FANNY (1961): A recent essential pick from Turner Classic Movies. Never heard of the film before that and was intrigued by its cinematographer and the stars in it. Leslie Caron plays Fanny, a fish seller's daughter in Marseilles. She falls in love with the cafe owner's son, who longs to sail the seas rather than stay with her.
This entry might as well be a love letter to Leslie Caron - She is even more beautiful than the scenery. She matures from gamine to a more serious actress here. Charles Boyer and Maurice Chevalier flank her ably with delicious comic banter. The young eye candy is German actor Horst Buchholz. Kinda creepy that Maurice Chevalier's character gets together with Fanny - in a really odd twist to the opening of "Gigi" when Chevalier sings "Thank Heavens for Little Girls."
Jack Cardiff photographs Marseilles on location with breathtaking aerial shots that readily added itself to my personal list of places to go.
Not an essential to me in the way its hosts treasure it, but worth a look anyway. Maybe I was too drawn to Fanny/Leslie Caron that I don't believe her lover would leave her behind for a sea-adventure. Also, not sure about the tone the movie takes about her decisions in order to retain her honor. I know that it has to do with the time and place it's set - and I do see that internal struggle in Caron's eyes.
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