The Bear and the Doll

The Bear and the Doll (French: L'Ours et la Poupée) is a 1970 French romantic comedy film directed by Michel Deville, starring Brigitte Bardot and Jean-Pierre Cassel. Taking place over 24 hours, a rich, beautiful and wilful woman from Paris is determined to seduce a peaceable musician in the country who appears uninterested in her considerable charms.

The Bear and the Doll
Theatrical release poster
FrenchL'Ours et la Poupée
Directed byMichel Deville
Screenplay by
  • Nina Companeez
  • Michel Deville
Dialogue byNina Companeez
Produced byMag Bodard
Starring
CinematographyClaude Lecompte
Edited byNina Companeez
Music byEddie Vartan
Production
companies
  • Parc Film
  • Marianne Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • 4 February 1970 (1970-02-04) (France)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office1,617,853 admissions (France)[1]

Plot

Félicia, a high-spirited society woman, one morning in the country crashes a borrowed Rolls Royce car into the 2CV of Gaspard, a placid cellist who is bringing up his young son and three nieces. Back in Paris, she realises that she has not filled in the compulsory accident report form and spends much of the day trying to locate a cellist with a 2CV. When at last she does, she asks him to the party she is holding in her town mansion to celebrate her latest divorce. As he does not want to stay, full of drink and bravado she drives him erratically through the rain back to his house, where he tries to sober her up and, since she is soaked, puts her in a hot bath . . . . . .

Cast

Production

The film was inspired by American screwball comedies of the 1930s and was written with Catherine Deneuve in mind. Alain Delon and Jean Paul Belmondo were offered the male lead but turned it down. Filming took place in the summer of 1969.[2]

Reception

Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that "the maneuverings are mostly the tactics of coy moviemaking here involving several awful child actors, windshield wipers that comment on the action, a huge but gentle dog, a Siamese cat named Prudhomme, and endless little rages between the lovers that define their real affection... Charm is the ingredient that is in singularly short supply in The Bear and the Doll, largely, I suspect, because Miss Bardot, once a sex kitten, now approaches middle age with all of the grace of a seasoned predator."[3]

References
  1. "L'Ours et la Poupée". Box Office Story (in French).
  2. Lombard, Philippe (9 January 2012). "L'Ours et la poupée (1970)". Histoires de Tournages (in French). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. Canby, Vincent (17 September 1971). "L Ours et la poupee – The Screen:' The Bear and the Doll' Opens Run at Paris". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.


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