TV appeared in France in the second half of the thirties;by 1937 ,Radio PTT VISION would broadcast a program from 8 to 8:30 PM every day ; there were about 100 TV sets in Paris (transmitted on short wave from the top of the Eiffel Tower).
Coming from Pierre Caron who butchered "Bécassine" and made unbearable coarse comedies such as "les femmes collantes",one could expect the worst;agains all odds ,this little story survived the heavy-handed treatment of the director ,mainly thanks to first-class actors :Marguerite Moreno ,Albert Préjean and Claude Dauphin.
Plot:the Saint-Alba family was knighted by Queen Blanche De Castille because of the nice white buns they made ;by the twentieth century ,their desirable castle was falling in ruins and they had to hire a building contractor ,and ,as they were not able to pay him, they had to accept an union between the eldest daughter and the plebeian ,a misalliance the mother never accepted .The husband, a bon vivant ,cannot stand his mom-in-law and the snub manners of his noble wife get on his nerves :exasperated ,he gives her a good spanking (hence the title) ;unfortunately,the window was wide open and an amateur filmed the whole scene .Due to an error , the scandalous film is to be broadcast
on TV:overnight ,it will change the characters' life ,and not for the worst.
Albert Préjean plays the bon vivant despised by his in-laws ,a part he would reprise in the highly superior "la Vie De Plaisir" (Albert Valentin,1943);Marguerite Moreno is irresistible as the haughty noble and her last line is worth the price of admission; voyeurism is treated in a light way,but it avoids vulgarity .
