Les Bijoutiers du clair de lune

Les Bijoutiers du clair de lune (1957) titled "The Night Heaven Fell" in English is my find of the week. It features Brigette Bardot, and finally has clear exposure of her. Midway, we get a quick shot of her buns as a robe falls open, then, near the end, we see her breasts in a daylight, outdoor lovemaking session. She is poking through or bulging out of her costumes throughout. After all, this was produced by Vadim to show her off, and he knew how to do that.

It is a French love story (unhappy ending, of course) set in Spain. Bardot comes from a convent school to stay with her aunt and uncle. Uncle is a total asshole, and there is a suggestion that a local girl committed suicide because of him. The girls brother, Stephen Boyd, goes with Bardot to the villa to confront the uncle. Bardot is smitten, but the uncle kicks the crap out of Boyd. Boyd returns to talk to the aunt, and has sex with her. When he later starts up with Bardot, and kills the uncle in self defense, the aunt accuses him of murder, and Bardot and Boyd go on the lamb.

NUDITY REPORT

see the main commentary

DVD info from Amazon.

Widescreen anamorphic, 2.35:1

The scenery is great, as is the art direction, and the DVD transfer is a rather nice widescreen, especially for the age of the film. The photography and art direction compensate somewhat for a trite plot, and the exposure from Bardot makes it worth seeing.

The Critics Vote

Maltin 2.5/4

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 6.9

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, I say C+.