In our Springtime in France series we had a chance to see gorgeous prints of some of Jacques Becker's most famous films, including Casque d'or and Grisbi, a revelation. Falbalas is the missing link, set in the world of Paris haute couture, a world Becker vividly brings to life in all its surface brilliance then probes with his self-described entomologist's eye. Raymond Rouleau portrays an egoistic dress designer who sets about conquering his friend's fiancée (Micheline Presle), only to be caught in a tragic trap of his own making. "As always with Becker...the picturesque social ambiance is intimately a part of a whole conception which includes an observation of individual behavior equally alert, equally canny....Micheline Presle plays (Rouleau's) victim with a continuous subtlety of feeling that she has not surpassed." (Lindsay Anderson)