Act of Love ** (1954, Kirk Douglas, Dany Robin, Barbara Laage, Robert Strauss, Gabrielle Dorziat, Grégoire Aslan, Brigitte Bardot, Serge Reggiani)- Classic Movie Review 12,197

Director Anatole Litvak’s 1953 black and white bitter-sweet romance film Act of Love [Un acte d’amour] stars Kirk Douglas as an American soldier with the French Liberation Army in 1944 who falls for a young French woman (Dany Robin).

Robert Teller (Kirk Douglas), the now former US soldier is on holiday in the French Riviera, prompting him to recall his time in France in World War Two and his love for the French peasant woman Lise Gudayec (Dany Robin).

Everybody works hard, especially the sympathetic stars, and there is a certain delicate charm and truthful appeal about the film. And it looks nice in Armand Thirard’s black and white cinematography and Alexander Trauner’s swish production designs. But real inspiration is missing in Irwin Shaw’s screenplay and in Litvak’s downbeat and ponderous direction.

It was made by a Hollywood studio on location in France before this was usual.

It is based on the novel The Girl on the Via Flaminia by Alfred Hayes.

Also in the cast are Barbara Laage, Robert Strauss, Gabrielle Dorziat, Grégoire Aslan, Brigitte Bardot, Serge Reggiani, Fernand Ledoux, George Mathews, Leslie Dwyer, and Richard Benedict.

Quelque Part Dans le Monde was the working title.

It runs 108 minutes (US), 106 minutes (TCM print) or 95 minutes (France).

Kirk Douglas also performed the French language version’s dialogue, written by Joseph Kessel.

Dany Robin’s last film was Hitchcock’s Topaz (1969).

Down-the-cast Brigitte Bardot, playing Mimi, was soon taking over from Dany Robin as number one French sex kitten.

Now here is the story of the real-life Act of Love:

When German-born Anne Buydens met Kirk Douglas in Paris in 1953, he was divorced from his first wife, Diana Dill, with whom he had two sons, Michael Douglas and Joel. Anne and Kirk worked together on Act of Love, he as star and she as a publicist.

He offered her a job as his publicist, which she eventually accepted after first refusing. Kirk Douglas recalled: ‘She finally agreed to work with me on a trial basis, making it clear our relationship would be strictly business.’

However, they married in Las Vegas on 29 May 1954, and had two sons: Peter (born 1955) and Eric (1958–2004). They lived long and prospered, both becoming centenarians. He died aged 103 on February 5, 2020 and she died on April 29, 2021, aged 102, at their longtime Beverly Hills home.

Her stepson Michael Douglas recalled: ‘Anne was more than a stepmother, and never “wicked.” She brought out the best in all of us, especially our father. Dad would never have had the career he did without Anne’s support and partnership.’

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,197

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