Lo specchio a due facce

An American "remake" was concocted by Mrs Streisand ("the mirror has two faces").It's an interesting case because it shows how much a remake can betray the initial writers' intentions.BS made a movie for BS,a movie which takes place in a chic milieu,with of course characters with big prospects (if you've seen Cayatte's movie,just compare Bourvil's seedy school with Bridges' university;Bridges giving lectures in the whole world and Bourvil,in his nine to five world)Let's stop here.Except for the title ,and although BS credits Cayatte for her movie,the two works have nothing to do with each other.

André Cayatte,a former lawyer ,became the champion of the good causes.His best works remain his earlier ones,such as "justice est faite" and "avant le déluge".This one ,by no means a remarkable movie,is watchable and thanks to Morgan and mainly Bourvil ,deals with an interesting subject.But more than Morgan's desire to become an attractive woman by the cosmetic surgery way,this is Bourvil's part which retains the viewer's attention:a mediocre teacher,not what they call a handsome man,he's not prepared to accept a beautiful woman.After the operation,he shows Morgan their faces in a mirror and yells:"is this the woman I married?"Abetted by an over-possessive mother (Sylvie,excellent as always),self-satisfied and narrow-minded ,he's from a generation who cannot accept woman's lib;he wants a housewife.That's ,for 1958,the most modern side of the movie.

The main flaw is perhaps in the first part:an ugly Michèle Morgan -thanks to a pretty ridiculous make-up - was not really believable. And the ugly duckling story has not always a happy end.