Le Plaisir
Encyclopedia
Le Plaisir also known as House of Pleasure, is a French comedy-drama anthology film
directed by Max Ophüls
adapting three stories by Guy de Maupassant
. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction
(Max Ophüls).
of her niece. Her regular patrons are taken aback when they discover the whorehouse closed without explanation that Saturday night. One finally discovers a sign explaining the reason and is relieved. Julia's brother becomes infatuated with Rosa, one of her workers, and promises to visit next month.
Anthology film
An anthology film is a feature film consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event . Sometimes each one is directed by a different director...
directed by Max Ophüls
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer — known as Max Ophüls — was an influential German-born film director who worked in Germany , France , the United States , and France again...
adapting three stories by Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Max Ophüls).
Le Masque
A somewhat artificial looking young dandy goes to an ornate dance hall, where he finds a young woman to be his dance partner. When he faints from the exertion, a doctor is called. He discovers that the dandy is in fact an old man wearing a mask to hide his aged appearance. The doctor takes the old man home to his patient wife. She explains that her husband Ambroise used to attract the ladies who frequented the hairdresser salon where he worked, but in the space of two years, he lost his looks. He goes out in disguise in an attempt to recapture his youth.La Maison Tellier
Julia Tellier, the well-respected madam of a small-town whorehouse, takes her girls on an outing to her brother's village to attend the first communionFirst Communion
The First Communion, or First Holy Communion, is a Catholic Church ceremony. It is the colloquial name for a person's first reception of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Catholics believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of the Catholic Church...
of her niece. Her regular patrons are taken aback when they discover the whorehouse closed without explanation that Saturday night. One finally discovers a sign explaining the reason and is relieved. Julia's brother becomes infatuated with Rosa, one of her workers, and promises to visit next month.
Le Modèle
An artist falls in love with his model. Things are idyllic at first, but after living together for a while, they begin to quarrel constantly. Finally, he moves in with his friend. She eventually finds him, but he wants no more to do with her. He ignores her threat to jump from a window, and is so guilt-ridden when she does so immediately that he marries her.Le Masque
- Claude DauphinClaude Dauphin (actor)Claude Dauphin was a French actor. He appeared in over 130 films between 1930 and 1978.He was born in Corbeil-Essonnes, Essonne. His father was Maurice Étienne Legrand, a poet who wrote as Franc-Nohain, and who was the librettist for Maurice Ravel's opera L'heure espagnole.Dauphin married...
as the doctor - Gaby Morlais as Denise, Ambroise's wife
- Paul AzaïsPaul AzaïsPaul Azaïs was a French film actor. He appeared in 112 films between 1929 and 1966.-Selected filmography:* Au grand balcon * Return to Life * The King of the Bla Bla Bla...
as a dance hall patron - Gaby Bruyère as Frimousse, Ambroise's dance partner
- Jean GallandJean Galland-Selected filmography:* The Barber of Seville * Le Scandale * Princesse Tam Tam * The House of the Spaniard * Savage Brigade * Entente cordiale * La Fugue de Monsieur Perle...
as Ambroise
La Maison Tellier
- Madeleine RenaudMadeleine RenaudMadeleine Renaud was a distinguished actress and a major figure in French theater in the 20th century. She was born Lucie Madeleine Renaud in Paris and died there, aged 94, in 1994....
as Julia Tellier - Ginette LeclercGinette LeclercGinette Leclerc was a French film actress. She appeared in nearly 90 films between 1932 and 1978. Her last TV appearance was in 1981.She was born Geneviève Lucie Menut in Paris, France and died in Paris...
as Madame Flora, one of Julia's girls - Mila ParélyMila ParélyMila Parély is a French actress best known for the roles of Belle's sister in Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête and as Geneviève in La Règle du jeu. She gave up acting in the late 1950s in order to take care of her race-car driving husband, who had been injured in an accident.She also worked with...
as Madame Raphaële, another of Julia's employees - Danielle DarrieuxDanielle DarrieuxDanielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux is a French actress and singer, who has appeared in more than 110 films since 1931. She is one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career is among the longest in film history....
as Madame Rosa, another worker - Pierre BrasseurPierre BrasseurPierre Brasseur , born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor.He was the son of actor Georges Espinasse and actress Germaine Brasseur while the latter was married to Albert Brasseur. His grandfather, Jules Brasseur, was an actor as well...
as Julien Ledentu, a traveling salesman who becomes too fresh with the girls on the train trip - Jean GabinJean Gabin-Biography:Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, he grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, about 22 mi north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly...
as Joseph Rivet, Julia's brother - Amédée as Frédéric, another whorehouse employee
- Antoine BalpêtréAntoine BalpêtréAntoine Balpêtré was a French film actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1933 and 1963.-Selected filmography:* Le Corbeau * Dieu a besoin des hommes * Justice Is Done...
as Monsieur Poulain, a patron - René BlancardRené BlancardRené Blancard was a French film actor. He appeared in 80 films between 1922 and 1965.-Selected filmography:* A Cage of Nightingales * We Are All Murderers * Endless Horizons...
as the mayor - Mathilde Casadesus as Madame Louise, another worker
- Henri Crémieux as Monsieur Pimpesse
- Arthur DevèreArthur DevèreArthur Devère was a Belgian film actor. He appeared in 59 films between 1913 and 1956.-Selected filmography:* Carnival in Flanders * Le Jour se lève * Girls in Distress...
as the train conductor - Paulette DubostPaulette DubostPaulette Dubost was a French actress who began her career at the age of 7 at the Paris Opera.She appeared in over 250 films and worked with such directors as Jean Renoir, Jacques Tourneur, Marcel Carné, Julien Duvivier, Preston Sturges and Max Ophüls. One of her most famous roles was as Lisette in...
as Madame Fernande, another employee - Jocelyne Jany as Constance Rivet, Julia's niece
- Robert Lombard as Monsieur Philippe, the banker's son, a patron
- Héléna MansonHéléna MansonElena Eugenia Manson was a French film actress. She appeared in 95 films between 1925 and 1989.-Selected filmography:* Le Corbeau * Return to Life * Clear the Ring...
as Marie Rivet, Joseph's wife
Le Modèle
- Jean ServaisJean ServaisJean Servais was a Belgian actor trained at the Brussels Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, where he won the Second Prize....
as Jean's friend, also narrator of the French version - Daniel GélinDaniel GélinDaniel Yves Alfred Gélin was a French actor, occasional director and screenwriter.-Early life:Gélin was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire. When he was 10 his family moved to Saint-Malo where Daniel went to college until he was expelled for 'uncouthness'. His father then found him a job in a shop that...
as Jean, the painter - Simone SimonSimone SimonSimone Thérèse Fernande Simon was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931.-Early life:Born in Béthune, Pas-de-Calais France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Champmoynat, a French engineer, airplane pilot in World War II, who died in a concentration camp, and Erma Maria...
as Joséphine, the model