It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Peau d’âne/Donkey Skin (1970) – Musical #760

Studio:
Cinema International Corporation

Director:
Jacques Demy

Starring:
Catherine Deneuve, Jean Marias, Jacques Perrin, Micheline Presle, Delphine Seyrig, Fernand Ledoux, Henri Crémieux, Sacha Pitoëff, Pierre Repp, Jean Servais, Georges Adet, Louise Chevalier

Plot:
The king (Marias) lives happily with his beautiful queen (Deneuve) and their only daughter (also Deneuve). When the queen dies suddenly, she asks that if he remarries because he still needs a male heir, to marry someone more beautiful and virtuous than she. After shutting himself off in grief, the king decides to find a beautiful princess to marry. When portraits from all over the land are brought, he discovers his own daughter is the most beautiful and more charming than his mother, and he proposes marriage to his own daughter. The princess seeks help from her fairy godmother (Seyrig), who instructs her to ask for seemingly impossible gifts of the king before they will marry. When he fulfills each task, the princess asks the king to kill his prize donkey that produces gold and jewels. The princess disguises herself in the donkey skin, fleeing to a distant land where she is known as a dirty scullery maid who smells bad. When Prince Charming (Perrin) visits the village and sees Donkey Skin/the princess out of her disguise, he falls in love and wants to marry her.

Trivia:
• Based on the 1695 fairy tale, “Donkeyskin” by Charles Perrault
• Actress Catherine Deneuve’s singing voice was dubbed by Anne Germain, who also dubbed Deneuve’s singing in “The Young Girls of Rochefort” (1967).
• Director Jacques Demy originally considered Brigette Bardot and Anthony Perkins for the leads in the film when he considered making the film in 1962.
• Jacques Demy said in interviews that this was one of his favorite fairy tales as a child.
• The film was shot on location at several castles in France, including: Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley, the Chateau du Plessis-Bouree in the Loire Valley, and the Chateau de Pierrefonds in Picardy
• Jacques Demy’s top box office success of all of his films.
• The songs were written by Michel Legrand and Jacques Demy.

Highlights:
• The dresses the princess requests for her father to have made for her. One dress is the color of good weather, another the moon and the last the sun. All are dazzling.

Notable Songs:
• “Amour, Amour” performed by Catherine Deneuve, dubbed by Anne Germain
• “Conseils de la Fée des Lilas” performed by Delphine Seyrig, dubbed by Christiane Legrand
• “Chanson du Prince” performed by Jacques Perrin, dubbed by Jacques Revaux
• “Rêves Secrets d’un Prince et d’une Princesse” performed by Catherine Deneuve and Jacques Perrin, dubbed by Anne Germain and Jacques Revaux

My review:
Many fairy tales written by French author Charles Perrault are known internationally and have made their way into American pop culture and films, including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood.

However, Perrault’s fairy tale of “Donkey Skin” seem to be best known in France, which director Jacques Demy notes in interviews during the making of the film. Perhaps that is because elements of the story are odd and distributing, dealing with a king who wants to marry his daughter.

As noted in the plot summary, after the queen’s death, the king has to find a wife more beautiful and virtuous than her, and his only daughter seems like the best choice. Frightened and confused, the princess contacts her fairy godmother, who devises a plan for the princess to get out of the marriage. Ultimately, it involves the princess fleeing the palace disguised in a donkey skin and going to a faraway land.

The incest theme is unsettling, but it is also thankfully brief at the start of the film (there is also anti-incest song) and not mentioned again once she runs away. Then Donkey Skin lives a new life and the prince is determined to marry her, even though he doesn’t know who she is and unaware that she is of royal blood.

The film later has some “Cinderella” elements, as all the eligible maidens in the land are summoned to try on a ring that only will fit a slender finger.

In a 1970 “Pour Le Cinema” interview, actor Jean Marias, who plays the king, said he was surprised by how cruel fairy tales could be, and that the father in love with his daughter is “quite strange.”

Like with a Jacques Demy film, “Donkey Skin” is visually vivid, colorful and stunning. Surreal elements are woven into the set design and makeup, for example, the king’s thrown is a giant white cat, or there are human moving statues in the walls. The prince also speaks to a rose in the forest which has eyes and lips. Another example is how the kingdom’s are distinguished. The princess’s kingdom is blue and the prince’s kingdom is red. Therefore, the horses are painted blue or red, the servants have blue or red skin, and the clothing matches this coloring as well.

As a child, this was one of Demy’s favorite fairy tales, and he used to put on puppet shoes of it.

“I tried to make the film from the perspective of my eyes when I was eight years old,” Demy said, he said in a 1970 on-set interview with “Pour Le Cinema.”

In addition to taking inspiration from his childhood memories, Demy also tried to pay homage to the films of director Jean Cocteau, especially his Beauty and the Beast/ La Belle et la Bête (1946). Demy cast Jean Marias as the king, who also played the Beast in Cocteau’s film. Some of the human elements in the set design also mimic Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

“It was important to have Jean in the film because he’s a great actor,” Demy said in the 1970 interview. “I wanted to connect Jean into what Cocteau would have done, and Jean graciously agreed.”

As with everything he acts in, Jean Marias is great in this film.

While Catherine Deneuve was one of Demy’s favorite actors to work with, she is perfect for this film. Because Deneuve is so stunningly beautiful, acting as a fairy tale princess is a natural fit. Most of the films I’ve seen Deneuve in are sad or tragic, so it was fun to see her in something light hearted and seem to have fun! Some of this lightheartedness especially comes out during the song, singing a recipe to bake the love cake and the song she sings with a prince, where at the end she’s rolling through the grass.

In the 1970 “Pour Le Cinema” interview, Deneuve said she was delighted to be in the film, especially one that children could see.

I also loved Delphine Seyrig as the fairy godmother, who played her role with tongue and cheek. And the wonderful Micheline Presle, who played the queen of the red kingdom and mother of the prince. She had some fun comedic moments.

Overall, all the actors in this film appear to be having fun, and I enjoyed that.

The songs in the film aren’t as memorable as say, Michel Legrand’s music in “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (what is, though), but many of the songs were fun. I liked the Cake baking song or the song where the maidens are taking desperate acts to slim down their finger to fit the ring made by the prince.

While the film is stunning, it was made on a modest budget. Even still, Demy went over budget, having to shut down production. He called the finished project, “an inspired mixture of makeshift and magic.”

It made me wonder if all the budget was spent on the gorgeous gowns worn by Deneuve, designed by Gitt Magrini.

“Donkey Skin” is a very strange story, but I enjoyed the film. It had moments of lightheartedness and silliness, and I liked that it didn’t feel like the film took itself too seriously.

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