The Bear and the Doll (1970)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Fresh and Exciting

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

At the time,BB's career was on the wane ,and in my country "l'Ours Et La Poupée " was a relative flop ;after "Viva Maria" ,her biggest success in the sixties,most of her movies were critical and commercial failures ,with the exception of "Boulevard Du Rhum" .Michel Deville's career as a director has always been uneven: whereas some of his works have passed the test of time quite well ("Benjamin" " Raphael" and the overlooked " L'Apprenti Salaud" ) some are terribly dated ."L'Ours Et La Poupée " bears all the scars of the time: particularly that drug party scene ,complete with hippies in a very chic place .The part of the "bear" was first offered to Delon and Belmondo ,but both were cross because they thought their rival was contacted first and the part was finally given to Jean -Pierre Cassel ,an excellent actor foreign users may remember in his supporting part of a priest/money changer of the Temple in "Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon" .The part was tailor made for him and his grumpy looks deserve better than these unfunny lines.Also handicapped by the children 's very bad acting ,particularly the son .The pets you find in every BB movie are present:they are called "Sully" and "Prud'homme" (sic)

Both domi and durix are correct. The American DVD release is a washed-out black & white, dubbed version. My wife and I still enjoyed it though. The plot, music, and the presence of BB made it possible to overlook the American-released DVD production problems. The French DVD release is the one you must get. The French DVD provides the original rich colors and a crystal clear soundtrack. BB looks beautiful in hot pants, an evening dress, and not once but twice in a tub. No English subtitles though--which is a frustration I have with many French DVD releases. The attempt at creating a "mod" Paris not unlike mod London of the 60s is a hoot, and the contrast made between it and the French countryside is obvious but never forced. Bardot's flirtations toward the cellist Gaspard will charm you.

I've red previous comments. Well, it seems you haven't be lucky with your copies of the movie. I saw it in Paris, when it came out, and it was a gorgeous coloured movie. I decided to buy the DVD, 4 days ago, and I watched it yesterday. Remastered, it was as fresh as left in my memory. Colours are perfect, voices too. But it's the original french movie. Where does your copies come from???? I can assure you that if you buy the original movie, you'll be seduced by the original tone, directly coming from the beginning of the seventies. The movie came out in 1970, I was anxious to be deceived, as often, because it could have had better days. Not at all, it was really oxygen in my tough life! The duet works very well, based on the antagonism of the characters/actors, Bardot, a"doll", rich and busiless, and Cassel, a weird musician, not poor, not rich. She lives in Paris, an entire rich and modern building, and spend her time by knowing she's a rich beauty, using men as Kleenex, divorcing as you go to the hairdresser. He lives in the country, in Bougival, near Paris, working as a violoncellist in the ORTF orchestra. He's got a son, no more wife, and three nieces he's cocooning with his son, because their parents are traveling all the time. Their family life is wealthy and simple, her life is aseptised and extravagant and, at the beginning of the movie, she is divorcing, giving a party same night, as she always does when she divorces. Always very rich men. Before the party, in the morning, she has to drive back her luxurious car, left in a street near Bougival, because she was too drunk to drive it back home safe. One of her ex-husbands, of course, very rich, lets her drive one of his Rolls- Royces. She accidentally meets Cassel, driving his 2 Chevaux, witch is a little Citroen car, very resistant, as it seems... After that, it's the eternal chassé-croisé between the two members of the couple. When she wants, he doesn't and when he finally comes to her, she doesn't want him anymore. But he does persist, and the doll goes into the bear's arms voluptuously.

Irresistibly tempting the socialite model urban Felicity (Bridget Bardot) duels her seductive charms against the baffling and equally determined country cellist Gaspard (Jean-Pierre Cassel) who refuses to return the compliment. Mostly played out at Gaspards country home over one evening, Nina Companéez and Michel Deville's plot allow both actors to display their versatility. Particularly appealing is one scene when Felicity has Gaspard act as a woman and she takes on the role of a man wanting to get his way with with 'her'. We see Bardot, always flirtatious, but strongly characterised and not just portrayed as a flimsy 'sex kitten' such as in "Les Novices'. When together, Cassal and Bardots performances are so palpably magnetic, that some scenes of them alone seem inferior. Totally absorbing.