La rosière des Halles

Paulette Dubost passed away a few years ago at the age of 100;she played in lots and lots of movies, most of the time ,supporting acts;many of her movies are eminently forgettable ,but some of them ("La Règle Du Jeu" " La Fête A Henriette ",even "Viva Maria" ) highly commendable

In "La Rosière Des Halles "=the covered market virgin" ,she plays the lead .A naive peasant woman with a gift of the gab ,she comes probably from Britton ,a region which provides Paris with their servants ;the character was certainly inspired by Becassine ,a character Dubost would later play ,long before Podalydès's movie.

The beginning of the story is a true delight ;on the train ,our talkative heroine with her country accent is "invited" to have lunch in the dining-car :much to her surprise,you've got to pay ,and it's not cheap.

A cook in a house where the husband (Pierre Larquey)is a playwright whose lines do not sound right ("you should hear the working classes talk ,it would give you a clue") ;he is a cuckold ,for his wife sleeps with the romantic male lead of his future play;the movie becomes too predictable to be really effective ,but Paulette Dubost sustains the interest throughout .

The play concerns a love story between a servant and a market porter ,which also happens in real live,which will be a great help for the baffled playwright.

Watch out for Vivianne Romance's cameo :she would become one of the two bad gals of the French cinema,along with Ginette Leclerc.

According to French cinema connoisseur Happy Trigger ,his ultimate effort ,"La Grande Meute " is also director Jean De Limur's towering work.