for us "Bonjour Tristesse" in CinemaScope and natural colors... And there are whispers in film circles which say that this aging director, a man of sixty, will marry Jean Seberg, the new screen star whom he himself discovered, though she is not past her twenty-second year.
"Bonjour Tristesse" is a novel the whole world has read in most of the living languages, and today the whole world likewise awaits its appearance on the screen with the utmost impatience.
"Bonjour Tristesse" is the novel that carried the student Françoise Sagan, between one night and the next morning, into the world of fame — and which "Otto Preminger" has now brought out as a motion picture, after spending a year and a half searching for the heroine and preparing the atmosphere suited to the production.
The task to which Preminger was appointed was no easy one: he had to select players who would put on the characters exactly as they are in the novel.
The leading role (the father) was assigned to the English actor "David Niven," who is elegant, composed, and of strong personality. The role of the modern daughter, "Cécile," the heroine, was assigned to Jean Seberg; the role of "Elsa," the
father's mistress, went to Mylène Demongeot, while the actress Deborah Kerr contends with her for the father's heart...
We may affirm even now that "Bonjour Tristesse" is the first
film to win the admiration of the crowds in Europe, in their conviction that it came steeped in the spirit of the story to a wondrous degree. And the truly splendid thing is that "Otto Preminger" has presented
Cécile (Jean Seberg) — does she truly love Philippe?...