In 1931 ,Henri -Georges Clouzot directed his first short "la terreur des Batignolles" based on a screenplay by Jacques De Baroncelli;he would have to wait more than ten years to make his first feature film "l'assassin habite au 21" (1942) and to become one of the greatest directors the country has ever known .
The same year,they reversed the roles:Clouzot collaborated on the screenplay of " Je serai seule après minuit" which De Baroncelli directed .
Plot : A woman's marriage is on the rocks ; to avenge herself,she decides to take a lover for one night .So she buys all his stock from a balloon man and flies them over Paris ; all her balloons carry a message :"I will be alone after midnight" (hence the title); a lot a suitors comme to the rendezvous : a fisherman, a soldier, a traveller , a gentleman cambrioleur (a nod to Arsène Lupin?)and others ,much to Michel, a young man in love with her's displeasure .
It is mainly a musical , for almost all the characters sing : this is old-fashioned stuff which does not possess any appeal for today's viewers .Clouzot 's buffs will find it hard to find the master's touch here.As for De Baroncelli ,even though you cannot mention him in the same breath as his colleague,he made estimable works ( "la duchesse de Langeais ","les mystères de Paris" ).
But this one has not aged well, in spite of its daring subject.
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