FANFAN LA TULIPE (1952)

Who knew France had its own Fairbanks? This week at Ciné-Club, we're staying with the Hollywood-flavored studio showiness of the 1950s, with a a swashbuckling adventure film about a suave swordsman and his quest for a royal love affair. Join us as we discuss Christian-Jaque's rollicking tale of romance and ribaldry...
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FANFAN LA TULIPE (1952)
Dir. by Christian-Jaque
Watch HERE (UPDATED LINK). Also streaming on the Criterion Channel.

They say love is a battlefield, but it's also a pretty good recruitment tactic. Fanfan is a casanova of the itinerant stripe, delighting in the arts of seduction wherever he goes and never failing to cause a stir among the morally-minded townsfolk who object to his free-love philandering. So when a palm reader tells him that he's destined to marry a princess if he can only make a name for himself in the army, enlistment seems like a no-brainer. But shortly after he signs up, Fanfan realizes he's been duped by none other than the recruiting officer's daughter, the sardonically witty Adeline, who has just secured a nice little bonus for her father. Well, no matter - this Don Juan is pretty handy with a sword, and he's still confident that this post will help him curry favor with royalty. If only he can get this Adeline character off his back...

A delightful, banter-filled romp through sword fights and sexual tension, Fanfan la Tulipe blends the swashbuckling panache of Errol Flynn with the screwball comedy of Howard Hawks, resulting in a Hollywood pastiche that somehow still feels unequivocally French. Let's talk about it!

*As a reminder, this is solely a movie discussion group - we encourage you to watch the film independently prior to coming to the meetings.