Naughty Arlette (aka The Romantic Age) (1949) directed by Edmond T. Greville
Viewed on July 6, 2019
Synopsis:
Arnold Dickson is the new master for art and literature at an all girl's finishing school. His wife is a pianist who has given up her career for him. His daughter, Julie, is now a student at the school. Julie is befriended by a French girl, Arlette, who is older and more worldly. She runs afoul of Dickson who is a strict teacher. She decides to teach him a lesson by seducing him, which she succeeds in doing. She is about to give him up when Dickson's wife intervenes, insulting her as a child who is not a worthy rival. Her tactics have the unintended consequence of making Arlette even more determined to take him away from his wife. Julie finds out and sends an anonymous letter to her father, so he will catch her behaving wildly at a party. When he does so, she turns the tables on him, making him realize how foolish he has been. He cuts the affair off and returns to his wife.
Commentary:
This is only the third Greville film I've seen (after The Silk Noose and Wild for Kicks). I became interested in him after he was highly praised by Bertrand Tavernier in his film on the history of French cinema. Greville is referred to as the French Edgar G. Ulmer. It's a fair comparison in that Greville made films whenever he could under whatever circumstances. He also, like Ulmer, is a master at economical filmmaking on low budgets. But the plots of his films are nowhere near as problematic as those of Ulmer.
Naughty Arlette ( a much more apt title than the alternate title) has a somewhat hackneyed plot, enlivened by excellent performances and Greville's nice directorial flourishes. The opening of the film is a marvel of efficient exposition, starting with the opening shot of the gate to the school opening up, followed by a witty second shot in which the school is seen in a puddle of water which is then driven through by a car. (The motif of the puddle foreshadows a serious development in the seduction of Dickson during a rainstorm.) The rest of the sequence introduces the various girls with expert staging of the movement of the girls combined with camera movements. (Greville is fond of using a flash pan.)
These kinds of touches make viewing this film a pleasure.
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