Montmartre sur Seine (1941)

...in the movies;she had already played in "la Garçonne"(1935) but only for a song.It was also Henri Vidal 's(spelled Henry)debut :Piaf wanted him and she won the case.

"Montmartre Sur Seine" is not much of a movie;today the main interest lies in Piaf's songs all composed by Marguerite Monnot ,the Chanteuse writing herself the lyrics.She performs " J'ai Dansé Avec L'Amour" "L'Homme Des Bars" "Tu Es Partout" and " Un Coin Tout Bleu" . "L'homme Des Bars " is particularly interesting: someone said once that if Piaf had been black,she would have sung the blues;well,Piaf was not black but she did sing the blues.Her "L'Homme Des Bars" is closer to the great American blues singers than to French musette;the scene is anyway the best in the whole movie: performed in a Montmartre night club,she fascinates her audience with her song ,chic people as well as proles.Actors and extras don't have to feign.On the other hand ,"Tu Es Partout" is closer to what people expects from the Chanteuse: a lovely song with accordion backing, an excuse to sell music sheets of popular songs ,a thing Piaf did in real life when she was singing in the street (see the movie "La Mome" aka" La Vie En Rose")

The screenplay consists of harmless love stories ,Amorous Quarrels between five characters : a singer,an accordion player (Vidal),a bashful lover (Jean -Louis Barrault), a fine upstanding girl and a selfish rich kid .