That Naughty Girl (1956)

Sadly Over-hyped

Just perfect...

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This is a nice romantic comedy starring Brigitte Bardot. She did a great job and was simply gorgeous. However, it is far from a great film--and one for which you have to make some allowances due to poor direction and an occasionally goofy script.Brigitte plays a lady in her early twenties whose father is in involved with shady illegal business. However, she is oblivious and thinks he's rich from a legitimate shipping business. When the father gets in trouble with the law, he asks his friend Clery to the small college where Brigitte is enrolled and bring her to him in Switzerland. The father figures that if the girl isn't brought to him quickly, the police will take her in custody and try to use her as leverage. In fact, shortly after Clery arrives, the police DO show up as well and the two barely make their escape.The rest of the film concerns Clery and Brigette hiding out from the law. And how did he get the girl to agree to hide? He told her that her father is being pursued by spied who are dressed like policemen! But having this radiant young woman with him causes a lot of problems--with Clery's fiancée, because Brigitte is a bit of a klutz and problems follow her and because the police are bound to show up sooner or later.This film has many enjoyable and cute moments. Brigitte is simply wonderful and it's hard to dislike her--even when she manages to burn down Clery's apartment! She's just so cute and sweet and likable. This is THE reason I liked the film. Plus, SOME of the plot is very good. But, sadly, the film also has a lot of problems. The biggest one is that the film plays, at times, like a Three Stooges film--with 'funny' sound effects and the worst over-acting I have ever seen Mischa Auer do (it was simply embarrassing). A romantic comedy should be funny, but not like this! In addition, there seemed to be a lot of padding--singing and dancing that often distract from the nice relationship that was blooming between Brigitte and Clery--it was very sweet. As a result, it's very watchable but you can't help thinking that it could have been better if the director hadn't been an idiot and had exercised some restraint.

Wanted by the police, is Nightclub owner Paul Latour, as he's suspected of forgery within a counterfeit ring. So he leaves the country to try the clear his name. In doing so, he has left his "baby" daughter Brigitte to stay with his nightclub performer Jean Clery, who's soon to be married to psychoanalyst Lily. When Brigitte enters Jean's life, everything turns upside as he tries to cope until Paul returns back for her. Knee-jerk and overly quirky French romantic comedy farce sees the drop dead gorgeous Brigitte Bardot (looking real adorable) getting into a lot of trouble with her ditsy and free-spirited character. The material (written by Roger Vadim and Michel Boisrond) isn't nothing we hadn't seen before, but it holds a solid foundation to draw upon many amusing avenues and the script had a juicy, chic and snappy vibe that only added more to the fun. Director Michel Boisrond's lively sense keeps the running gags flowing (which do work), inventive visuals (split-screens), fast rhythm and sets-up a couple of very well choreographed dance numbers that go onto show how alluring the young lady could be. A very-light weight, silly, bright and zesty feature goes onto shape it with plenty of humorous appeal and charm that streams throughout to its chaotic climax and finally surprising conclusion. Also seducing the audience other than Bardot is the tantalizing music score. Joseph Brun placed the camera in the ideal spot with some adventurous framing finding its way in too. Jean Bretonnière who appears opposite of his co-star, holds his own nicely. Mischa Auer was perfectly tailored for the zany comic touches. An enjoyably fashionable slice of Brigitte Bardot.

This film can probably be only fairly judged by a fluent French speaker. Subtitled films are more difficult to enjoy because the viewer's full attention isn't entirely with the on screen action. That aside, Bardot is of course the French Marilyn Monroe and she is comely and provocative to live up to that comparison. Her dance numbers while very good weren't anything more than what was done with all the Hollywood musicals of the forties and fifties. The plot is serviceable enough though that aspect of filmmaking is usually not the focus of a musical. Still, good entertainment, especially if you're a Bardot fan and/or can speak fluent French. 6/10.

Bardot is gorgeous and so is the production, which aspires to a near-Hollywood gloss, but this is mainly tired, formula comedy smelling faintly of imitation Damon Runyon. Bretonniere is no Yves Montand, and BB's big dance number is a failed imitation of Leslie Caron's introduction in "An American in Paris". Fans of "Time Code" (or perhaps "Tucker") may enjoy some clever split-screen effects that appear to have been achieved with trick sets instead of multiple exposures. A potential guilty pleasure for those who crave 50s CinemaScope eye candy.