Manina, the Lighthouse-Keeper's Daughter (1952)

Simply Perfect

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Buried treasure is a standard noir staple, although the chief interest of "Manina, La Fille sans Voile" (1952) is not the plot, nor even the acting (although Howard Vernon gives his usual reliable performance as the heavy) or direction (Willy Rozier is best known for directing three of the movies in the "Slim Callaghan" series) or even the lustrous photography (Michel Rocca, here making his second film and first solo credit), but of course Brigitte Bardot (here making her official film debut). Brigitte, of course, is just wonderful!The locations are nice to look at too, but it is Miss Bardot who deservedly attracts all our attention (even though Senorita Espanita Cortez makes quite an impression before Bardot's stunning entrance, 30 minutes, or something like it, into the plot). (The KD DVD rates at least 9/10).

The uncut version (about 85 min)is today harmless (was it so risqué in 1952?);Anywway,BB only appears at the 46th minute and the viewer has got to be patient :the first sequence featuring her character is a clumsy flashback when she was 13,so her part was given to a kid .This is BB's second movie (after "Le Trou Normand" )and the first time she had played the lead.As for Willy Rozier ,the director,he was trashed by everybody ,the old wave and the new one ;his filmography features such "works" as "Le Bagnard" ,"56 Rue Pigalle" or " Les Amants Maudits" the titles speak for themselves ."Manina" is probably ,among his works I had the opportunity to see ,the most pleasant;what's definitely lacking is color ;both the Corsican landscapes and BB in bikini deserve it !Her co-star -whose presence on screen is twice as long as hers-Jean-François Calvé is particularly bland if athletic ;after his part in "Marguerite De La Nuit" in which he played opposite Michèle Morgan ,he fell into oblivion (the last time I saw him was in the MTV "Mathilde" (1967)) There are two treasures in the movie :the first one is Trolius(?)'s lost amphoras supposedly full of gold sesterces!The second one is that girl with Un Petit Je Ne Sais Quoi.The villain (Howard Vernon, who looked the part)covets both.The opening sequence takes place in an university where the history professor gives a stodgy lecture on students busing doing other things :the young hero tells the erudite he found an amphora five years ago (the sequence featuring thirteen-year-old Manina)and that might be the place where ....BB made movies which were worse than this one ;she shows spontaneity -one of her most salutary qualities as an actress-Little did they know at the time that she would become France's greatest sex symbol of all time.NB:BB sings but she is dubbed and it is atrocious ;she could sing ,she made records in the sixties (songs often written by Serge Gainsbourg,that is to say the best material)so why didn't they let her do her singing?

Bardot was the newly discovered teenager, the rebel against strict bourgeois upbringing, the woman who takes her pleasure with whom she chooses, and follows her own inclinations and desires… By the time Bardot's second film, "Manina, la fille sans voile" was released in 1952, the blushing teenager had fallen by the wayside; instead there emerged a brave, wilder girl, liberated from the repressed rules of society…The eroticism displayed by Bardot throughout this film was undeniably challenging, though the fashions may seem rather absolute today… The impact she made may be measured by the fact that English censors felt compelled to cut 29 of the 86 minutes of this film

Admittedly, Miss Bardot had not yet honed her acting skills, but what an enchanting creature, even at this young age (her 2nd film, I believe). Her dancing work as a teenager must have helped her incredible physique - perfectly proportioned with a nice voice, screen presence and youthful spirit. She would develop over the years (talent), but his film has an appropriate soundtrack and beautiful b/w cinematography.A 5 out of 10. Best performance = Bardot. Beautiful locale off island with nice forest setting hidden from a rocky beach (what a great place to film).