MOVIES ABROAD: French with Tears

The supposedly blase French last week lined up along the Champs Elysees to see the latest movie by Director Roger (And God Created Woman) Vadim, the man who virtually invented Brigitte Bardot. Forgetting France’s reputation for tolerance, half the Cabinet had insisted on seeing, and in effect censoring, Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Affairs), based on an 18th century classic novel about what might be called advanced sex education. The frank and cynical description of the affairs of two wideranging lovers—aided by a camera so candid that it sometimes even peeped under the bed sheets—was carefully edited before it won a permit “for adults only.” For French adults, that is. Vadim was denied an export permit, lest his picture corrupt less civilized foreigners.