The Private Affairs of Bel Ami

Writer/director Albert Lewin, ever on the lookout for esoteric story material that would accommodate his fascination with Egyptian sculpture and feline symbolism, managed to inject both into The Private Affairs of Bel Ami. Though based on a Guy de Maupassant story, Bel Ami seems to have been written ...more

Albert Lewin had a predilection for literary sources for his films, and The Private Affairs of Bel Ami is one which is so derived, to very good effect. Granted, devotees of Guy de Maupassant's original novel will likely object to the liberties taken with the material, most particularly the ending in which the title character must pay for his misdeeds. This is a justified reaction, but if one looks at Bel more subjectively, as a film that had to adhere to the strict Production Code of the time, ...more