Paris Frills

Philippe Clarence is one of the best known couturiers in Paris, and his relationships with women run to the same rhythm as his collections: each is there for inspiration, none of them lasts. He seduces Micheline, his friend's fiancée, for the same reason. But this time it is different; for the first time in his life Clarence is caught by someone he cannot leave, and he is not equipped to carry it. Jacques Becker started shooting in March 1944, five months before the liberation of Paris, and the film opened in 1945. Despite being made under the Occupation it builds the inside of a fashion house in full detail: the fittings, the seamstresses, the preparation of a show, the boss's temper. Years later Jean Paul Gaultier said he owed his profession to this film. Micheline Presle and Raymond Rouleau are in the leads.