Naughty Girl (1956) User Reviews

I'm in love

[rooprect · 7/10 · 24 January 2007]

Brigitte is so damn cute in this movie. And that's all that matters. But since I'm obligated to write a 10-line review, I guess I'll go ahead and bore you with my supercilious cinematic spiel. Feel free to skip the rest of the review and go watch the movie.

I was particularly surprised that France was capable of making a movie in the 50s that wasn't some desultory, experimental, existential ramble. Not that I have anything against all that, but after watching my 3rd Truffaut film and my 5th Godard film, I was ready for a breath of fresh air. And this film definitely delivered.

It's silly and mostly predictable but in the most charming way, like an old Cary Grant flick. But of course Brigitte has better legs than Cary Grant. And she can dance like a water nymph, ballet, acrobatic, provocative or hippy. Her acting style is genuine and impish much like Audrey Hepburn; however Brigitte adds a powerful sensuality to the presentation.

It helps to know French, but if not, here's what you do. Watch it once with subtitles on. Then watch it with subtitles off. The 2nd time, you'll get much more of the humour by simply watching their gestures and listening to their tones of voice. Have fun with it!

You big baby

[lost-in-limbo · 6/10 · 20 July 2007]

Wanted by the police, is Nightclub owner Paul Latour, as he's suspected of forgery within a counterfeit ring. So he leaves the country to try the clear his name. In doing so, he has left his "baby" daughter Brigitte to stay with his nightclub performer Jean Clery, who's soon to be married to psychoanalyst Lily. When Brigitte enters Jean's life, everything turns upside as he tries to cope until Paul returns back for her.

Knee-jerk and overly quirky French romantic comedy farce sees the drop dead gorgeous Brigitte Bardot (looking real adorable) getting into a lot of trouble with her ditsy and free-spirited character. The material (written by Roger Vadim and Michel Boisrond) isn't nothing we hadn't seen before, but it holds a solid foundation to draw upon many amusing avenues and the script had a juicy, chic and snappy vibe that only added more to the fun. Director Michel Boisrond's lively sense keeps the running gags flowing (which do work), inventive visuals (split-screens), fast rhythm and sets-up a couple of very well choreographed dance numbers that go onto show how alluring the young lady could be. A very-light weight, silly, bright and zesty feature goes onto shape it with plenty of humorous appeal and charm that streams throughout to its chaotic climax and finally surprising conclusion. Also seducing the audience other than Bardot is the tantalizing music score. Joseph Brun placed the camera in the ideal spot with some adventurous framing finding its way in too. Jean Bretonnière who appears opposite of his co-star, holds his own nicely. Mischa Auer was perfectly tailored for the zany comic touches.

An enjoyably fashionable slice of Brigitte Bardot.

Delightful and Naive Entertainment

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 15 June 2008]

In Paris, when the owner of the nightclub Mississippi in Pigalle Paul Latour (Bernard Lancret) is wanted by the police accused of distribution of forged dollars in his club, he asks his protégée and lead attraction of Mississippi Jean Clery (Jean Bretonniére) to protect his beloved daughter Brigitte (Brigitte Bardot). Jean is engaged of the psychoanalyst Lily (Françoise Fabian) and brings the wild and rebel Brigitte from her conservative boarding school to his fancy apartment while Paul travels to Lausanne to meet a friend to clear his name. While waiting for the return of Paul, Brigitte turns Paul's life upside down and they fall in love for each other. But the Parisian police and the counterfeit ring are chasing Brigitte, but Jean, his butler Jerome (Raymond Bussiéres) and his friends protect the girl.

"Cette Sacrée Gamine" is a delightful and naive entertaining. The predictable story is silly, uses many gags, but is supported by the adorable twenty-two year old Brigitte Bardot. This movie works first because of the beauty and charm of BB and Raymond Bussiéres is responsible for the funniest moments. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Garota Levada" ("Naughty Girl")

Naughty,but oh so sweet.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 31 December 2021]

Recently seeing a number of people posts about their favourite movies from 1956,gave me the idea to dig into my pile of films from that year waiting to be played,which led to me meeting a naughty girl.

View on the film:

The first of two times that the co-writer and the leading lady would work together in 1956, fellow co-writer Michel Boisrond steams up a frothy, flirty atmosphere in his directing debut, by closely working with cinematographer Joseph C. Brun to stage playfully funny Pop-Art spilt-screen as Jean Clery yells down the phone about wild child Brigitte.

From entering Clery's nightclub, Boisrond splashes candy colours across the screen, which bursts in dance abstract set-pieces, beaming with close-ups on the alluring leading lady.

Making his directing debut later in the year, the screenplay by Roger Vadim, Jean Perine & Boisrond bounces around to slick Rom-Com one-liners, with Clery's attempts to stay faithful to his fiancé crumbling, as he Is wooed by the flirting charms of Brigitte.

