Max Ophüls directs Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux and Vittorio De Sica in this tragic romance where an aristocratic wife sells a gift to pay some taxes on a dress… starting a chain reaction of infidelity, jealousy, mistrust and sadness.

Beautiful and brutal – this is my favourite Ophüls so far. Three complex yet clean performances from the principles – your sympathies shift but eventually you realise that the nameless Madame De… is traded, valued and passed off just as much as the totemic earrings that cause all the drama. The camerawork by La Grande Illusion’s Christian Matras glides elegantly about, giving the surface impression this is all a light frippery, but he captures the ornate splendour of this world of diplomats and generals like the cage it truly is. Wonderful.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Letter From An Unknown Woman (1948)

My wife and I do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/