"Monsieur Bibi"aka " Faut Ce Qu'Il Faut ",made in 1940 ,was released in 1946,after the Liberation.
It was probably made to cheer the people up,after WW2 broke :besides the two male principals are middle-aged men,and Roland Toutain,here cast against type as the romantic young male lead ,has a relatively short screen time,for he was probably called up. A young man files for divorce ,so as to be able to marry his new love who is pregnant by him;unfortunately ,he has to go to war and to leave his fiancée behind,just after she gives birth to a baby girl. The baby's godfather suggest he marry her (marriage in name only) and thus she will get an allowance as a drafted reservist's wife.The plot thickens when an authoritarian Concierge falls in love with him .
This looks like melodrama ,but in fact ,it is treated as a musical with lots of song ("Par Gentillesse" "IL FAut Ce QU'Il FAut ",the alternate title of the movie,a lullaby and plenty of other ditties);in a dark hour such as 1940,it seems weird indeed,it has to be seen to be believed .The movie was out of time before its release after the war.
Interest lies in the actors:Pierre Larquey as the well-meaning godfather who does not want to be called " grandfather" and Jean Tissier as a registry office minor officer.Otherwise,it's a bit feeble.
NB director René Pujol died in 1942 and did not see the release of his film.
It was probably made to cheer the people up,after WW2 broke :besides the two male principals are middle-aged men,and Roland Toutain,here cast against type as the romantic young male lead ,has a relatively short screen time,for he was probably called up. A young man files for divorce ,so as to be able to marry his new love who is pregnant by him;unfortunately ,he has to go to war and to leave his fiancée behind,just after she gives birth to a baby girl. The baby's godfather suggest he marry her (marriage in name only) and thus she will get an allowance as a drafted reservist's wife.The plot thickens when an authoritarian Concierge falls in love with him .
This looks like melodrama ,but in fact ,it is treated as a musical with lots of song ("Par Gentillesse" "IL FAut Ce QU'Il FAut ",the alternate title of the movie,a lullaby and plenty of other ditties);in a dark hour such as 1940,it seems weird indeed,it has to be seen to be believed .The movie was out of time before its release after the war.
Interest lies in the actors:Pierre Larquey as the well-meaning godfather who does not want to be called " grandfather" and Jean Tissier as a registry office minor officer.Otherwise,it's a bit feeble.
NB director René Pujol died in 1942 and did not see the release of his film.