Attempting to hold his emotions back from falling in love with her, Jean Bretonniere gives a sparkling dead-pan turn as the stumbling into romance Clery, whilst BB enters her breakout year by giving her comedic one-liners a Screwball Comedy sass, which is matched by Bardot giving Brigitte an enticing causal brush-off to the loved up lads, as Brigitte reveals herself to be a naughty girl.

its story is a little unbalanced

[wvisser-leusden · 7/10 · 24 May 2010]

'Cette sacree gamine' is French for 'this holy little girl'; or, to translate it better, 'this marvelous baby'.

You'll understand this points to 21-year old Brigitte Bardot. And, oh yes, in this film young Brigitte steals your heart away. The more so, while 'Cette sacree gamine' has several dancing scenes - you may know that BB was a fully educated ballet dancer.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said about this film's plot. Telling its story takes too much time, even to 1950-s standards. Its built-up, complete with dancing and slapstick, looks somewhat unbalanced. While watching you feel an urge to check your watch, wondering how long you'll have to sit this one out.

Not naughty enough

[Neal · 5/10 · 4 May 2000]

Bardot is gorgeous and so is the production, which aspires to a near-Hollywood gloss, but this is mainly tired, formula comedy smelling faintly of imitation Damon Runyon. Bretonniere is no Yves Montand, and BB's big dance number is a failed imitation of Leslie Caron's introduction in "An American in Paris". Fans of "Time Code" (or perhaps "Tucker") may enjoy some clever split-screen effects that appear to have been achieved with trick sets instead of multiple exposures. A potential guilty pleasure for those who crave 50s CinemaScope eye candy.

Sparkling romantic comedy with French Bombshell Brigitte Bardot!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 23 August 2020]

The French red-hair bombshell Brigitte Bardot looks like too young in this fine picture as a teenager daughter of owner of a night club Paul Latour (Bernard Lancret) involved in a counterfeit money, his main act singer Jean Clery (Jean Bretonnière) shall be in charge to take care of still naïve Brigitte Latour (BB) meanwhile his father finds a way to escape safe with her to Swiss, however the girl is so muddled than nosy, Jean enchants by the young Brigitte, even having a fancy fiancé Lili (Françoise Fabian), Jean tries hard to conceal the girl at your home of the police and his jealous fiancé as well, in this romantic comedy who really shine is the hilarious butler Jérôme (Raymond Bussières) with his weird posturing, followed by the zany three French Inspectors, also add some musical acts sang by Jean Clery totally miscasting for the role, is quite dated, kistch and off-color, conversely the dancing girls is truly great, plenty of gorgeous girls as often the French does, the plot is well-craft, recalling in some way American movies, Brigitte Bardot is another level of course!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

Silly Light-hearted Romp With Bardot!

[shepardjessica-1 · 5/10 · 14 November 2004]

A red-headed 21 y/o Brigitte Bardot is completely beautiful and charming in this easygoing tale. Ms. Bardot is charming and delightful as a klutzy young lady who completely wins you over. This is not one of her better films and she plays a complete innocent in this compared to her sexier roles.

A 5 out of 10. Best performance = B. Bardot. Misha Auer is amusing as a dance choreographer. There's not a lot to recommend except for the lovely and naive Brigitte. All of her films are worth seeing, even the sillier ones such as this. It's hard to believe she made AND GOD CREATED WOMAN the same year as this. Long live BB!

Nutty Farce Can Be Good Fun: Bardot In Command

[museumofdave · 7/10 · 24 November 2021]

When she's on the screen, Brigette commands your attention just by being there, mock-pouting, prancing about in revealing drapery, merely pouting or casting knowing glances at whoever needs to be trapped by her charms.

The plot was the sort of thing that Doris Day films were based around, but here mixed with more farce, more energy, and less coy dialogue; there are farcical situations galore, and common sense does not apply--the viewer is either in the mood for amiable poses from a self-aware sex kitten, or not afraid of a rather convoluted plot that involves gangsters, a butler with a Buster Keaton attitude, a woman professor that claims the straying lead, or totally impromptu musical numbers that owe a good deal of filching from MGM in it's Minnelli years of glorified technicolor.

All of which to summarize: good fun with some hearty laughs and a major bonus in a young star just beginning to realize her considerable impact on viewers, a musical farce with a little romance twisted into a somewhat feeble plot.

I dreamed I saw BB.

[ulicknormanowen · 25 February 2020]

The male lead ,Jean Bretonnière,was primarily a singer ,mainly known for his appearance in Julien Duvivier's "sous le ciel de Paris"(1950) in which he performed the eponymous song (but today ,Edith Piaf's version has outshadowed his).

The screenplay ,written by (Roger) Vadim is not much ,a trite tale of forged currency.

