Bel Ami

Even at the height of the Third Reich, the name of Willi Forst - star and director of this literary adaptation - stood for a certain ironic detachment and class, and this witty, pacey film doesn't disappoint. The story of how a journalist claws his way to the top while bedding a whole row of society ladies might, one would have thought, have struck a resonance with Goebbels, who as film minister had the opportunity to ban it if he wished - but apparently he wasn't blessed with sufficient self-consciousness to recognise the implied dig. Even if its contemporary satirical intent is perhaps overstated, the film is a real pleasure to watch - most notably for poor Lizzi Waldmueller, who was killed by shellfire towards the end of World War Two and who here sings the film's catchy theme 'You have luck with the girls, Bel Ami' surrounded by a bevy of cartwheeling can-can dancers. Good too (as always) is Hilde Hildebrandt as one of Duroy's society lovers.