Watch Mademoiselle Fifi For Free

Wonderful Movie

Undescribable Perfection

Sorry, this movie sucks

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

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.

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.

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.

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.