Set in Brussels, where Suzanne Beulemans, the daughter of a rich brewer is promised to marry Séraphin Meulemeester, the son of a rival brewer. The young man and his father both seem particularly motivated by the dowry of the young fiancée. But Séraphin has a rival in Albert Delpierre, a young Frenchman who is learning brewery from Ferdinand Beulemans and who is discreetly enamoured with the young woman. Albert learns Séraphin's secret that he is having an affair with a worker and that they have had a child. He promises Séraphin that he will never reveal any of it to Suzanne, but she is told by Isabelle, her maid.
Direction
Duvivier's early mastery of ensemble staging in confined brewery spaces.
Production
Authentic 1920s Brussels brewery sets dripping with period detail.
Acting
Jane Pierson's scene-stealing maid — the original gossip girl.
Director
Julien Duvivier
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Adapted from a wildly popular 1910 Frantz Fonson play that ran for decades; the French-Belgian rivalry was sharp enough that Belgian audiences reportedly cheered when 'their' girl escaped the Frenchman too.
Duvivier would become one of France's most prolific directors, but this early success nearly trapped him in 'polite comedy' forever — he later fled to Hollywood to escape his own reputation.
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