The Curtain Rises
1938 · 99 min · Comedy, Drama
"I was seventeen, I'm not anymore because you are and seventeen is not for everyone at the same time!"
1938, France, Paris, at the Superior Conservatory of Dramatic Art ("Conservatoire Supérieur d'Art Dramatique"). The first-year entrance exams are in full swing. Many applicants, few accepted. Isabelle (Janine Darcey) is one of the few chosen. She joins former students from the second and third years, including François (Claude Dauphin) and Cécilia (Odette Joyeux). They attend the drama class run by Professor Lambertin (Louis Jouvet). The young people, passionate and eager to become comedians, clash in tumultuous love affairs, because by dint of acting, they imagine that life is a farce. François, for example, is in love with Isabelle, who also loves him, but is pursued by Cecilia, his former mistress... "Put art in your life and life in your art!"
- Director
- Marc Allégret
- Writers
- André Cayatte, Marc Allégret
- Released
- October 6, 1938
- Language
- French
Cast
Louis Jouvet
M. Lambertin, professeur au Conservatoire
Claude Dauphin
François Polti
Janine Darcey
Isabelle Didier
Odette Joyeux
Cécilia Prieur
Bernard Blier
Pescani, un élève du Conservatoire
Robert Pizani
Jérôme
Madeleine Lambert
Mme Élisabeth Prieur, mère de Cécilia
Roger Blin
Dominique, le gardien du château de la famille de Cécilia
Mady Made
Denise
Babita Soren
Norah Storm
André Brunot
Fernand Grenaison, l'oncle d'Isabelle
Madeleine Geoffroy
Mme Fernande Grenaison, épouse de Fernand
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