Ma Cousine De Varsovie (aka My Cousin From Warsaw) (1931)

A married woman (Madeleine Lambert) is having an affair with an artist (Andre Roanne) at her country estate while her husband (Gustave Gallet) works in Paris. When her husband's doctor suggests he needs a long rest, he returns to the country home much to the displeasure of his wife and her lover, who is also the husband's best friend. Enter the beautiful cousin (Elvire Popesco) from Warsaw and a series of romantic roundelays follows. Based on the play by Louis Verneuil (adapted for the screen by Henri Georges Clouzot) and directed by Carmine Gallone. This racy sex comedy has a Lubitsch quality to it although he would have been much subtler in its execution. The movie's laissez faire attitude toward adultery would seem too daring even in pre code Hollywood. I found it fitfully amusing although its slightly cynical, bittersweet ending is a bit of a downer. The performers are skillful farceurs with Popesco a particular standout. A scene with her breaking out in spontaneous laughter had me convinced that it was real and not in the script. With Saturnin Fabre and Pierre Noyelle.