FILM · 1953 · FRANCE
Madame de…
- Directed by
- Max Ophüls
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Studio
- Franco London Films, Indusfilms, Rizzoli Film
20 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
In late 19th century France, the Countess Louise, wife of a wealthy general, sells the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day to pay off her secret debts, then claims to have lost them. Her husband quickly learns of the deceit, which is the beginning of many tragic misunderstandings, all involving the earrings, the general, the countess, and her new lover, the Italian Baron Donati.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (20)
- #001
Vittorio De Sica was a great admirer of Max Ophüls and wanted the role played by Jean Gabin in Le Plaisir (1952). Ophüls turned him down but told him he would find him an honorable role in another film. The Baron in this film was written with him in mind.
- #002
Louise de Vilmorin chose to keep her characters unnamed in order to follow the style of Belle Époque writers, who used this technique to make their characters appear to be based on real people. In the film adaptation, Max Ophüls decided to keep the characters' surnames hidden because he felt this created the impression that his characters could represent anyone from the story's setting.
- #003
The diamond earrings change hands eighteen times over the course of the film. The chain of ownership runs: Louise de… - Jeweler - André de… - His mistress - A gambling house - (off-screen) A shop - Fabrizio Donati - Louise - André - Fabrizio - Jeweler - André - Louise - André (wanting to reclaim ownership) - Louise's nephew - (off-screen) The nephew's husband - Jeweler - Louise - A church.
- #004
The film was reported to be fellow director Stanley Kubrick's all-time favorite.
- #005
The film most likely takes place in 1880, because at one point the general mentions that he and the countess went to see Sarah Bernhardt in the play Adrienne Lecouvreur — a role Bernhardt only took on in 1880, before embarking on a long US tour. He had also earlier said that his wife fainted for 20 minutes during the Lisbon earthquake; this was almost certainly a reference to the 1880 earthquake (estimated at 6.1 on the Richter scale) (the most recent Lisbon earthquake had been in 1856, and the next was not until the early 1900s).
- #006
Max Ophüls named the lead character Louise as a gift to his friend Louise de Vilmorin, the author of the book.
- #007
It was initially released with a longer ending in which the earrings are shown being given by a young nun to a young woman who marries a general. The aim was to create a circular structure for the film, with the young woman representing the next Madame de. However, Max Ophüls felt it weakened the film once it was finished and personally cut it from later prints.
- #008
Max Ophüls would only direct the film if Danielle Darrieux accepted the lead role. The part had been written specifically with her in mind.
- #009
Director Max Ophüls agreed to direct this film after a project to adapt Honoré de Balzac's novel "La Duchesse de Langeais" fell through. That abandoned project had been intended as a comeback vehicle for Greta Garbo. Ophüls felt that Garbo, like himself, was especially skilled at portraying the humanity and emotions of an endless love. Meanwhile, Garbo's costume tests for the ill-fated project would turn out to be her last professional work. Once the project failed, however, Ophüls turned his attention to making this film.
- #010
When the film was released, it received moderately cold reviews in America, with some critics describing it as elegant but unnecessarily detailed and showy. Over the years critics warmed to the film. In 2007, at a New York film festival of French auteur cinema, critics reassessed the film and praised it as one of the most important and influential works of international cinema and one of celebrated director Max Ophüls's best films.
- #011
Louise de Vilmorin's short novel runs 62 pages. That is quite short source material for a film of this length.
- #012
Max Ophüls was a close friend of Louise de Vilmorin, the author of the short novel on which this film is based.
- #013
Douglas Sirk once called it "perfect."
- #014
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, who considers the director's work highly influential on his own, recorded an introduction to the film for its Criterion release.
- #015
The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.
- #016
This film is part of the Criterion Collection as spine number 445.
- #017
It was ranked the 58th greatest non-English-language film in a 2018 critics' poll conducted by the BBC.
- #018
Original literary work: "Madame de…", a novel by Louise de Vilmorin, Grasset, Paris, 1951, 128 pages.
- #019
French visa # 13793.
- #020
The trailer was designed by French director Jean Sacha.
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