Max Ophuls

The Earrings of Madame de . . .

The Earrings of Madame de . . .

The most cherished work from French master Max Ophuls, The Earrings of Madame de . . . is a profoundly emotional, cinematographically adventurous tale of deceptive opulence and tragic romance. When an aristocratic woman known only as Madame de . . . (Danielle Darrieux) sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband (Charles Boyer) in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair. Ophuls’s adaptation of Louise de Vilmorin’s incisive fin de siècle novel employs to ravishing effect the elegant and precise camera work for which the director is so justly renowned.

Film Info

  • France
  • 1953
  • 100 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.33:1
  • French
  • Spine #445

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored high-definition digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary featuring film scholars Susan White and Gaylyn Studlar
  • Introduction by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Interviews with director Max Ophuls’s collaborators Alan Jessua, Marc Frédérix, and Annette Wademant
  • Visual essay by film scholar Tag Gallagher
  • Interview with writer Louise de Vilmorin about Ophuls’s adaptation of her novel
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Molly Haskell, an excerpt from costume designer Georges Annenkov’s 1962 book Max Ophuls, and Vilmorin’s 1951 source novel, Madame de

New cover by David Downton

Purchase Options

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored high-definition digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary featuring film scholars Susan White and Gaylyn Studlar
  • Introduction by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Interviews with director Max Ophuls’s collaborators Alan Jessua, Marc Frédérix, and Annette Wademant
  • Visual essay by film scholar Tag Gallagher
  • Interview with writer Louise de Vilmorin about Ophuls’s adaptation of her novel
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Molly Haskell, an excerpt from costume designer Georges Annenkov’s 1962 book Max Ophuls, and Vilmorin’s 1951 source novel, Madame de

New cover by David Downton

The Earrings of Madame de . . .
Cast
Charles Boyer
Général André de . . .
Danielle Darrieux
Comtesse Louise de . . .
Vittorio De Sica
Baron Fabrizio Donati
Jean Debucourt (from the Comédie-Française)
Monsieur Rémy
Jean Galland
Monsieur de Bernac
Mireille Perrey
Nurse
Lia Di Leo
Lola
Credits
Director
Max Ophuls
Based on the novel by
Louise de Vilmorin
Adaptation by
Marcel Achard
Adaptation by
Max Ophuls
Adaptation by
Annette Wademant
Music
Oscar Straus
Music
Georges van Parys
Cinematography
Christian Matras
Production manager
H. R. Baum
Sets
Jean d'Eaubonne
Costumes
Georges Annenkov
Costumes
Rosine Delamare
Sound
Antoine Petitjean
Editing
Borys Lewin

Current

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