Review of Mademoiselle Fifi

Simone Simon is "Elisabeth" in the deMaupassant story of a young french lady traveling in a coach with the upper class folks. This tale is SO watered down ... apparently the gal was original a prostitute, yet in this film, she is a "laundress" who keeps refusing to "have dinner" with the German soldiers. Even TCM's Ben Maniewicz chuckled at the changes required by the film code in effect at the time. At the beginning, the other travelers hailed the young lady for being such a patriot, and refusing to "eat" with the soldiers. Then, after she has relented under pressure, and "had dinner" with the soldier, they disdain her when they are allowed to continue on their way. Not sure whether they now saw HER in a different light, or maybe they were actually ashamed of themselves by coercing her to "have dinner" with the Germans. I did recognize Norma Varden... she was Piggy's wife in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". I also wondered about the soldier called "Madamoiselle Fifi"... was that more of an insult in the original story ? was he trying to prove his prowess with the women? why the "Madamoiselle" ? seems to be a parody of "fiefdom", one's own private territory. Also here is the story of the church bell, which is only rung when the underground has made progress. That subplot seems to be the opening and closing bookends of the story. One of Robert Wise's first jobs as director. Check out his list of films.. he sure did some biggies!