Sois Belle et Tais-Toi Movie Review

A title like Look Beautiful and Shut Up won't win Sois Belle et Tais-Tois a rampaging horde of female fans, although there is much of interest for both men and women who discover this by chance on a video shelf. When this flick was first released in the summer of 1958, Jean-Paul Belmondo, then 25, and Alain Delon, 22, somehow escaped critical attention, although they're both quite good here and it's a treat to see them in the early days of their careers. The film is a vehicle for sexy Mylene Demongeot, who'd turned in a memorable performance the previous summer as Abigail in The Witches of Salem opposite Yves Montand and Simone Signoret. Five screenwriters including Roger Vadim worked on the plot, which blends a lively action caper with a more conventional romantic comedy. The cast is better than the material which, however lightweight, is at least entertaining. Demongeot worked in many European (including British) films, but did not attract international frenzy as Brigitte Bardot had in the early 1950s. Bardot was a straightforward sex kitten, however, and Demongeot's characters tended to be more calculating, deliberate, and practical in their erotic decision-making: Demongeot would never merely look beautiful and shut up. Still, Sois Belle et Tais-Tois is a fascinating curio of its era. AKA: Look Beautiful and Shut Up; Be Beautiful but Shut Up; Be Beautiful and Shut Up; Blonde for Danger.

1958 110m/B FR Henri Vidal, Mylene Demongeot, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Hugh Brooks, Roger Hanin; D: Marc Allegret; W: Roger Vadim, Odette Joyeux, William Benjamin, Jean Marsan, Gabriel Arout; C: Armand Thirard. VHS