Mademoiselle Fifi (1944) User Reviews

Another oddity from Val Lewton based on two DeMaupassant stories...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 15 January 2008]

SIMONE SIMON, who gained so much fame from her "Cat People" persona and a subsequent film called "Curse of the Cat People", appears here in an uneven costume drama adapted from two Guy DeMaupassant stories about class differences at the time of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and a young woman who has to assert herself when the going gets rough. She shows spirit in her offbeat role and the cast is a good one, featuring JOHN EMERY, ALAN NAPIER, KURT KREUGER and JASON ROBARDS, SR.

The coach scene that takes up the first twenty minutes or so of the story is reminiscent of "Stagecoach" in which the characters behave snobbishly toward Claire Trevor, as the prostitute with a heart of gold. Here it's SIMONE SIMON as a laundress with her own sense of pride, refusing to deal with the Prussians or Germans on any level, not even willing to do their laundry. Only when she offers food and drink to the other passengers, do they begin to find any good in her, at least temporarily.

Her loyalty to France makes her resist the request of the Prussian officer, KURT KREUGER, to dine with them when the passengers must stay over at an inn. The other passengers get together and force her to humble her patriotism for the sake of letting them go on with their journey. She complies and the next day when they resume their journey, the others are ungrateful to her and treat her shabbily again. JOHN EMERY tells them off and leaves the coach to meet up with her. She refuses to accept his apology for not taking a stronger stand in the resistance movement but changes her mind later when he does prove to be heroic.

The resistance message seems to reflect the type of WWII propaganda films Hollywood churned out during this period, but the film is an odd mixture of costume drama and patriotism under fire.

Not exactly a ground breaker, but interesting, especially for fans of Simone Simon's screen persona. Just why this particular story interested Val Lewton, considering his background as a man who preferred making horror films, is not clear to me.

Don't Ring the Bell

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 3 October 2007]

This is a very interesting film directed by a very famous Hollywood Director, Robert Wise,"The Sound of Music","West Side Story" and many other famous films. This is a gem of a 1944 film starring Simone Simon, (Elizabeth Bousset),"The Curse of the Cat People" who plays the role of a young French Laundress who shares a coach ride during the Franco-Prussian War with some very important social superiors. These so called social superiors thought themselves better than Elizabeth, however, when they forgot to bring any food supplies on their journey, she furnished them with chicken she had prepared for herself and things changed. Kurt Kreuger, (Lt. Von Eyrick) is a Prussian soldier who tries to hit on Elizabeth and stops all the travelers from going on their journey until poor Elizabeth complies with his wishes. Jason Roboards,Sr., (Wholesaler in Wines) gave a great supporting role along with John Emery, (Jean Cornudet) who comes to the aid of Elizabeth along with a Priest who will not ring the church bells of his Parish in defiance of the Prussian Generals. Great Classic Film.

Mam'selle is too demure.

[Prof_Lostiswitz · 6/10 · 28 March 2004]

There is a good film waiting to be made out of de Maupassant's story, but this isn't it. (Stagecoach isn't either). We can understand it isn't Lewton and Wise's fault, it's just that the censorship wouldn't allow it to be done properly then.

Thus, the central character gets turned into a laundress, and the climax comes when she... HAS DINNER with the sadistic Prussian officer!! (in the story, she was shunned by her fellow passengers for being a hooker, then she saves the day by going to bed with him)).

Modern directors like Agnieszka Holland or M.L. Bemberg could make a really great movie out of this, but 1940's America was just not the place.

Simone Simon as a laundress

[blanche-2 · 23 October 2015]

Simone Simon to me was always a fascinating woman. When I saw her on TV in Cat People, my mother told me that she had disappeared after the war. I was a kid, and I thought it was something mysterious. Years later I found out she just went back to France, where she lived to age 94.

Simon doesn't play the title role here; Kurt Krueger does. She plays a laundress in a combination of two Guy De Maupassant stories about the Franco-Prussian war. They must have resonated during World War II.

Simon's character hates the Prussians and doesn't go along with them, though many in the town do. The theme here is passive resistance, and how the poor make sacrifices for their country.

The first part of the film takes place in a carriage and was supposedly the inspiration for "Stagecoach."

Directed by Robert Wise and produced by, of all people, Val Lewton, this is a short film, mildly entertaining.

