The Curtain Rises

"I was seventeen, I'm not anymore because you are and seventeen is not for everyone at the same time!"

Directed by Marc Allégret

Produced by Regina Films, Filmsonor

A warm, playful comedy-drama set in a Parisian drama conservatory where young aspiring actors navigate love, ambition, and the blurred line between theatrical performance and authentic life.

1938, France, Paris, at the Superior Conservatory of Dramatic Art ("Conservatoire Supérieur d'Art Dramatique"). The first-year entrance exams are in full swing. Many applicants, few accepted. Isabelle (Janine Darcey) is one of the few chosen. She joins former students from the second and third years, including François (Claude Dauphin) and Cécilia (Odette Joyeux). They attend the drama class run by Professor Lambertin (Louis Jouvet). The young people, passionate and eager to become comedians, clash in tumultuous love affairs, because by dint of acting, they imagine that life is a farce. François, for example, is in love with Isabelle, who also loves him, but is pursued by Cecilia, his former mistress... "Put art in your life and life in your art!"