24 thoughts on “MCM: Louis XV

  1. SO interesting! Madame Quinze is probably a snark because it translates as 15 and there may be a double-entendre in there that I can’t catch

    1. Yes I figure it’s a snark, but what does it meeeean? Was she his fifteenth mistress?? From the 15th arrondissement (did that even exist yet)??

      1. I’m guessing, since he was referred to as Louis Quinze (in French you wouldn’t call him Louis the Fifteenth, just Louis Fifteen), it’s a joke, as if Quinze is his last name and she’s his wife.

        1. exactly! Also, not being conversant in double-entrendres in French there may be sexual pun that sounds a bit like “quinze: (Remember, “O Calcutta” was a play on words “”O quel cul t’as!”, French for “What an arse you have!” (copied from WIKI).

          OH HEY! and WIKI also just told that there was a popular card game called “Quinze” in the reign of Louis XV!! So maybe she was REALLY lucky at the card table!

          and then there is THIS (modern … ish) play on the subject https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KLyIWjLsZU

    2. I believe that as he was Louis Quinze, she was Madame Quinze, an acknowledgment of her position as his ‘wife’: the one with the influence, but not with the legitimacy. It could be seen as either a compliment recognising her position at court or a subtle, snickering put down because her position was only as secure as his passion and I expect most resented her.

  2. A Royal Exchange looks adorable (they’re such wee munchkins) AND like a super-interesting story! And the 2009 biopic looks like it might be one of those cases where the costumes aren’t the highest quality but the movie itself is pretty good. It doesn’t look like they totally threw historical accuracy out the window, more like they just maybe didn’t have the best budget.

    I can’t say I’m finding any of these particularly hot, but then I’ve never really found the historical Louis XV hot. (Sorry! That younger portrait of him is definitely handsome. Just not particularly my thing.)

  3. I’m a bit confused. Louis XV is referred to in this post as Marie-Antoinette’s father-in-law, but he was Louis XVI’s grandfather, yes? BTW, I wish I had cool dreams like that!

  4. None of the Louis are my type, sadly. Maybe if there was an actress playing him in drag.

  5. The John Barrymore image he’s being fed. It’s hard to tell, but the woman sitting before him seems to be feeding him a grape. I don’t have a favorite Louis XV, though I am in love with the de La Tour portrait of him from 1748.

  6. Mickey: What’s a horse doing in a spaceship?
    Doctor: What’s eighteenth century France doing on a spaceship?

    Rose: Oh look what the cat dragged in, The Oncoming Storm!

    Mme. De Pompadour to Doctor: This is my lover, the King of France. (Louis and Doctor bristle at each other)

    And of course one of the most fabulous Doctor entrances ever, literally on a white horse.

  7. I saw L’échange des princesses / Royal Exchange at what turned out to be its premiere in Paris. I was sitting in the theater, wondering why it was so crowded, wondering what was causing the delay (because my flight back to the US was early the next morning). What do you know, suddenly all of the actors, the director, the author of the novel it’s based on show up. Mostly I was thinking, ‘Um, how was I able to get a ticket for this?’
    My impression was that the movie was fine overall, but the young actor playing Louis XV was great. He’s played by Igor van Dessel, Klein plays a different character.

  8. John Barrymore was wonderful in the role,even if his aquiline nose was somewhat uncharacteristic of the monarch.
    Dreaming about Louis on the floor of Versailles,seems interesting.My dreams never rise above small,dingy millinery shops(maybe I would come by du Barry one day).

  9. I would guess that Du Barry is Madame Quinze simply because she’s the mistress of Louis XV (« Louis quinze ») ! That’s my Occam’s Razor solution, anyway. :) … I also want to see The Royal Exchange when it’s available. Thanks for the reminder!

  10. I loved the hillarious comedy version of this made “Beaucaire”-Adaption from 1946 and the complete silly representation of Louis XV. Reginal Owen played the old Louis XV in this Comedy.
    The film is set in a somehow 18th century mix as the plot doesn’t fit in any period of Louis’ reign. So many events (Spanish marriage (1720s?), Louis is old (1760s), young Madame de Pompadour in romance with the king (second half of the 1740s …).

    But I like it, when Louis XV is not portrayed as a old stupid Person. Vincent Perez and Igor van Dessel definetely were the best in your collection.

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