Actually, Simon's life would make a much more exciting story. Men she liked were given a gold key to her bedroom; she had a relationship with an MI5 spy, Dusko Popov, who was in actuality a double agent. Popov was supposedly the model for James Bond. Simon also had an affair with George Gershwin. I have a feeling there are lots of other interesting stories to be told.

french victory in early battles ** spoilers **

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 5 April 2017]

Simone Simon is "Elisabeth" in the deMaupassant story of a young french lady traveling in a coach with the upper class folks. This tale is SO watered down ... apparently the gal was original a prostitute, yet in this film, she is a "laundress" who keeps refusing to "have dinner" with the German soldiers. Even TCM's Ben Maniewicz chuckled at the changes required by the film code in effect at the time. At the beginning, the other travelers hailed the young lady for being such a patriot, and refusing to "eat" with the soldiers. Then, after she has relented under pressure, and "had dinner" with the soldier, they disdain her when they are allowed to continue on their way. Not sure whether they now saw HER in a different light, or maybe they were actually ashamed of themselves by coercing her to "have dinner" with the Germans. I did recognize Norma Varden... she was Piggy's wife in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". I also wondered about the soldier called "Madamoiselle Fifi"... was that more of an insult in the original story ? was he trying to prove his prowess with the women? why the "Madamoiselle" ? seems to be a parody of "fiefdom", one's own private territory. Also here is the story of the church bell, which is only rung when the underground has made progress. That subplot seems to be the opening and closing bookends of the story. One of Robert Wise's first jobs as director. Check out his list of films.. he sure did some biggies!

uncomfortable

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 10 September 2020]

It's the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. In occupied France, lowly French laundress Elizabeth Rousset (Simone Simon) joins a horse drawn coach at the last minute filled with arrogant French social elites, most of whom do business with the Germans. They stop overnight at an establishment controlled by Prussian officer Lieutenant von Eyrick, nicknamed Mademoiselle Fifi. He demands to dine with Rousset. As a patriot, she refuses and he refuses to release the coach. As the days pass by, the other passengers pressure the young woman.

This is an uncomfortable movie. Fifi is creepy and the situation is darn uncomfortable. Quite frankly, I would do something more poetic and symbolic rather than sexual. Maybe, Fifi should demand the passengers pledge allegiance to the Prussian flag. Of course, the movie is making a point about collaborators and patriots during this wartime. After the stabbing, the movie should have Rousset make an escape attempt ending in failure. After all, the movie opens with a Joan of Arc reference. She has to finish like Joan. This is obviously trying to be a call-to-resist war film. Its uncomfortableness dampens that effort.

An okay version of these stories very hampered by the Hays Code

[rdoyle29 · 7/10 · 25 November 2022]

Laundress Simone Simon takes a coach across France during the Prussian occupation of France in 1870. She is snubbed by the upper class passengers (Alan Napier and Jason Robards, Sr. Are among them), until they realize that she is the only one who thought to bring any food.

They reach an inn and stop for the night. The area is controlled by Prussian officer Kurt Kreuger (he is actually a titular "Mademoiselle Fifi", a nickname gave by his fellow officers), who demands that Simon, a noted troublesome patriot who refuses to consort with Prussians, have dinner with him. When she refuses, he refuses to let the coach continue on it's journey. Her fellow passengers pressure her into giving in, and then ostracize her after she does.

Val Lewton wanted to break out of the horror movie genre and convinced RKO to back a very low budget adaptation of two Guy de Maupassant stories "Boule de Suif" and "Mademoiselle Fifi". Robert Wise had acquitted himself quite well replacing Gunther von Fritsch on "The Curse of the Cat People", so he was handed the reins. The budget was so low that sets from the 1939 film of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" were reused. When they couldn't be, some sets were made of cardboard.

Unfortunately the Hays Code forced changes that really compromise the story. The prostitute of "Boule de Suif" becomes a laundress, rendering the other passengers' contempt a little puzzling. The Prussian's insistence that she sleep with him becomes an offer to have dinner, once again straining credulity.

The film fares better in the 2nd half where the story "Mademoiselle Fifi" takes over. In this last act, the film makes a lot out of the parallels between 1870 and the then current occupation of France by the Nazis, and becomes a very strong statement against collaboration.

Even with this very timely subject, this was Lewton's least successful film and he returned to the horror genre.

A young woman defies Prussian officer.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 17 January 2008]

Robert Wise directs this dramatic offering produced by Val Lewton, who strays from his string of low-budget horror flicks for RKO. In occupied France, a young French laundress(Simone Simon) refuses to give in to a small village's Prussian oppressors. She is given permission to travel to her hometown Cleresville and shares a coach ride through the snow with several socialites with strongly opposite political views than her own. The film's name comes from the nickname of one of the most brutal Prussian officers Lt. von Eyick(Kurt Kreuger)who is called 'Fifi'. Very good scenery depicting the WWII devastation. Others in the cast: Jason Robards Sr., Romaine Callender, Edmund Gover, Helen Freeman, Fay Helm and John Emery.