Today ,the movie is entirely BB's ;this actress was unique ,with her petit je ne sais quoi ,her spontaneity (she never seems to act) ,,her false naiveté ( she was far from being dumb, in her movies as well as in real life).She became France's greatest sex symbol,and for that matter,never dethroned ,even though it would take Vadim's (mediocre movie in itself) " Et Dieu créa La Femme" to create the myth (the same year) .BB blows everybody off the screen in this movie,including earnest actress Françoise Fabian who would become an appreciated thespian in the late sixties .

Even BB 's fondness for pets is here ,represented by a parrot, Jacquot.

This movie can be considered a musical ,for Jean Bretonnière performs songs ,and during his fiancée's stodgy lecture about psychoanalysis , begins to dream of ...BB in a ballet.

It had just begun.The entire French male population (and the others) had not heard the last of BB.

Cette sacrée gamine

[RaulFerreiraZem · 5/10 · 26 July 2019]

Its ok. Some of the jokes are funny, the dream sequence is quite amusing and the film has an overrall lightheartedness which is very much enjoyable. With that being said, it's not a good movie. The plot is confusing and feels rushed, all the characters are shallow and the portrayal of Brigitte is kind of sexist.

Enjoyable comedy with Bardot in fine foxy form

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 7 April 2011]

Smooth nightclub singer Jean Clery (a solid and affable performance by Jean Bretonniere) has to take care of lovely and precocious schoolgirl Brigitte Latour (exuberantly played with tremendous verve and sexiness by Brigitte Bardot) after Brigitte's father gets in trouble with the police for possible forgery. Naturally, Brigitte turns Jean's life topsy turvy. Director Michel Boisrond, who also co-wrote the blithely inane script with Roger Vadim, relates the wacky story at a constant snappy pace, stages the slapstick set pieces with considerable skill and flair, and maintains a likable lightweight tone throughout. Of course, Bardot's delectable'n'delightful effervescent presence keeps things bubbling along; her boundless vivacity and striking pulchritude are a total treat to watch. Mischa Auer has a funny bit as a bumbling dance choreographer. Raymond Bussieres easily cops the top acting honors with his excellent and engaging portrayal of Jean's loyal befuddled butler Jerome. The song and dance numbers are a lot of merry fun. Moreover, a sassy sharp-tongued parrot provides some of the film's best and biggest belly laughs. Kudos are also in order for Joseph C. Brun's vibrant widescreen cinematography and the infectiously jaunty score by Henri Colli, Rene Denoncin, and Hubert Rostaing. A pleasant and amusing romp.

Passable entertainment

[perfectbond · 6/10 · 9 March 2004]

This film can probably be only fairly judged by a fluent French speaker. Subtitled films are more difficult to enjoy because the viewer's full attention isn't entirely with the on screen action. That aside, Bardot is of course the French Marilyn Monroe and she is comely and provocative to live up to that comparison. Her dance numbers while very good weren't anything more than what was done with all the Hollywood musicals of the forties and fifties. The plot is serviceable enough though that aspect of filmmaking is usually not the focus of a musical. Still, good entertainment, especially if you're a Bardot fan and/or can speak fluent French. 6/10.

Very enjoyable but also a bit goofy--and not in a good way.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 15 September 2010]

This is a nice romantic comedy starring Brigitte Bardot. She did a great job and was simply gorgeous. However, it is far from a great film--and one for which you have to make some allowances due to poor direction and an occasionally goofy script.

Brigitte plays a lady in her early twenties whose father is in involved with shady illegal business. However, she is oblivious and thinks he's rich from a legitimate shipping business. When the father gets in trouble with the law, he asks his friend Clery to the small college where Brigitte is enrolled and bring her to him in Switzerland. The father figures that if the girl isn't brought to him quickly, the police will take her in custody and try to use her as leverage. In fact, shortly after Clery arrives, the police DO show up as well and the two barely make their escape.

The rest of the film concerns Clery and Brigette hiding out from the law. And how did he get the girl to agree to hide? He told her that her father is being pursued by spied who are dressed like policemen! But having this radiant young woman with him causes a lot of problems--with Clery's fiancée, because Brigitte is a bit of a klutz and problems follow her and because the police are bound to show up sooner or later.

This film has many enjoyable and cute moments. Brigitte is simply wonderful and it's hard to dislike her--even when she manages to burn down Clery's apartment! She's just so cute and sweet and likable. This is THE reason I liked the film. Plus, SOME of the plot is very good. But, sadly, the film also has a lot of problems. The biggest one is that the film plays, at times, like a Three Stooges film--with 'funny' sound effects and the worst over-acting I have ever seen Mischa Auer do (it was simply embarrassing). A romantic comedy should be funny, but not like this! In addition, there seemed to be a lot of padding--singing and dancing that often distract from the nice relationship that was blooming between Brigitte and Clery--it was very sweet. As a result, it's very watchable but you can't help thinking that it could have been better if the director hadn't been an idiot and had exercised some restraint.