Pierre Fresnay and his wife Yvonne Printemps teamed up for this ill-fated love story between a noble officer and a commoner thespian .
Actually , Maurice led a racy life and Adrienne collected the lovers ;legend had it (so had the movie) that it was a desperate love,a la "dame aux camelias" ; some events are historically true: Adrienne financially helped the Marechal with his career. The thespians were excommunicated and , on her deathbed ,Adrienne was asked to abjure her ungodly occupation.
On the other hand , the poisening by her rival was never proven. Voltaire ,whose tragedies she would perform , demanded an autopsy which was not conclusive .
One sees the actress perform Molière's "Psyché " and Racine's "Phèdre ",and the screenwriters desperately tried to connect the shows with Adrienne's predicament in real life .
This is not one of Lherbier's best films: talky, theatrical , and in spite of two legendary actors, the characters are rather flat ; should you take one of the director's talkies, you will be better off with his Gaston Leroux work in two parts ,"la tragédie impériale", "le bonheur" or "la nuit fantastique".