Dull Tale of Patriotism

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 24 February 2016]

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war, gorgeous laundress Elisabeth Rousset (Simone Simon) is returning home in Cleresville in the occupied France with a snobbish and selfish group of aristocrats, businessmen and a young priest in a stagecoach. When they stop in a inn for the night, the arrogant Prussian Lt. von Eyrick (Kurt Kreuger), known by his alias Mademoiselle Fifi, decides to break the patriotism of Elisabeth and holds up the stagecoach until Elisabeth agrees to "have dinner" with him in his room. The selfish group forces Elisabeth to meet Mademoiselle Fifi, who humiliates her in his room. When the stagecoach finally departs, only Jean Cornudet (John Emery) and the priest comfort Elisabeth and Cornudet decides to stay in Cleresville to ask for forgiveness to Elisabeth. However she rejects his apologies but he decides to stay in the church to help the young priest to resist the Prussians that want him to ring the church bell. Meanwhile Elisabeth is forced to go to a party with Prussian officers where Mademoiselle Fifi is. What will happen to Elisabeth and Cornudet?

"Mademoiselle Fifi" is a dull tale of patriotism, with a story that shows the upper classes together with the enemy to keep their privileges and a simple laundress and a priest as symbols of the resistance and rejection of the enemies. The intention of "having dinner with the enemy in his room" is a very clear metaphor of the true intention of the Prussian office. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Mademoiselle Fifi"

something new

[tpfaff100 · 10/10 · 10 September 2004]

I Mademoiselle Fifi to be something new. I think 30 minutes of the film take place in a stagecoach with a group of people who try to be as mean and nasty to each other as possible. A lunch provided by a peasant woman brings them all together. If this were a play this would be Part 1.

The rest of the film is about kicking Prussians (stoic Germans) out of France. It is a resistance film, appropriate for the year 1944 when it was made. If you liked "The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel" well... this is a more interesting film than that was.

Most old movies are interesting to me because I feel I can learn something by observing the indirect attitudes of the media/generation of the time. I find many subjects now are taboo and we are not allowed to discuss them anymore via the media. I don't fault how things are now or were then. This is just how the media works- it is human nature to reflect biases of the time. This is definitely the case with this film.

I liked it. It is worth watching once.

Attractive but dull

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 14 September 2015]

A rare non-horror effort from producer Val Lewton, this is a period film about a patriotic laundress during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Lewton brought along Cat People star Simone Simon and director Robert Wise (who would do two horror films for Lewton, including Curse of the Cat People with Simon). Despite the setting, it's very obviously meant to be about Nazi-occupied France. It's also pretty clear Simon's character was meant to be a prostitute but the Code wouldn't allow that. The way the upper class types look down on her and the stuff about the German officer wanting to "dine" with her and her steadfast refusal over something so minor is indicative that more is going on here than the script is allowed to say outright. Simone's gorgeous as ever. I love her adorable accent. She handles herself well in this often unexciting costumer. The rest of the cast is fine, with Kurt Kreuger a standout as the slimy villain (and the title character). It's a beautiful-looking film with cinematography by Harry Wild. Lewton fans might like to take a look at it but don't expect anything like his atmospheric horror films.

A minor Robert Wise's movie.

[rainking_es · 5/10 · 18 August 2006]

A minor movie set at the end of the 19th century in France, during the Prusian occupation. It's an adaptation from a Guy de Maupassant that deals with the lack of ideals in the upper classes and how the poor are the ones who end up making sacrifices for their country (and for those rich people who has no ideals).

What's more attractive about "Madamemoiselle Fifi" is the presence of the so beautiful and sexy Simone Simon. Apart from that it's just a pleasant product, one of the first that filmed the prestigious director Robert Wise.

*My rate: 5/10

Kurt Kreuger plays the "title" role in "Mademoiselle Fifi"?

[horn-5 · 29 May 2001]

The film,"Mademoiselle Fifi" is a combination of two of Guy de Maupassant's patriotic stories: "Boule de Suif," the story of a patriotic French girl whose love for her country is misunderstood by those with whom she comes in contact; and "Mademoiselle Fifi,", a tale of a sadistic Prussian officer intent on breaking the will of conquered France, who has been nicknamed "Mademoiselle Fifi" by his comrades because of his constant use of the phrase "Fi fi done." The action takes place during the last part of the Franco-Prussian Way, the locale being occupied France from the city of Rouen, headquarters of the German Third Army, to a little village near the unoccupied territory.

