| La Garçonne | |
| Starring: | Marie Bell |
| Director: | Jean de Limur |
| Music: | Jean Wiener (including the music for Quand même, sung by Édith Piaf, lyrics by Louis Poterat) |
| Cinematography: | Roger Hubert Charlie Bauer |
| Editing: | Jean Oser |
| Distributor: | Franco London Films |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
La Garçonne (The Bachelor Girl or The Flapper) is a 1936 French black-and-white film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Victor Margueritte. It was directed by Jean de Limur and starred Marie Bell (in the title role), Arletty and Edith Piaf.
The eponymous garçonne or flapper is Monique Lerbier, an emancipated French woman who leaves home to escape a marriage of convenience to a man she does not love which her parents have forced on her. She then falls into all sorts of carnal temptations and artificial pleasures previously unknown to her. These include her being seduced into a lesbian love affair by a chanteuse character (played by Edith Piaf), ensuring the film became a succès de scandale. Another actress in the film, Arletty, said of it:
Mes sens inapaisés,
Cherchant pour se griser,
L'aventure des nuits louches,
Apportez-moi du nouveau.
Le désir crispe ma bouche.
La volupté brûle ma peau…("My unappeased senses, /Seeking to intoxicate themselves, /The adventure of the decadent nights, / You bring me anew. / Desire makes my mouth tense. / Exquisite delight burns my skin…")