Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1959
Come Dance with Me (1959 film)
Buy Come Dance with Me (1959 film) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Come Dance with Me!' (; Italian release 'Sexy Girl') is a 1959 French-Italian drama film directed by Michel Boisrond and starring Brigitte Bardot. The film is based on the novel 'The Blonde Died Dancing' by Kelley Roos.
Plot
Against her wealthy industrialist father Albert's wishes, young Virginie (Brigitte Bardot) marries dentist Herv Dandieu (Henri Vidal). After three months, all passion has disappeared, and after an argument, Herv leaves the house for a drink at a club. There, he is seduced by Anita Flors (Dawn Addams), a red-headed dance instructor. Unbeknownst to him, Anita is a scam artist who has sent her boyfriend Lon (Serge Gainsbourg) to photograph her in companionship with Herv. Although Herv eventually decides to stay faithful to his wife, Lon is able to take some pictures of their intimate moments.
Herv refuses to give in to any of her attempts to blackmail him, until she calls him one night. Virginie and Albert overhear the conversation, after which Virginie concludes that her husband is having an affair. The next day, she follows him to Anita's dance studio, and when looking through the key hole, she spots Anita's murdered body next to Herv, who is holding a gun. Herv convinces her that he is not guilty and they flee the place of crime through the back door, although they are noticed by some of the staff members. To prove her husband's innocence, she charms Anita's husband Flors (Daro Moreno) into hiring her as a dance teacher in order to gain the opportunity to find more information.
While going through the studio, Virginie catches Lon stealing money from her wallet and overhears a conversation between Lon and his mistress Daisy (Maria Pacme), who plan on misleading the detectives. After several investigations of the inspectors, Virginie is convinced that she has found the murderer through a letter. According to her, this man is Grard Lalemand. Because the detectives do not believe her, she decides to contact Grard herself. She talks to him over the phone and arranges a meeting, but when he fails to show up, she locates his residence, where she is told that Mr. Lalemand has been dead for over three years. Virginie realizes that she has been talking to Grard's son (Georges Descrires), who is the same charming gay man whom she met earlier at the studio.
Meanwhile, Lon has been arrested for blackmailing Herv. He admits that he is the mysterious person who left the studio over the roof on the night of the murder, but claims that Herv is the guilty one. To Herv's surprise, Albert proves his innocence to the detectives. In the meantime, Virginie believes that she has tracked Lalemand down to Blue Fetish, a gay nightclub where he is performing as a transvestite under the alias Daniel. Upon confronting him, she realizes that the man (Philippe Nicaud) is not Lalemand, and she leaves soon afterwards to return to his residence.
There, she finds out that the real Lalemand is an acquaintance to Flors and Daisy, who have given a false statement when Lalemand was still a suspect. Virginie is told that Anita was Lelemand's father's mistress and that she had permission to profit from Lelemand's $50 million inheritance while she was still alive. Therefore, Lalemand has sent his boyfriend Daniel to kill Anita. Herv's innocence is proven, and he gratefully kisses his wife.
Cast
* Brigitte Bardot as Virginie Dandieu
* Henri Vidal as Herv Dandieu
* Dawn Addams as Anita Flors
* Daro Moreno as Flors
* Georges Descrires as Grard Lalemand
* Serge Gainsbourg as Lon
* Maria Pacme as Daisy
* Franois Chaumette as Joseph
* Nol Roquevert as Albert Decauville-Lachene
* Philippe Nicaud as Daniel
Production
Unlike her earlier films, for which she received a notably lesser salary, Brigitte Bardot demanded $200,000 when she was cast."Brigitte Bardot Washed Up, Says Man Who Made Her Star" by Joe Hyams, 'The Tuscaloosa News', February 21, 1961, p. 7 Sylvia Lopez was originally cast as Anita Flors, but terminal leukemia prohibited her from finishing the film. She withdrew after a few days of shooting, and was replaced by Dawn Addams.
Shooting took place at the Victorine Studios in Nice. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jean Andr.
Reception
The film in US grossed $2 million, a dissatisfactory amount compared to Bardot's earlier films. The flop inspired Raoul Lvy, the producer who made Bardot a star, to stop his collaboration with Bardot.
References
Buy Come Dance with Me (1959 film) now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1959