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The Diary of a Chambermaid

Director: Jean Renoir (Dir) Release Date: 15 Feb 1946 Production Date: early Jul--early Sep 1945 Duration (in mins): 86			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Paulette Goddard	(Celestine)
	Burgess Meredith	(Captain Mauger)
	Hurd Hatfield	(Georges Lanlaire)
	Francis Lederer	(Joseph)
	Judith Anderson	(Madame Lanlaire)
	Florence Bates	(Rose)
	Irene Ryan	(Louise)
	Reginald Owen	(Monsieur Lanlaire)
	Almira Sessions	(Marianne)

Summary:

In 1885, Celestine, a chambermaid, is so tired of her station in life that when she arrives at her new post, the rural French home of the Lanlaires, she vows to use the next available man to achieve wealth. The following morning, Joseph, the sadistic valet, shows Celestine the vault in which the family keeps their silver, which is used only on independence day, 14 July, when they drink to the death of the Republic. Later, Celestine flirts with Monsieur Lanlaire, who is dominated by his disagreeable wife. When Lanlaire offers Celestine money to buy a present, she asks instead for a piece of the silver. Their conversation is interrupted by the Lanlaires' next-door neighbor, Captain Mauger, who throws a rock through Lanlaire's greenhouse. Mauger, a hyperactive man who eats flowers and lives alone with his servant Rose, now presses Celestine to come and live with him. As an inducement, he offers to marry her and make her a present of the 25,000 francs he has hidden in the house. When the Lanlaires' tubercular son Georges comes home, Madame Lanlaire buys the attractive Celestine new dresses and instructs her to care for Georges, in hopes that her charms will keep him at home. Despite Celestine's allure, Georges announces his intention to leave for Paris. That night, Madame Lanlaire sends Celestine, dressed in her nightclothes, to Georges's room with some broth. At first, Georges is happy to see her, but later accuses Celestine of conspiring with his mother. Celestine realizes that Madame Lanlaire was using her for her own purposes and angrily quits her job. When she asks Joseph for a ride to the station, however, he begs her to stay and explains that he has saved almost enough money to buy a café in Cherbourg. Joseph intends to steal the Lanlaires' silver on independence day and offers to marry Celestine and set her up in the café with the profits. Reluctantly, Celestine agrees to stay until after the independence day celebration. Joseph's plans are thwarted, however, by Madame Lanlaire, who has overheard his conversation with Celestine. A desperate Joseph now plans to steal Mauger's fortune. While Mauger and Celestine are at the celebration in the village, Joseph searches the house, but Mauger returns unexpectedly and Joseph kills him. Celestine sees Joseph come out of Mauger's garden with a shovel and realizes what has occurred. Nonetheless, when Joseph announces that he intends to marry Celestine and leave, she does not denounce him. Georges is extremely upset by the announcement, and Madame Lanlaire begs Joseph to take Celestine away from her son, which he agrees to do in exchange for the silver. Joseph and Celestine leave the Lanlaires with a cart full of silver, but are stopped by the crowds celebrating in the village. Hoping to delay their departure, Celestine hands out the silver to the villagers. Georges arrives while she is doing this, and he and Joseph struggle. The townspeople join in the fight and Joseph is killed. Later, Celestine and Georges board the train together.

Production Company:	Camden Productions, Inc.
Production Text:	A Benedict Bogeaus Production
Distribution Company:	United Artists Corp.
Director:	Jean Renoir	(Dir)
	Paula Walling	(Dial dir)
	Joseph Depew	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Benedict Bogeaus	(Prod)
	Burgess Meredith	(Prod)
Writer:	Burgess Meredith	(Scr)
Photography:	Lucien Andriot	(Cine)
Art Direction:	Eugene Laurie	(Prod des)
Film Editor:	James Smith	(Supv ed)
Set Decoration:	Julia Heron	(Set dec)
Costumes:	Madame Karinska	(Miss Goddard's cos)
	Greta	(Ward)
Music:	David Chudnow	(Mus supv)
	Michel Michelet	(Mus score)
Sound:	William Lynch	(Sd tech)
Make Up:	Otis Malcolm	(Makeup artist)
	Hedvig Mjorud	(Miss Goddard's hair stylist)
Production Misc:	Arthur M. Landau	(Prod assoc)
	Carley Harriman	(Asst to prod)
Country:	United States

Source Text:	Based on the novel The Diary of a Chambermaid by Octave Mirbeau (Paris, 1900) and the play Le journal d'une femme de Chambre by Andrée House, André de Lorde and Thielly Nores (production date undetermined).
Authors:	Theilly Nores
	André de Lorde
	Andrée House
	Octave Mirbeau

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number	Passed By NBR:
Camden Productions, Inc.	15/2/1946 dd/mm/yyyy	LP172	Yes

Physical Properties:	b&w:
	Sd:	Western Electric Recording


Genre:	Drama
Sub-Genre:	Historical

Subjects (Major):	Chambermaids
	Class distinction
	France
	Greed
	Valets

Subjects (Minor):	Eccentrics
	Festivals
	Henpecked husbands
	Mothers and sons
	Murder
	Rural life
	Silver
	Trains
	Tuberculosis

Note:	According to 22 Jul 1945 NYT article, RKO originally intended to film The Diary of a Chambermaid , with Burgess Meredith, Jean Renoir and Paulette Goddard acting as producers, but agreement could not be reached on the treatment of the story. A Mar 1945 LAEx item stated that Dudley Nichols was working on the script at that time. Renoir, Meredith and Goddard then formed Camden Productions, Inc. to produce the film. Goddard and Meredith were married at the time of the film's production. Benedict Bogeaus, owner of General Service Studios, became the principal shareholder when he supplied $900,000 to the company. The NYT article also notes that the film's settings and costumes were copied from the paintings of Pierre Renoir, the father of director Jean Renoir. For this reason, the time period was set at 1885. According to modern sources, Renoir considered hiring Anita Loos to write the script. Although initial critical response was lukewarm, the film went on to make a profit and was named by the National Board of Review as one of the ten best of the year. Octave Mirbeau's novel also served as the source for Louis Buñuel's 1974 film Le journal d'une femme de Chambre .

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Box Office	2 Feb 1946.
Daily Variety	28 Jan 46	p. 3, 9
Film Daily	28 Jan 46	p. 6.
Hollywood Reporter	6 Jul 45	p. 15.
Hollywood Reporter	7 Aug 45	p. 9.
Hollywood Reporter	24 Aug 45	p. 15.
Hollywood Reporter	29 Aug 45	p. 11.
Hollywood Reporter	28 Jan 46	p. 10.
Hollywood Reporter	27 Jun 46	p. 11.
Los Angeles Examiner	7 Mar 1945.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest	2 Feb 46	p. 2829.
New York Times	22 Jul 1945.
New York Times	23 Jun 46	p. 28.
Variety	30 Jan 46	p. 12.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



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