French Without Tears

Ray Milland - Alan Howard
Ellen Drew - Diana Lake
Janine Darcey - Jacqueline Maingot
David Tree - Chris Neilan
Roland Culver - Cmdr. Rogers
Guy Middleton - Brian Curtis

Alan, a likeable cynic, Chris, a sensitive youth, and Brian, a pleasant fool, are 'cramming' French - each for his own particular reason - at Professor Maingot's establishment in the South of France. Diana, sister of Kenneth, another student, comes to stay at the villa for the summer. She sets her cap at Chris, who quickly responds. He is loved, meanwhile, without knowing it by the professor's daughter, Jacqueline. When Commander Rogers, a 'typical' serviceman, arrives to study French for a naval examination, the situation grows complicated; Diana flirts with him and succeeds in setting Chris and the Commander at each other's throats.

The cynical Alan, who fancies himself as an impartial observer of the scene, finds to his own consternation that he too is attracted to Diana, though he tells himself he knows what kind of girl she is. He manages to extract the Commander from Diana's net, unites Chris and Jacqueline and becomes Diana's unwilling victim. She confesses that she has been in love with him all the time, and that her flirtations were merely a skirmish to make him aware of her. Alan cannot escape his fate; he succumbs.
Excerpt© 'Puffin Asquith' by R.J. Minney .