): I couldn't watch it entirely. Yes, I had to turn off my TV set after two thirds of Marc Allégret's "Lady Chatterley" -- something I am not really proud of, but forgive me, I couldn't stand it any longer.
Is there a need to tell the story in a few words? "Lady Chatterley" is probably the most famous adultery in literature (all right, all right, so I have heard about "Anna Karenina" and "Madame Bovary"!). To sum it up: Sir Clifford Chatterley, an impotent landowner, embittered by his injury in the trenches of World War I, virtually pushes his wife into an affair, but doesn't realize it's not with someone belonging to the same social class but with his common gamekeeper. The problem is that I have seen (and really enjoyed) Pascale Ferran's version shot in 2006, which is in my opinion a wonder. Allégret's "Lady Chatterley" cannot stand the comparison. Almost nothing works here. Although I usually enjoy Miss Darrieux's talent, she is terribly miscast in this film. She is believable as an aristocrat (haughty, snob, cold, etc.) but not at all as a woman who awakens to sexuality. I even wonder if she had any idea of the type of character she was playing. To put things in a nutshell: Miss Darrieux in this film is as sensual as a wood post -- it says it all. Then you don't believe a single minute that the story is set in England -- everything and all the people look so French! To make things even worse, most actors speak with a distinct Parisian accent (which was something common in French films until the end of the 50s), except Leo Genn who speaks French with an English accent, which is really odd within that context. Any coherence? Nope!!! Of course, the film strives hard to avoid overt eroticism, and by doing so, is often ridiculous and dull ("Lady Chatterley" minus all the sex? Nah!). If you really want to experience very old-fashioned nudity in a second-rate French movie, try instead "Ah, les belles bacchantes" ("Peek-a-boo") which was released the very previous year (1954) and which is almost as bad (but at least it was meant to be funny, and not only by accident!). And if you ever want to see a delicate adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's novel, watch Pascale Ferran's film instead -- please!
