| Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, Mel Ferrer,
Jean Richard, Pierre Bertin, Elina Labourdette.
In the 1950s, French films were considered the ne plus ultra in
naughtiness by certain impressionable filmgoers. It was to these
movie fans that the American distributor of Jean Renoir's Elena
et les Hommes (Elena and the Men) catered when it provocatively
retitled the picture Paris Does Strange Things As further grist
to the mill for American publicity hacks, the film starred Ingrid
Bergman, who had recently returned to Hollywood after her career
was nearly ruined by a marital scandal. Actually there was nothing
overtly erotic about Paris Does Strange Things. The film was a sweet
romantic comedy wherein Bergman plays a poverty-stricken Polish
princess, who is wooed by eligible admirers Mel Ferrer and Jean
Marais. Will she marry for love, or merely to restore her wealth?
The suspense is bearable. Inexpertly cut to 86 minutes for its American
showings, Paris Does Strange Things was restored to its full 98
minutes in 1986 and its title reverted to Elena et les Hommes.
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