Films/DVD Asylum

"D�sir�: a most beautiful mistress of a high-ranking French minister

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hires a valet who has a secret that places both his employer and himself in jeopardy.

Sasha Guitry directs and stars as the amazingly verbose, clever and charming majordomo. The ravishingly beautiful Jaqueline Delubac stars as the mistress, and the super-star Arletty is his foil, starring as the maid-de-chambre.

There is no real plot, here. It is a play and the beauty rests in the rapid-fire dialogue that has an earthiness and sexual frankness not to be found in American films of the time. Not vulgar, but exceedingly and cleverly racy.

The Russian born Guitry was the dominant force in French theater for decades, with dozens of successful plays. He had some definite film successes also, including the wrongfully neglected, "Napoleon."

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