The French Line (1954)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Excellent adaptation.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It seems that the majority of people who have posted comments on this can't wait to note that it is both a rip-off of and inferior to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. There is, of course, something in this; both begin in the US, wind up in Paris with the bulk of the running time spent on the transatlantic crossing. Oh, yes, both also have songs. On the other hand I think it's possible to trace a more direct link to Warners' Romance On The High Seas in which Doris Day (in her first film) is travelling incognito, as is Jane Russell here, both girls are the subject of scrutiny by men hired to monitor their every moves and both men fall reciprocally in love with the girls they are tailing BUT not before ten reels or so of mistaken-identity plotting which itself is reminiscent of Top Hat. While GPB had to-drawer songs by Jule Styne and Leo Robin this time around Styne has been replaced by the bush league Josef Myrow and Robin has to settle for a co-lyricist credit with Robert Wells. It's worth watching without being memorable.

"The French Line" was a Howard Hughes-produced opus in 3-D, designed to showcase star Jane Russell (you can make your own guesses what the purpose of putting this innocuous musical in 3-D was...I'll give you two!). To be kind, its no "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", to which it has some similarities.Jane plays a Texas girl who is a reluctant millionairess - she has inherited her late father's ranch, which happens to be sitting on copious oil fields. But poor Jane only wants a man who will love her for who she is, not her money. She bewails her lot to her friend and guardian, ranch hand Arthur Hunnicutt, when her latest beau, Craig Stevens, jilts her before heading to the altar because he, like all the others, can't handle having a rich wife. Hunnicutt talks her into not canceling her planned wedding cruise to Paris on the French line, the Liberte (as pronounced by Jane, the Li-burr-tay), only she decides to go incognito so she can catch a man who knows nothing about her money.Well, first of all, do you really think a millionairess who happens to look like Jane Russell would have such problems? This is purely a confection of a film and not worth worrying about plot lines, but its all just pretty damn silly. And unfortunately, someone decided it should be a musical except all the blah numbers are staged very awkwardly. Jane is beautiful, but hasn't much to work with here and leading man Gilbert Roland seems both a bit too mature as a match for her and definitely too Spanish to play a Frenchman (they try to pawn it off by giving him a Spanish mother). It all ends with a fashion show which just may be the most ludicrous of many far-fetched Hollywood fashion shows. And by now, all the naughtiness which got this opus condemned by the League of Decency and denied a Production seal (Jane's skimpy costumes and bumps & grinds) seem fit for a toddler to watch.

The British publication "Radio Times" in a recent review said that Jane Russell was past her prime in this movie. Were they watching? She looks great, her singing is fantastic and she seems to really enjoy herself in this film.In my book this is one of the best musicals of the 1950's, but it's strength is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Irreverent and vulgar, the plot is a feminist's nightmare and Jane Russell's "talents" are exploited to the full. As the picture was released originally in 3D, the tagline was "Jane will knock BOTH your eyes out!"One of the most censored movies in American history, the film was cut to shreds in many states. The final musical number "lookin' for trouble" is truly outrageous. But the overall spirit of the film is goodnatured and full of energy.Watch this film again and again!

The film opens on the eve of Jane Russell wedding day to Craig Stevens...When Jane discovers that Craig broke with her just for fearing to marry a cheery Texas oil heiress, she takes a trip to France - incognito - on board of the S.S. Liberté, following the advice of her protégé Arthur Hunnicutt...In New York, she meets an old friend Mary McCarthy, an interesting woman of the 'fashion world' who was about to give on the same ship, an ostentatious arrogant international show of elegant and stylish costumes once believed 'subject to censure.'Switching and masquerading identities during the voyage as a fashion model with Joyce MacKenzie, Jane falls in love with Gilbert Roland, a good-humored playboy with 'no' money, hired secretly by Hunnicutt to look after her during the trip...Once arriving to France, everything is cleared and unclouded by the couple, who affirms their deep affection and true love, living happily ever after..."French Line" is thinly plotted but quite attractive light musical with a star first seen in her 'bubble of excitement' bath scene, then in a daring and gorgeous gown... Russell performs a dance of the 1920s singing "Lookin' for Trouble."For your record, Kim Novak appears, for the first time, as a model...