Plucking the Daisy (1956)

Truly Dreadful Film

Sorry, this movie sucks

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

On a sheer entertainment level this film delivers some good gags, a breezy delivery, and of course the incomparable talents of Ms Brigitte Bardot to breathe her signature innocence into a sexually charged role. But, much like watching Al Jolson do blackface in the 1927 classic "The Jazz Singer", this movie requires a lot of... shall we say, 'nostalgic license'?Plot: an 18 year old female writer (played by 22 year old Bardot) runs away to Paris to try to get published, since her ultra conservative hometown and ultra-ultra conservative father is not so accommodating. In Paris nobody bothers to read her manuscripts (and in fact the whole premise of her being a writer disappears in the first 15 mins) as every male tries to seduce, grope, manipulate and objectify her. The worst part is that she herself soon becomes resigned to being a simple object of desire, forsaking any greater ambitions, and deeper plot themes, than to snare the most eligible suitor. What began with a great setup (a talented female writer cracking the male dominated field) devolves into a basic boy(s)-chase-girl formula. And she goes along with it.On the plus side: Toward the end it turns into a fun little Shakespearean comedy of errors & mistaken identities, and that is the story's saving grace. I just wish some of the other scenes, like all the drooling office workers propositioning anyone wearing a skirt, could've been toned down. Like seriously, male office workers randomly groping and kissing coworkers may have been funny to audiences 60 years ago, but it's a little disturbing today, and that kept distracting me from the real strengths of the film.As a historical document detailing the unique career of Brigitte Bardot, this film deserves its place. It shows her to be a naïve yet morally confident young woman who can handle herself in tough situations without losing sight of her femininity. Unfortunately this role kept her submissive the whole time, so it's as if this early work was just a primer for her later roles where she triumphs. I would sooner suggest watching "Naughty Girl" released the same year (1956), where Bardot shines with her impish portrayal of a young girl who is smart enough to turn all the drooling men into playthings, rather than this where she seems to be just below that level of command.

Made right before AND GOD CREATED WOMAN, this little comedy is no great shakes, except for the lively and vivacious Ms. Bardot who is charming as always. The guy who plays her brother is strangely bizarre and amusing. A pretty tame film (considering the title), the plot isn't worth discussing, but Brigitte is coy and beautiful.A 5 out of 10. Best performance = Ms. Bardot. Her next film (GOD) would completely change her image from fun and innocent to passionate and a lasting sexual creature of the 50's. Roger Vadim, who wrote this one finally got to direct her and make a lasting impression. This film is enjoyable, but nothing to brag about.

The title of this film is a direct reference to the title of a book by 18-year-old Agnes (Brigitte Bardot), published under the name 'A.D.' (her initials) because the book is about the people in her hometown of Vichy and she didn't want everyone to know she wrote it. She ends up in Paris, broke, and needs to raise 180,000 Francs quickly, and her only hope is to enter a strip tease contest. She, and the two newspaper friends she meets on the train to Paris, make quite a good comedy trio. Even with English subtitles this is a fun and funny film, and is a great introduction to the early Bardot without her nudity.some SPOILERS following, read further at your considered discretion.Agnes' father, a general, was so upset she had written a book about their town, he forceably was sending her away by train to a convent, but instead she hopped onto the train to Paris, needing to borrow money from the news men for the billet. That created the connection, so that the two guys would need to keep track of her. In the process one of them, the confirmed batchelor and womanizer, fell in love with her. Agnes went to the address her brother had given her, but instead of his house it was a museum, instead of being the wealthy painter he claimed, he was a poor tour guide. Wanting clothes and other things, Agnes took a valuable book and sold it, and that is what created her desperate need for 180,000 Fr, her brother insisted they buy it back and replace it. She decided to enter the strip tease contest which pays 200,000 Fr to the winner. (I suspect about $200 to $300 equivalent in 1950 money.Shy, she calls herself 'Sophie' and decides to wear a mask while stripping, and she wins. Her fiancee goes into her dressing room, unaware that she is really Agnes, and pretends to be in love with Sophia, so he can get a story. This confuses Agnes, and creates the romantic tension for the last scene. The finals of the contest are in her town of Vichy, her brother is there, her dad is a judge, her fiancee finds out the truth, she gets someone else to strip for her, presumably everyone turns out happy.At 99 minutes this is an easy film to watch, the action and situations are never dull. There is brief torso nudity, in context of the contest, but no Bardot nudity. If this film were released today it would probably be PG-13. I saw it on DVD, the restored version in B&W. Except for a minute of so in the last half, where the image became very dark, it is a very fine video transfer. Extras are limited to several Bardot movie trailers. A free loan from my local county library.

This is a harmless screwball comedy, mostly fast-paced, always amusing, but never laugh-out-loud funny. The striptease is a tiny and almost incidental part of the film, and Mlle Bardot never undresses on camera. A damn shame. But she really could act, and is better than the rest of the deservedly unknown cast. Maybe that is why they were chosen, so as not to upstage the luminously beautiful star.