Lovers, Happy Lovers! (1954)
Monsieur Ripois (original title)

From the Louis Hemon novel "M. Ripois and His Nemesis" about Andre Ripois, a philanderer in pursuit of love and riches from Paris to London. Andre is breaking up with his wife, Catherine, ... See full summary »

Director:

René Clément

Writers:

Louis Hémon (novel), René Clément (screenplay),

Stars:

Gérard Philipe, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gérard Philipe	...	André Ripois
Valerie Hobson	...	Catherine Ripois
Joan Greenwood	...	Norah
Margaret Johnston	...	Anne
Natasha Parry	...	Patricia
Germaine Montero	...	Marcelle

Storyline

From the Louis Hemon novel "M. Ripois and His Nemesis" about Andre Ripois, a philanderer in pursuit of love and riches from Paris to London. Andre is breaking up with his wife, Catherine, over his attentions to her best friend Patricia. While Catherine is out arranging the divorce, Andre, just to keep in practice, hits on the girl upstairs, Diana and then turns his attention back to Patricia, who he tricks into having dinner at his flat on the pretext that Catherine will be there. When he cannot make any progress with her via his usual tactics, he tries to arouse her pity be telling her of his past. In his early, impoverished days in London, he made love to his boss Anne but her dreadful cooking drove him away. Next came Norah who he picked up on a bus and took to his flat and told her about his make-believe inheritance, but she insisted on marriage first, which was not in his plans. Marcelle, a French woman living in Soho, put him on his feet with money, and he repaid her by stealing...

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Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Money | Bus | Wedding | Best Friend | 

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Taglines:

His One Talent Was Loving...Every Woman Who Passed His Way! (original USA poster)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

France UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lover Boy

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Transcontinental Film Productions (London), Transcontinental Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 85 min (re-release) 106 min (original release)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gene Tierney was to star, she refused the part. The Studio offered her top billing, she still refused the part.

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Goofs

When Andre leaves Anne, the whole crew is reflected in the taxi that takes him away.

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Connections

Featured in Le fils de Gascogne (1995)
Talked about in the film.

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Soundtracks

"Song of Margaret"
Written by P. MacOrlan and V. Marceau
Sung by Germaine Montero

User Reviews

Monsieur Philipe

Legends die hard.Many naive people are still thinking that the Nouvelle Vague took the cinema out of the studios and saved a so called moribund "breathless" cinema.In the fifties,many people did cleverer things earlier and shot "on location" well before the wave.

"Monsieur Ripois" was filmed ,for many scenes ,in the streets of London,as Julien Duvivier and Jacques Becker filmed respectively "Sous Le Ciel De Paris" and "Les Rendez-Vous De Juillet" in the streets of Paris.Gerard Philippe walks in the London crowd as Belmondo will do in "breathless",six years later.

"Monsieur Ripois " owes almost everything to Gerard Philipe though;the screenplay is not that exciting and sometimes the action drags on.But Philipe was so extraordinary an actor -his boyish nay childlike look was unique among French actors ,he was never replaced - he could give substance to the most common of the characters (here a jaded Don Juan) He was one of the four actors Truffaut did not want to work with (for the record ,the three others were Michèle Morgan,Michel Simon and Jean Gabin) and that's a good reason to like him.He can be so many men from the charming young man to the tramp on the street,starving and crying over his broken radio to the chic pseudo-lit teacher Mr Cadet-Chenonceaux ,but he remains the man with the child in his eyes.

"Monsieur Ripois" ,in its own particular way,is a forerunner of " (the talented)Mr Ripley" René Clement would transfer to the screen in 1959 as "Plein Soleil" aka " Purple noon" .Both Philipe and Alain Delon seem to be "outside their character",the fact that the 1954 work is a comedy -which tragically ends- and the 1959 effort a thriller does not matter much:Ripois and Ripley have to fight against a hostile work,both try to gain the world (one cannot speak of their soul) thanks to women (Ripois) or crime (Ripley).Both take the others' names (Ripley) or invent their own identity (Ripois).