Dedê

Dédé (Claude Dauphin) is manipulated by the owner M. Chausson's wife Odette into buying a failing shoe shop. The plan is to make a little love nest with her in the back room. He impetuously appoints solicitor secretary Denise (Danielle Darrieux) as the manager.

Meanwhile his friend Robert (Albert Préjean) is a force of nature, a music hall act never more than a few seconds away from waving in a troupe of Blue Bell dancers.

René Bergeron is the polite M. Chausson and Mireille Perry plays Odette. M. Chausson is blissfully unaware of her shenanigans (When Darrieux slams down the phone on her he gently corrects her. "Madamemoiselle you are charming but I feel you are a little curt with the clientèle...") Odette strings Dauphin along ("I'm frightened that we will be punished for our imprudence.") Louis Baron Fils clowns about as the solicitor and inappropriate suitor.

Supported by this excellent cast, Darrieux brings her own 17-year-old energy. Look at the changes of weather she rattles through in a single minute of action... Having cynically sold her fawning ex-boss more unwanted shoes, she dismissively throws his flowers to one side, jealously loses it on the telephone with Odette the boss's would-be mistress ("Why do you say these things? For nothing, for the pleasure!"), hysterically takes it out on the poor shop girls for being lazy, gives a flicker of a smile and 'quick, quick!' when she looks through the window and sees the owner, is completely matter-of-fact a second later when he asks if anyone's rung for him ("O rien d'intéressant, monsieur est là, non, très bien") and, keen to impress with her competence, informs him about the day's takings.

Once those Blue Bell girls arrive, everything basically goes pleasantly bonkers until the end of the film. Some films don't need to make sense!

In the silent era , René Guissart was a renowned cameraman (he worked on the silent version of "Ben Hur "starring Navarro.)

His work as a director in the thirties is not devoid of interest : there are witty comedies ("prince de minuit" "toi,c'est moi" ,this movie) and even good melodrama ("Ménilmontant "(1936) ,arguably his best effort ,not to be mistaken for Kirsanoff's silent short :the plots are downright different )

"Dédé" is a musical ,but neither the songs nor the ballets are boring : the songs have aged well (one of which "dans la vie faut pas sans faire" -why worry in life?-, is still popular today in today's France ).The cast is perfect : Albert Préjean ,as a womanizer who sponges off his wealthy pal Dédé ;Claude Dauphin,as the cash cow, in love with a woman he mistakes for the prefect's wife -whereas she's Mrs Slipper(sic) , a shoes shopkeeper's missus .Now that he has bought the store ,he intends to use the back shop as a lounge ,to entertain his lovers ,particularly Mrs Chausson (Slipper).....much to his employee Denise' s annoyance :she has a crush on her boss ,and she goes as far as to write a letter to the prefect ,signed " a woman who wishes you well".

This unpretentious comedy is a fine display of misunderstandings , sudden new developments and even good puns .Higgledy-piggledy , a notary in love with a girl who could be his daughter who ends up in jail, a shoe shopkeepers ' strike, a belly dance .....and ,to top it all, Danielle Darrieux,on the threshold of one of the most brilliant careers in the cinema ,absolutely gorgeous and irresistible even when she puts on her vixen's act .

"Dédé " was feel good stuff for people of the thirties :and it's still working.