The Earrings of Madame De...

Original title: Madame de...

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Charles Boyer, Vittorio De Sica, and Danielle Darrieux in The Earrings of Madame De... (1953)

When an aristocratic woman known only as "Madame de . . ." sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and car... Read allWhen an aristocratic woman known only as "Madame de . . ." sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.When an aristocratic woman known only as "Madame de . . ." sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

11K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total

Trivia
Charles Boyer often fought with Max Ophüls about his character's motives. Ophüls one day during rehearsal broke down and said "Enough! His motives are he is written that way!" Boyer never asked him again and decided to play his character as being omnipotent in all his scenes.

Goofs
When the general gives the earrings to Lola on the train, she is crying and has her little bag on her lap. In the next cut, the bag is on the table.

Quotes
Général André de...: Unhappiness is our own invention. At times I'm sad that I lack the imagination for it.

Crazy credits
Prologue: " Madame de...was a very elegant, distinguished and celebrated woman, seemingly destined to a delightful, uncomplicated existence. Probably nothing would have happened had it not been for those jewels..."

Connections
Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)

Soundtracks
L'Amour m'Emporte
Music by Oscar Straus
Lyrics by Louis Ducreux
Performed by Danielle Darrieux

User reviews68

Review

Featured review

Sublime, Graceful, Charming, Ruthless

It strains the imagination and saddens the heart to wonder at the existence of those people, long past, who would strive for such a sublime accomplishment.

"It's when we've the most to say that we're silent"

The dramatic situations develop so that we feel every word the characters leave unsaid. The situation speaks, and then the characters comment cleverly, explain themselves to their best advantage in that momentary sparkle that is "life"

The relationship of the director to his characters: they are allowed to be witty, to be beautiful, profound, and deeply human, yet in this humanity is their futility, a charming futility. As in the classics, The passions rule all humans. The characters are as puppets, not to the director, but to the passions.

The camera moves, yes, and you may have heard of Ophuls' flowing camera. It is not empty style, but dynamism, concision, and, more importantly, the flow of life that is his moving camera. It is the flowing movement of Ovid's Metamorphoses, the inexorable flow of life. The camera doesn't so much follow the actors, but that the flow of life is happening, and the characters are swimming in that stream of happening.

Why does he persistenly show the characters through a pain of glass? These are the boundaries of social propriety, the confines of their situation. Ophuls knew it best: life is a movie

Vladimir Nabokov wrote a short story entitled "La Veneziana"... Have I strayed from the subject? But, aren't all things sublime closely related?

I have learned, through persistent trial, that '98 is a fine year for Rhone. I suggest that you open a bottle, pour a glass, and push "Play" on "The Earrings Of Madame De..."

"unhappiness is an invented thing"

grace