The Earrings of Madame de…

The Earrings of Madame de… (French: Madame de… [ma.dam də]) is a 1953 romantic drama film directed by Max Ophüls, adapted from Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin’s 1951 novel by Ophüls, Marcel Archard and Annette Wadement. The film is considered a masterpiece of the 1950s French cinema. Andrew Sarris called it “the most perfect film ever made”. Ophüls said the story’s construction attracted him, stating “there is always the same axis around which the action continually turns like a carousel. A tiny, scarcely visible axis: a pair of earrings”.[1]

The film’s different titles reflect on the fact that the surname of the Madame in question – the same as that of her husband’s – is never heard nor seen onscreen. The few times in the film when it might be revealed, it is eluded by noise or a camera trick.