this be one of the most finely crafted film of cinema short history . period atmosphere and costume and set and indoor and outdoor photography and pacing and edit be all superb . the music by george van parys be poignantly nostalgic and at the same time entertain and light . the big attraction of this film and though and be the wit of it script and which could rival any comedy of shaw or wilde or colette and and top them all for sheer virtuosity in the art of depict the many face of love and and it delivery by one of film history most finely cast troupe of comedian . ` le grandes manoeuvre be ostensibly a gérard philipe vehicle and full of his inimitable monologue and which let michèle morgan do what she do best represent suffer coldly and remotely and nobly and silently and elegantly . it be people by actor the like of which this planet have rarely see bring together and namely jacqueline maillan and lise delamare a jean desailly wicked and two face and possessive sister who marry the feline elegance of beast of prey with the evil but colourful personality of walt disney cinderella wicked stepmother . it feature some of the most beautiful woman of the planet represent morgan and bardot and dany carrel and magali noël . the men be also physically and mentally highly idealize . this film be rarely show and therefore largely unappreciated . it be only available on dvd in a pristine transfer in french only on a brigitte bardot boxset from quebec ( imavision . com ) comprise seven film of various worth range from this unqualified masterpiece to more lowly effort to fellini malle vadim ` histoires extraordinaires . this film be so good it be probably worth learn french to understand all it subtlety and absorb it unique charm . it make all of rené clair precede effort and even the most poetically imaginative like ` beauty of the night and look like immature doodle or preliminary sketch .