The Earrings of Madame de… ( ) 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".