La Fete a Henriette (1952) Julien Duvivier; Dany Robin, Michel Auclair

One of the most outrageous films ever made. It was completely misjudged by the critics of the time but had enough success to be remade poorly as "Paris When It Sizzles" with Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. The film is a fantasy that is filmed before your very eyes, as two screenwriters with opposing personalities try to develop a story for a movie. Duvivier was accused of imitating Welles by the Cahiers critics. They didn't care that the intention was to show the crazy ideas of one of the scenarists, with the other half of the film also done in the calmer "qualite francaise' style to represent the ideas of the more likable of the two screenwriters. Which attitude will dominate the film? The performers have to vary their styles, too depending on which of the opposing writers' additions they are acting in. The film is hilariously inventive from beginning to end.

Charming film in which the product of two screenwriters has been rejected and they must come up with another story pronto. They imagine and argue over different ideas, and as they do, we see their ideas come to life as a film within the film, which mutates from romantic comedy to melodrama to expressionistic noir and back again as the quarreling writers explore various possibilities. Duvivier (Pe