Even the great directors have made the occasional stinker with the notable exception it seems of Max Ophuls, although 'The Exile' certainly comes close!
'Sans Lendemain' is an unjustly neglected film which offers the brilliant Edwige Feuilliere one of her finest roles. Had this film been made in Hollywood the heroine would almost certainly have revealed her true situation to her former lover and discovered that he still loved her in spite of it all. In the bittersweet world of Max Ophuls this outcome would of course be too simple and her noble attempts to conceal lead instead to a tragic result.
This is melodrama to be sure but raised to a different level by Mlle. Feuilliere's superb performance and by the impeccable taste, sensitivity, sophistication and artistic integrity of its director. Max Ophuls is the definitive 'auteur' whose enrichment of the 'seventh art' is immeasurable.