Die schöne Lurette (1960)

Paris, 1764: Lurette, a laundress, is admired by many men, but she loves the humble carpenter Campistrel. He and his friends are building a wax effigy parodying Madame de Pompadour, which he plans to carry through the streets during the upcoming carnival. With it, he wants to denounce Pompadour’s influence over the king and her extravagance. Before it is finished, however, the men must hide the effigy not only from the soldiers but also from the secret police, represented by Malicorne. They manage this in part with the help of the laundresses, who turn the men’s heads—much to the dismay of the head laundress, Marcelline. She was once seduced and abandoned by a nobleman, and now wants to keep her girls away from men. While delivering laundry, Lurette caught the eye of the Duke of Marly. He offered to escort her home, and Lurette accepted in order to make Campistrel jealous. The duke has now fallen in love with her, but knows Campistrel would never give her up to him. He and Malicorne discuss how he might possess Lurette all the same. An arrest is out of the question, but the two men plan to take advantage of carnival. Lurette is to be married to Marly as the carnival princess in a carnival wedding. The ceremony is to be performed by a real abbé, without Lurette’s knowledge, so that it will be legally binding. Lurette, for her part, is meant to become Marly’s wife in name only and, in reality, to rise to become the king’s new favorite mistress, replacing Madame de Pompadour, whom Malicorne considers a thorn in his side. Malicorne turns up at the laundry and recognizes Marcelline as the laundress he once seduced. He secretly locks her in the cellar, then announces that Lurette has been chosen as the Duke of Marly’s carnival princess. Jealous, Campistrel steps in front of Lurette, who at that very moment agrees to go with Marly. When the imprisoned Marcelline loudly draws attention to herself, Malicorne flees with Lurette in a carriage to Marly’s mansion. Lurette is surprised, as she had thought the other laundresses were invited to Marly’s too. At the mansion, the carnival guests laugh at Lurette because of her laundress’s clothes. She tells Marly that she wants to leave at once, but hesitates when she sees the beautiful dress he has obtained for her. She changes into it and, dressed up, goes with Marly to join the party. Campistrel has followed her and mingled with the guests without being recognized. When he sees Lurette transformed, he takes off his mask and reproaches her for selling herself to the upper classes. Upset, Lurette flees back to the dressing room and changes her clothes. Campistrel sends for the laundresses and his companions. Suddenly, outside the mansion, he hears the abbé calling out. He has been locked in a room where the wedding is to take place, and is suffering because he has no alcohol. Campistrel climbs in to see him, bringing him plenty of alcohol. In this way, he eventually learns Marly and Malicorne’s plan. The laundresses arrive to free Lurette. Marcelline sets off in pursuit of Malicorne, while the laundresses fetch Lurette from her room; she has not given in to Marly’s advances. Marly pretends to concede defeat, but asks for a harmless carnival wedding. However, the abbé turns out to be Campistrel, who asks Lurette during the ceremony whether she is willing to become the king’s mistress. He then removes his disguise and strikes Malicorne in the face with the marriage contract he has drawn up. Lurette realizes that Campistrel has saved her from great harm and joyfully throws her arms around him. Marcelline, meanwhile, reproaches herself for having mourned the wrong Malicorne for so many years. Marly wants Campistrel arrested, but his men storm the mansion with the effigy of Pompadour. The laundresses mock the assembled nobles in a song, and all the working people leave the hall together and go outside.