Bel Ami (1939 film)
Encyclopedia
Bel Ami is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 film version of Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....

's novel Bel Ami
Bel Ami
Bel Ami is French author Guy de Maupassant's second novel, published in 1885. An English translation titled Bel ami, or, The history of a scoundrel: a novel appeared in 1903....

 directed by Willi Forst
Willi Forst
Willi Forst, born Wilhelm Anton Frohs was an Austrian actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer and singer...

 and released in 1939.

Plot

In Paris, in about 1900, George Duroy, just returned from Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, spends a night with the singer Rachel, who is rehearsing the song Bel Ami. Later at a party he tells the newspaper editor Forestier about Morocco. At the request of the ladies present Duroy is engaged by Walter, proprietor of La Vie Française, as a journalist.

Forestier's wife Madeleine, who is also the mistress of the Député Laroche, whom she allows to exploit her in order to influence the newspaper as Laroche wishes, helps Duroy in the composition of his texts. Forestier becomes jealous of Duroy and divorces Madeleine.

The Minister for the Colonies, who has campaigned for a restrained foreign policy, is obliged to resign. His successor is Laroche, who initially stands for inverventionist policies, because of his ownership of land in Morocco, is seen through by Moroccan nobles and blackmailed. In order to give his change of position an acceptable public appearance he asks Madeleine to marry Duroy, who has meantime risen to editor-in-chief. She does so, but the marriage does not last long.

Duroy saves Laroche's daughter Suzanne when her horse bolts. Without introducing themselves they arrange to meet at the opera ball that evening. There, thanks to Rachel, who for a long time has been performing the song Bel Ami in a plush revue, Duroy learns the truth about Laroche's intrigues, which he publishes in his newspaper. Duroy is in love with Suzanne and divorces Madeleine to marry her. Laroche resigns, and Suzanne urges Duroy to enter politics. As minister Duroy prevents his former boss Walter from continuing the crooked intrigues of Laroche. He takes leave of his former wife Madeleine, Rachel and Frau von Marelle, in order to devote himself to his marriage with Suzanne.

Other film references

In the film Bei dir war es immer so schön (1954, directed by Hans Wolff
Hans Wolff
Leutnant Hanns Joachim Wolff was a World War I flying ace credited with ten aerial victories.Wolff served with FA 216 until 6 July 1917, when he was reassigned to Jasta 11. He was wounded in action on 14 August, and again on 23 November. On 18 March 1918, Wolff shot down and killed his first...

) Willi Forst plays a film director who together with two musicians (played by Georg Thomalla
Georg Thomalla
Georg Thomalla was a German actor.He appeared in a number of German films from 1939 to 1992.However, Thomalla was mostly known in Germany as a voice-over artist, dubbing particularly comedians, such as Peter Sellers as Inspector Closeau in the Pink Panther movies, and he also was the standard...

 and Heinz Drache
Heinz Drache
Heinz Drache was a German film actor. He appeared in 42 films between 1953 and 2002.He was born in Essen, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany.-Selected filmography:* The Rest Is Silence...

), composes the lyrics of the hit song Bel Ami, which finally he sings.

DVD publication

The film is listed in the printed edition of the "Lexikon des internationalen Films", 1987, with a runtime of 100 minutes and an age restriction of 16 and over. The DVD published by Kinowelt in 2007 contains a version about 2 minutes shorter and free to the over-12s.

External links

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