The World of Cinema: Gisèle Francome, Winner of the Contest for the Starring Role in "Bonjour Tristesse"

We mentioned in the previous issue that the "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" company had contracted with Françoise Sagan to bring her story "Bonjour Tristesse" to the screen, and that it had dispatched the famous director "Otto Preminger" to France for this purpose.

And the director announced, in the pages of the magazine "Elle," an appeal to French girls who found in themselves the competence to play the starring role to come forward. From among the 1,500 photographs that reached the magazine, the jury selected fifteen, and the author, Françoise Sagan, was asked to choose the "face" that harmonized with the heroine's character — and we record below the final result of this important contest, especially as the heroine herself is to be entrusted with playing the role of Bernard Shaw's "Joan of Arc," and the door of fame and glory will open before her...

After a complete study of the matter, the choice of Françoise Sagan, jointly with the director, fell on Miss Gisèle Francome. She is the daughter of an industrialist, seventeen years old, still a student who has finished the first part of the baccalaureate; she is tall and blonde, with green eyes, and a skilled swimmer — but she is a sensible, quiet girl, more so than "Cécile," the heroine of "Bonjour Tristesse." Her favorite pastime is listening to music...

And Gisèle answers those who ask her:

Why did you enter the contest? She says: Because I found in myself many of the qualities of "Cécile," the heroine of "Bonjour Tristesse":

— She is 17 years old
— She swims well
— She wears trousers and shorts and the swimsuit
— Her figure is slim and graceful.
— Her cheeks are delicate and her mouth is full
— She dances the swing
— She drives a car
— She smokes
— She is pretty without makeup
— Besides French she speaks English and Spanish.

The result of the competition was announced at a grand cocktail party which the film director gave for the fifteen girls... Everyone congratulated Gisèle on her win, and she then went off with her family to spend what remained of the summer in rest, in preparation for the start of filming. She will likewise, at the same time, continue her studies for the second part of the baccalaureate.

And international artistic circles look with great interest toward this new feminine face that gazes out upon the world of the cinema with strength and confidence. What standing will it hold in the near future?... They wonder, too: will "Gisèle" keep her own name, or will they pick out for her a name more musical and more striking to the ear? That is what will be revealed to us in the coming weeks.