Who still remembers this face? She was just a young woman like any other, rather wise, spotted by a great fashion designer when she came for a job as a secretary. In a few months, the one who was running away from social life became a fashionable model who made the whole Paris of the 30’s crazy. The amorous adventures of this eternal romantic who abandoned herself in the arms of the greatest made the young girls dream. The press followed step by step her arrival on the big screen, especially alongside Jean Gabin in Pépé le Moko... Mireille Balin was a star, almost despite herself. And like so many others, she paid a high price for this fleeting glory. Because the years passed, taking away her youth. Because she put her heart before her career. For there are things that women are not forgiven for. In times of war, examples are needed.
A great specialist in the history of French cinema, Philippe Durant, in this sensitive biography, brings back to life a forgotten woman and a pitiless era.
