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Divine rating 
1/5 Divine

   
Director Max Ophuls
Writer Colette
Certificate NC
Running time 82 minutes
Country France
Year 1935
Associated shops

Reviewed by Lee

WITH just two prints still in existence this is a rarely seen early work of Ophuls. It's a forgettable look at a woman out of synch with the world around her.

Simone Berriau is the simple country girl who is encouraged to go to Paris and try her luck in show business. Within minutes of arriving she is dubbed 'Divine' and given a place in the chorus line. The innocent is soon surrounded by sleaze - the show's producer wants her to appear naked, male and female cast members try to seduce her and she becomes mixed up in drug deals. Her salvation comes in the form of the local milkman. Can she find true happiness with him?

It has none of the stunning images of La Signora di Tutti (made a year earlier) to help lift it from the realms of cheap melodrama. The screenplay, written by French author Colette, contains some surprising subjects for the time but still the whole thing seems very jaded.

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