Life This Week: July 4, 1938

I hope my American and Canadian readers had lovely long weekends!

Promotional photo of Danielle Darrieux for The Rage of Paris from Doctor Macro

First off, this issue of Life has a write-up on French actress Danielle Darrieux (whom you may know from classics such as The Earrings of Madame de... and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort), who, in 1938, had just arrived in America...

...to film The Rage of Paris, which is also the Movie of the Week.  You might not want to read the article if you haven't seen the movie, because it definitely contains spoilers!  Shame on you, Life!  However, The Rage of Paris is a romantic comedy, so you could probably figure out what happens anyway.  The Rage of Paris is a solid example of the 30s romantic comedy genre.  It's escapist fun with glamorous clothes and sets and a rather far-fetched plot.  Danielle Darrieux and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. are both charming and have great chemistry.  Character actors Helen Broderick, Mischa Auer and Harry Davenport add to the fun.  The Rage of Paris is available on DVD, or you can watch it at the Internet Archive.*

Publicity still of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Danielle Darrieux

To go with The Rage of Paris, what could be better than a salad that's on the menu in most of the bistros of that fair city?  I just adore salade aux lardons (also called salade lyonnaise) with its bacony vinaigrette.  I use the recipe from BBC Good Food.  I just happened to have iceberg, so I used that.  Also, there's no reason to buy pre-cut "lardons."  Just snip the bacon into the skillet with a pair of kitchen shears.  One bit of advice: pick a high-quality red wine vinegar.  Nothing's worse than a cheap one!

*