It is what it is.

[panzerrune · 8/10 · 23 July 2008]

"The performances are mainly so-so but Simon, the beauty she is, can't do much. Her performance here is pretty bad and at times laughable due to her voice, which sounded really bad here. I've never been a big fan of hers but this is certainly the worst thing I've seen her do. " As i have quoted here from another IMDb user, and to shed some light. Simone Simon NEVER liked this movie. She did NOT like how her character was portrayed (due to censors) and she NEVER had anything to say good about this movie. This would at least explain why her character in this film falls flat for some viewers. She was under contract with RKO and she was friends with and cared a lot for Val Lewton, which explains why she took the role. I enjoy the movie for what it is, and do not read anything deeply dramatic about it. I am a Simone Simon fan so i enjoy the movie at least on that level.

Thanks.

Not one of Lewton's Best!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 14 July 2014]

Although director Robert Wise makes striking use of standing sets from RKO's Hunchback of Notre Dame to give us memorable images of the coach in the town, the lackluster studio scenes inside the coach, plus a disappointing performance from Simone Simon who plays with little of her usual fire and vigor; plus the very second-string support cast led by John Emery, Kurt Kreuger, Alan Napier, Helen Freeman and Jason Robards, Senior – hardly players that would induce even a mild stampede at the box-office; plus a screenplay that is not only far too talky but far too obviously is bending over backwards to make patriotic parallels; plus Robert Wise's disappointingly bland direction; plus niggardly production values. In all, a very disappointing movie from the Val Lewton unit, well below the producer's usual high standard on all counts, including script, direction, cast, and writing. Screenwriter Peter Ruric could do much better than this, e.g. "The Black Cat" and "Grand Central Murder".

mark of a period

[Vincentiu · 23 June 2013]

like many movies from period, it is seductive for its atmosphere. it is a kind of Maupassant in American skin. nice, clean, melodramatic, with patriotic heart but , in same measure, good example for a manner to present a drama. sure, like many films of war , its purpose is obvious - to be model for viewers. but it is its sin. Simone Simon is perfect gem for a strange construction, without real story and almost confuse. Manichean lines of script, the good and bad characters, the message like stamp on letter, a great potential and fear to expose more than demand of rules. a film. like many. interesting seed for discover Maupassant work/style. and for hope to a better adaptation.

Rather preachy--even for a WWII propaganda film

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 12 September 2007]

This film is about an idealistic young French woman (Simone Simon) and her refusal to fraternize with her Prussian overlords in occupied France following the French defeat in 1870. It's very obvious that it is meant to be a parallel to the Nazi occupation in France starting in 1940, though in some ways it's NOT a perfect parallel. First, the French stupidly declared war on the Prussians in 1870--making it harder to actually feel sorry for them. Second, the Prussians, at times, seem more like Nazis transported by to 1870.

In addition, the film became rather tedious and obvious very quickly and its message was delivered with "sledgehammer symbolism"--in other words, it was hardly subtle. When it appeared in 1944, the film played much better than it does now and I am sure audiences of the day appreciated it much more than I did. My biggest problems aside from the lack of subtlety was that this was a Val Lewton production--the same man who was responsible for a string of wonderful low-budget horror films such as THE BODY SNATCHER, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and THE LEOPARD MAN. This film simply isn't in the same league as those great films--a definite step down for Lewton.

Rare Lewton failure

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 7 May 2021]

One of the few failures of Val Lewton's RKO era, Mademoiselle Fifi is based on two Guy De Maupassant tales, with Boule de Suif being the main inspiration. This was his shot at breaking out of horror and RKO had suggested a period film with Erich von Stroheim directing and Simone Simon and George Sanders as the stars.

Instead, Robert Wise directed. He'd stepped in to work on scenes for The Magnificent Ambersons when Orson Welles was called to South America. Welles had been working on that film and It's All True at the same time for RKO when he was personally asked by Nelson Rockefeller to make a film in Latin America as part of the wartime Good Neighbor Policy. But the story of how Welles' films were taken from him is one for another time. Wise's directing here - and taking over for Gunther von Fritsch on The Curse of the Cat People got him this job.

With just a $200,000 budget - low for a period costume picture - Lewton had Wise study the paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec, Delacroix, Daumier and Detaille to bring out the details that they could in spite of the lack of funding. Some of the sets from The Hunchback of Notre Dame were used, but if you look closely, you can see that many of the sets are made from cardboard.

