Miquette et sa mère (1950)

In 1898, Miquette Grandier is a well-behaved young woman who helps her mother run a general store and tobacconist’s in Casteldon, a small provincial town. One day, she attends a performance of The Cid in a half-empty auditorium. The title role is played by Monchablon, an old ham played by Louis Jouvet, and she leaves thrilled, dreaming of nothing but the theater. Miquette is secretly in love with the kind, awkward Urbain de la Tour Mirande, who is also in love with her but doesn’t dare declare himself. Urbain’s uncle, the Marquis de la Tour Mirande, an aging ladies’ man who boasts of having a “brilliant and corrupt” nature, is the town’s lord of the manor. Thinking his nephew a simpleton, he has planned, without telling him, to marry him off to a rich heiress who is rather unattractive. Shortly before the engagement is due to take place, the marquis discovers that his nephew loves Miquette. Since this could jeopardize his marriage plan, he decides to put a stop to it. He goes to Miquette’s home, finds her alone, and quickly becomes convinced of her innocence. To destroy her love for Urbain, he makes her believe that Urbain had kept his impending marriage secret from her; then, having been captivated by Miquette, he decides to make her his mistress. Discovering the young woman’s passion for the theater, he persuades her to run away with him to Paris, where he will help her become a star. In Paris, Miquette and the marquis meet up with Monchablon, who welcomes them among his troupe and promises to audition her. Grandier, Miquette’s mother, then arrives, having set out to find her daughter. Monchablon hires Miquette, then also hires her mother, who has discovered a taste for the theater herself. Next comes Urbain, the nephew in love. Adventures, romantic mix-ups, theater tours... Miquette eventually marries Urbain, while the marquis discovers that he is not the cynic he claimed to be, but an “honest man.” Having fallen for Grandier, he marries her.