The screenwriter,Pierre Laroche, combines two novels by Colette :"Chéri" and "La Fin De Chéri" ;he chose to overlook WW1 but kept the tragical ending.
The hero meets one of his old chums (La Copine) who keeps a collection of photographs of his youth;thus the movie is built around flashbacks .Pierre Billon's direction is rather static ,but his first-class cast shines: Jean Desailly,one of the most gifted thespians of his generation was often overlooked by the cinema (with the notable exceptions of this movie,"Le Voyageur De La Toussaint" ,"La Mort De Belle" and particularly "Maigret Tend Un Piège " in which he outshone Gabin);he portrays this pitiful handsome gigolo with the child in his eyes ,displaying every nuance of his fragility and desperation;Jane Marken ,true to form,is his over-possessive big mama ,a would be socialite who looks like a crude madam;Marcelle Chantal is his aging lover who feels youth slipping away from her;Yvonne De Bray is his confidant ,trying to give him back the Joie De Vivre ;less impressive is Marcelle Derrien's Edmée ,the woman with whom Chéri made a money match and who does not want to bear a child,for fear he may be a second " you" .
The hero meets one of his old chums (La Copine) who keeps a collection of photographs of his youth;thus the movie is built around flashbacks .Pierre Billon's direction is rather static ,but his first-class cast shines: Jean Desailly,one of the most gifted thespians of his generation was often overlooked by the cinema (with the notable exceptions of this movie,"Le Voyageur De La Toussaint" ,"La Mort De Belle" and particularly "Maigret Tend Un Piège " in which he outshone Gabin);he portrays this pitiful handsome gigolo with the child in his eyes ,displaying every nuance of his fragility and desperation;Jane Marken ,true to form,is his over-possessive big mama ,a would be socialite who looks like a crude madam;Marcelle Chantal is his aging lover who feels youth slipping away from her;Yvonne De Bray is his confidant ,trying to give him back the Joie De Vivre ;less impressive is Marcelle Derrien's Edmée ,the woman with whom Chéri made a money match and who does not want to bear a child,for fear he may be a second " you" .
