Come Dance with Me!

This film begins with Brigitte Bardot falling in love with a dentist (Henri Vidal) and they soon marry. Soon after, he is seduced by a lady and goes back to her apartment. He begins to undress her and stops himself--he can't allow himself to cheat on his bride. He immediately leaves--not knowing that she is a blackmailer and her lover was photographing them in some very compromising positions. This begs the audience to wonder if any man can be THAT stupid and self-destructive, as at the time, Bardot was probably the most beautiful woman in the world (and, yes, I know there ARE men who cheat on their loving wives all the time--even if it makes no sense).

Soon, the lady blackmailer shows up at the Dentist's office and demands money for the photos. A sane man would come clean to his wife right there and then, but this would also make for a VERY short film, so he agrees to meet her later at her dance studio. The poor husband plans on killing the woman but before he can, she's already dead--apparently she has created a lot of enemies! Brigitte arrives soon after him, as she'd overheard the two talking earlier and wondered what was happening between them. Both Bardot and her hubby flee to avoid the police.

Bardot believes her husband when he tells her what happened. However, someone saw him at the studio and the police have a good description of him. So, to save her dumb husband, Brigitte decides to go undercover--and goes to the dance studio to ask for a job. Perhaps someone there knows what happened or was responsible for the killing. And, as this is only about thirty minutes into the film, you can safely assume that SOMETHING will occur sooner or later! This part of the film seemed well-suited for Bardot, as she was an exceptional dancer in real life.

Where the film goes next is pleasant but there aren't too many surprises. Plus, while I like Bardot, this film seemed only okay--nothing special but also not bad in any particular way. The writing is decent, the acting just fine but apart from the role played by a gay transvestite, the rest of the film just seemed ordinary. Non-Bardot fans can skip this one--it's just among her best.

By the way, like many French films of the era, this one if pretty frank about sex and sexuality. You will see some nudity it's obviously quite different from the sort of fare coming out of Hollywood at the same time!

This and another early Brigitte Bardot vehicle, UNE PARISIENNE (1957), had been available for rental at a local DVD store for a long time but I kept postponing getting to either, believing them to be minor frothy affairs; however, having just acquired and being on the point of watching a similar effort of hers – Marc Allegret's MADEMOISELLE STRIPTEASE aka PLUCKING THE DAISY (1956) – I thought I might as well check them out too while I am at it. Anyway, I opted to start with this one being ostensibly a thriller and, while I was expecting it to involve some nudity from the star (which technically there is none), I was surprised – especially when considering the film's essentially light touch – at the amount of sleaze on display (from explicit situations and dialogue to a subplot involving gay bars and drag queens!). The premise, in fact, revolves around the Police investigation into the murder of blackmailing dance teacher Dawn Addams; incidentally, the Inspector on the trail of the assassin is Luis Bunuel regular Paul Frankeur and Serge Gainsbourg, popular yet controversial singer/songwriter and later film-maker, makes an early appearance as the victim's accomplice (photographing her in compromising positions with wealthy patrons). Their latest victim is dentist Henri Vidal (whose last film this proved to be, expiring from a heart attack at the young age of 40 – he was married to star Michele Morgan, having met on the set of his best-remembered movie i.e. the Italian spectacle FABIOLA [1948]); Bardot is his wife, whose father (Noel Roquevert, from a number of H.G. Clouzot titles) is an industrialist. Vidal had run into Addams at a nightclub after a row with his bride: she even goes to his clinic, where Bardot works as his assistant, and supplies him with incriminating photos of their dalliance. On his part, not intending to pay, he visits Addams at her studio and causes a scene – but then relents and makes an appointment for the next day at the same place; when he arrives, Vidal finds the woman dead and is then surprised in the room by Bardot who had followed him there! Of course, he has to confess everything and though Roquevert does not readily believe him, Bardot does and determines to establish his innocence (since his description was given to the Police by Addams' dance colleagues) by finding the real killer. To this end, she takes a job as a dance teacher there and even ingratiates herself with Frankeur; incidentally, it appears that the killer could not have exited the room before Vidal's entrance as there is no other way out: this actually reminds Bardot of the Gaston Leroux novel "The Mystery Of The Yellow Room" (whose 1930 film adaptation by Marcel L'Herbier, along with its sequel THE PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK – nothing whatsoever to do with the atypical Italian giallo from 1974 – I have also just gotten my hands on!) and from here on in, as the saying goes, the plot thickens. Despite the generic and downright misleading title, this is a fairly enjoyable picture (especially easy to take in pleasant color); mind you, the suspense reaches no great heights (given that the murder method is given away all too soon and the motive emerges to be characteristically weak) – and, yet, the viewer's attention is engaged throughout and one is genuinely curious to discover the guilty party's identity (what with the variety of suspects being fingered along the way).

This well-made movie just has one flaw: Brigitte Bardot is not suited for playing a crime plot. As her talents are with light comedy, she is not able to carry out the necessary mystery, horror and suspense here.

For this reason I think 'Voulez-vous danser avec moi?' not entirely convincing. But apart from that, it's quite entertaining. It is shot well, its acting is good, and its story catches the viewer's interest from beginning to end. Of course your special attention for the scenes in the dance-school, fully displaying Brigitte's excellent dancing skills.

This movie also seriously deals with homosexuality, back in 1959 a groundbreaking issue. For this reason I guess Paris must have been the only location possible.

After a discussion with his spoiled wife Virginie (Brigitte Bardot), the playboy dentist Hervé Dandieu (Henri Vidal) goes to a bar where he meets the sexy dance teacher Anita Flores (Dawn Addams). She invites Hervé to dance with her and while dancing, his father-in-law arrives in the place and Hervé sneaks out with Anita. Hervé drives Anita home, and she invites him to have one last drink; Anita seduces him and they kiss each other on the sofa, while her hidden partner takes pictures of the intimacy of the couple. Hervé leaves Anita without having sex, but is blackmailed by her. She schedules a meeting with him in the dance school, but Virginie listens to their conversation and believes that Hervé is cheating her. Virginie is snoops Hervé in the dance school, and he finds Anita dead and becomes the prime suspect of the police. Virginie asks for a job in the dance school and decides to investigate the case by her own.

The silly and naive "Voulez-vous Danser Avec Moi?" has a predictable screenplay and is supported by the charm and beauty of Brigitte Bardot. Dawn Addams has a minor participation, but she is astonishing with her blues eyes and beauty. In the end, forget this flawed story and enjoy Brigitte Bardot acting like a detective and Dawn Addams that you will have a nice entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Quer Dançar Comigo?" ("Do You Want to Dance with Me?")

The murder mystery plot is pretty limp, but Bardot is at her ripest and performs a joyous mambo. The gay subplot would have been unthinkable in a Hollywood film of the time; here the treatment is relatively casual and benign. The title song is a finger-snapping delight; how could it have escaped Bobby Darin's attention?