Adieu, Mascotte (1929)

At an artists’ party at the Paris art academy, a very young model collapses in the middle of the dancing. The doctor who is quickly summoned determines that she is so exhausted and seriously ill that she absolutely must go to Davos for treatment. But the girl has no money for it. Mascotte, who is also present and works as a model for the Paris art scene (though she is much more in demand), is determined to help. She starts auctioning the works of art decorating the walls of the party room. But the sums raised are hardly worth mentioning, so at last she holds up a nude portrait of herself as well. Mascotte hopes to raise the 20,000 francs needed to help her inexperienced colleague recover. Then one of those present calls out, “10,000 francs—but for the original!” Mascotte hesitates for a moment; she does not really want to end up as a prostitute. But her altruism wins out, and she agrees to put herself up for auction. Jean Dardier, a writer, is also there. He does not want the pretty, petite girl to fall into the clutches of a lecherous old man who is both wealthy and as old as he is slobbering. So he keeps bidding until he wins her. Dardier’s private life is currently in disarray: his wife, Josette, is cheating on him with Gaston Duprès, a young, attractive, brainless good-for-nothing and bon vivant. The morning after the bizarre night auction, Mascotte turns up at Jean’s apartment to make herself available to him for the next two weeks. She would much rather lock herself in a room for the whole 14 days, because she does not want to be thought of as a kept woman or a floozy. However, after glancing at a letter from Josette in Jean’s study, she realizes the state of Jean Dardier’s marriage. Even so, she thinks she can tell from Josette’s words that the adulterous wife still loves her husband. But it is not Mascotte’s presence that has driven Jean’s wife from the house. Rather, the 14-day arrangement gave the unfaithful Josette an ideal pretext to make a hasty getaway and move in with her lover, Gaston. Mascotte feels for the husband who has been left behind and offers to pretend, in public, to be Jean’s girlfriend and lover for 14 days, in the hope that his jealous wife Josette will then come back. Mascotte and Jean are thereafter seen regularly in public, where they also run into Josette and Gaston several times; the pair are hardly discreet about their intimacy either. As might be expected, things turn out differently from what they had anticipated, for the new couple soon begin to develop serious feelings for each other. Neither of them, however, is (yet) willing to admit that their feelings have changed. A planned farewell supper is supposed to clarify the relationship between Jean and Mascotte, when Josette unexpectedly bursts in on their intimate tête-à-tête. She had only meant to take her jewelry from the house for a trip to Nice. Jean now assumes that Josette has been cheating on him with the good-for-nothing greyhound Gaston right under his own roof. The cuckold therefore files for divorce. A lawyer, Advocate Giron, called in to mediate, can do nothing to save the marriage. Wanting to know exactly how far Josette has already betrayed him, Jean follows her, with Mascotte at his side, aboard the same train heading for Nice. But Mascotte gets off at the next opportunity so as not to stand in the way of one last chance for reconciliation between the spouses. Jean notices, however, and hurries after her. Now the two couples, symbolically, travel in two trains going in opposite directions. Jean finally understands just how much Mascotte means to him. Only then do the two confess their love for each other.