Hallo Janine (1939)

Janine is a revue dancer at the Moulin Bleu, where the star Yvette reigns supreme. The director of the Moulin Bleu would gladly give Janine a chance to show her talent in bigger roles, but Yvette does not want any competition beside her. Yvette, however, is going on a major tour, and Janine is not included. Janine has other plans: her friend Charlotte is deeply upset because her boyfriend, Count René de Batier, left her for no reason, and she has now read in the newspaper that he has become a partner in the Pamion music publishing house. Janine promises to get revenge on René for Charlotte. She plans to seduce him and then leave him, just as he did to Charlotte. Janine visits the Pamion couple, where she runs into Bouboule, a former colleague who is now their maid. Bouboule has some fun announcing Janine as a marquise, and the couple invites her to dinner, where Count René is also expected. Janine pretends that she has known the count since early childhood. Count René has gone out to get to know the women of Paris better. New to the city, he meets Pierre, a talented but unsuccessful composer, in a bar. The two spontaneously finish the popular song “I Don’t Need Millions” together. In a champagne-fueled mood, they plan to swap identities so that Pierre can apply to Pamion as René de Batier. Meanwhile, René plans to play the composer Pierre. The two exchange apartments. At the Pamions’ party, Janine meets Pierre, who is passing himself off as René. Janine acts as if they have known each other for a long time, and Pierre, unaware that she is bluffing, plays along. Janine gets him to withdraw with her, but leaves in a rage when Pierre repeatedly insists that he does not know any Charlotte. That evening, Pierre has played some pieces from his revue, and Janine realizes that they could help her make her breakthrough as a revue star. The next day, she goes to Pierre’s apartment, where René is living instead. They fall in love, and René gives Janine the revue, with a handwritten note stating that only Janine may play the leading role. Janine is cast in the lead, but Yvette is horrified. When Janine is invited to René’s, Charlotte suddenly appears and is disappointed that Janine has seduced her former boyfriend. Janine is stunned, and René is also annoyed, since he had intended to reveal his true identity to Janine that very day. When the Moulin Bleu asks René, who is supposedly Pierre, to conduct his revue as well, René and Pierre switch identities again. Pierre turns up at the revue theater, and Yvette promptly sets about winning him over, extracting a promise from him that he will be the actual star rather than the understudy for the lead. Janine is now hired as the understudy for the lead and is furious. René, meanwhile, realizes that he has made a mistake and hires several dozen claqueurs for opening night, who are supposed to boo Yvette during her performance. They are all waiting for his signal so they can follow his lead. On opening night, just before the show begins, Janine appears onstage and refuses to leave. She wants to play the leading role she was once promised and loudly complains about Yvette’s machinations. René hears her backstage and calls out softly, “Hello, Janine.” The claqueurs immediately echo him, and soon the whole audience joins in. Backstage, Janine is hurriedly made ready as the leading performer, and she goes on to shine in the revue as a dancer and singer. After the performance, René and Janine meet again in the dressing room and fall into each other’s arms, in love.