Main Cast: George Sanders, David Bond, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, Frances Dee, John Carradine
Release Year: 1947
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
Plot
Writer/director Albert Lewin, ever on the lookout for esoteric story material that would accommodate his fascination with Egyptian sculpture and feline symbolism, managed to inject both into The Private Affairs of Bel Ami. Though based on a Guy de Maupassant story, Bel Ami seems to have been written by Oscar Wilde, another of Lewin's pets (e.g. The Picture of Dorian Gray). George Sanders plays an epigrammatic Parisian journalist, who rises to the top through the "kindnesses" of the various influential women that he's seduced and abandoned. This 19th-century rake's progress is ultimately halted by a duel, and somehow we're sorry that we don't get to see Sanders pull off at least one more caddish trick to save himself. Echoes from Lewin's previous works include his insertion of a Technicolor sequence (as he'd done in Dorian Gray and The Moon and Sixpence). George Sanders' stepping-stone ladies include Angela Lansbury, Frances Dee, Ann Dvorak, Marie Wilson, Katherine Emery and Susan Douglas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Albert Lewin had a predilection for literary sources for his films, and The Private Affairs of Bel Ami is one which is so derived, to very good effect. Granted, devotees of Guy de Maupassant's original novel will likely object to the liberties taken with the material, most particularly the ending in which the title character must pay for his misdeeds. This is a justified reaction, but if one looks at Bel more subjectively, as a film that had to adhere to the strict Production Code of the time, it's easier to forgive these liberties. Indeed, for a 1947 Hollywood production, Bel is actually very daring in its cold depiction of the scheming social climbing male who thinks nothing of using women merely to advance himself. As director and writer, Lewin does the absolute best that he could under the restrictions, and the taken on its own terms, Bel is a little jewel of a film. Lewin of course was lucky to have George Sanders once again on hand to portray his titular cad; the actor had the uncanny ability to play the most amoral (and sometimes immoral) characters and manage, without softening them, to bring the audience to his side. There's excellent support as well from Ann Dvorak as a woman who does more than merely "back up" the men in her life, and a very young and beautiful Angela Lansbury. Russell Metty's precise, dramatic lensing is another boon, as is Darius Milhaud's impressive score. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
F. Paul Sylos - Art Director, Ernst Matray - Choreography, Maria Matray - Choreography, Norma - Costume Designer, Robert Aldrich - First Assistant Director, Albert Lewin - Director, Al Joseph - Editor, Darius Milhaud - Composer (Music Score), Irving Drutman - Songwriter, Jack Lawrence - Songwriter, Gordon Wiles - Production Designer, Russell Metty - Cinematographer, David L. Loew - Producer, Edward Boyle - Set Designer, Albert Lewin - Screenwriter, Guy de Maupassant - Short Story Author