The story takes place during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, though it's obvious that the film is about World War II. Indeed, it was released on D-Day and would be the first film shown in France after the Allies liberated the country.

Mademoiselle Fifi refers to a Prussian officer (Kurt Krueger) who has taken over a village. When a stagecoach comes into town, they are all detained by the man, with the passengers pushing Elizabeth (Simon, who wore false breasts that for this film, calling them "her eyes," yelling "Bring me my eyes!" before each scene) to give her body to the madman so that they can be free. She's amused by the way that the passengers treat her, as they'd looked down on her as a woman of loose morals before, but now depended on that very same lack of modesty to save their lives. The truth is, she's too loyal to France to allow any Prussian to invade her southern border.

While this was the worst Lewton would perform at the box office, he would soon release four more films for RKO - Youth Runs Wild, The Body Snatcher, Isle of the Dead and Bedlam - before RKO head and Lewton supporter Charles Koerner died in 1946. Lewton himself would have a minor heart attack from the stress and leave the studio to work at Paramount and MGM. A failed attempt at starting an independent production company with former protégés Wise and Robson left Lewton in the cold after no one could agree on which production to start with, leading to him working at Universal and Columbia before two heart attacks would end Lewton's life way too early at the age of 46.

Just an additional thought

[schweinhundt1967 · 29 August 2011]

There isn't too terribly much that I could add that hasn't already been said.However, to add on something for one of Profesor Lisistwitz's observations-yes the heroines in both stories were prostitutes but, given the state of the censorship codes at that time, their true profession(by the way, the world's oldest) wouldn't have been acceptable. In addition, most of the other critics have quite perceptively noticed and mentioned that the screenplay is based on two of Guy De Mauppassant' short stories, which have been quite cleverly put together.And this IS the genius of the scriptwriters.The humiliated girl in "Ball of Fat" come back to retaliate against the villain who humiliated her in the beginning.Well done!

Won't you ringa that bell

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 11 September 2020]

This is a World War II film set in France during the Franco-Prussian War which in real life was over in 6 months. This was not a global conflict with the soldiers of many nations trying to rescue France from invaders. The Germans occupied about a quarter to a third of France and in their stay never put France through the depradations of the 1940s. In fact their stay was climaxed by the crowning of Wilhelm I Emperor(Kaiser) of Germany at Versailles.

But that's not the message Hollywood was sending in those years. Simone Simon becomes the object of the affection of Prussian officer Kurt Kruger.. In the end she does her patriotic duty and so does John Emery in striking a blow for the resistance which there really wasn't any in that war.

The other bone of contention was the silence of the town church bell which for some reason has the occupying Prussians with their backs up. it rings, but at a price for the Prussians.

The cast does well by this historical claptrap in Mademoiselle Fifi.

It's not a remake

[searchanddestroy-1 · 16 February 2023]

Please don't forget that the French movie adapted from Guy de Maupassant's and directed by Christian Jacques - BOULE DE SUIF - was made one year later, so this is not a remake, as we could expect. The American movie industry FIRST adapts a French novel, even short one, and then the French produce the remake !!!! And Simone Simon was not only famous for her awesome performance in CAT PEOPLE, but also there. She, a French actress, plays a French heroine in an American movie taking place in France and speaking of patriotism, when at this very same time French resistance forces fought againt Nazi occupation in France. This is definitely a propaganda film, a rather subtle one, but not that much though, and produced by Val Lewton, in one of his most unusual stuff; because don't forget that so far, and even after, he mostlt produced eerie, "horror" oriented films, thrillers. Not war drama films. The Simone Simon's character reminds me Ann bancroft in John Ford's SEVEN WOMEN, where a lead female character, for whom the supporting ones have some ambivalent feelings, finally makes the sacrifice of herself, to save those same folks....

Non Horror for Lewton

[Michael_Elliott · 25 February 2008]

Mademoiselle Fifi (1944)

** (out of 4)

Val Lewton produced drama about a French laundress (Simone Simon) who boards a coach with several higher up French folks and soon teaches them how to be nice to one another even though war is coming. This film is about as hokey as any movie I've ever witnessed. I still get a chuckle out of producer Lewton who looked down on having to make horror films or work with Boris Karloff yet he seemed fine with a film like this. The low budget certainly doesn't help things but most of the movie takes place inside the stagecoach or within a small room. Wise's direction handles the material pretty well but there's simply not too much here to work with. The performances are mainly so-so but Simon, the beauty she is, can't do much. Her performance here is pretty bad and at times laughable due to her voice, which sounded really bad here. I've never been a big fan of hers but this is certainly the worst thing I've seen her do.