Marcel L'Herbier's last movie is the follow up to "Les Derniers Jours De Pompéi" which was already a big failure ;"Le Père De Mademoiselle" ditches epics and comes back to the filmed stage production style which was France 's dominant genre at the beginning of the talkies era . The only reason why you would watch that is Arletty 's presence ;she is cast as an actress who stars in one of her former successes "Madame Sans Gene" a riotously funny comedy she played on stage and on the screen.She has a secretary whose parents are very bourgeois ,the father a magistrate whose dream is to end his career in Paris ,and the mother a snob socialite who longs for a money match for her daughter. With a little help from her employer,the secretary becomes the actress' s desirable mansion "owner" an a young attaché will help the dad with her problem ;although string-pulling is still a topical subject,the story seems straight out of the ark ,as old as the "Quatre Chevaux" car the girl's squeeze drives .
A poor ending for an often brilliant career.
A poor ending for an often brilliant career.
