Lucrèce

The screenplay of Lucrèce was inspired by a real incident in Edwige Feuillère's life. A Parisian schoolboy, infatuated with the actress, announced to his classmates that he was her son. When the rumour reached the actress, the boy was reprimanded by his headmistress and the matter ended. In the film version, things go further, with the actress Lucrèce (played by Feuillère) taking pity on the boy and inviting him for a working holiday on her farm, where an unlikely relationship develops...

Around this time, Henri Decoin was directing his young wife Danielle Darrieux in a series of comedies which often cast her as the schoolgirl love interest of an older man. Here, director Léo Joannon reverses the proposition, with Jean Mercanton awkwardly cast as a sort of male Darrieux to Feuillère's older woman.

Feuillère was fresh from the success of L'Honorable Catherine, a fizzing screwball comedy directed by Marcel L'Herbier. Lucrèce was expected to be another hit, but it flopped, weighed down by an overly melodramatic script, and by an imbalanced cast which leaves young Mercanton struggling in love scenes with the more mature and talented Feuillère.

In supporting roles, watch out for Pierre Jourdan (brother of the more famous Louis) as the rival for Lucrèce's affections, and Jean Tissier, one of the best character actors of the period, as Mercanton's batty headmaster.