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.
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.