The Virtuous Bigamist (Sous le ciel de Provence)

A French-Italian comedy-drama from 1956, The Virtuous Bigamist came from director Mario Soldati. It is known in France as Sous le ciel de Provence or Quatre pas dans les nuages, in Italy as Era di venerdì 17 and in Germany as Vater wider Willen. The comedian Fernandel takes the lead. The picture is the first remake of Alessandro Blasetti's 1942 Italian classic Quattro passi fra le nuvole (Four Steps in the Clouds), whose central role was played by Gino Cervi. German film criticism calls this version a loving, warm-hearted comedy.

The story centres on Paul, a travelling salesman stuck in a joyless marriage. While on the road he meets a young woman who is expecting a child by a man who has left her, and the plot grows out of that encounter. Alongside Fernandel, Giulia Rubini and Fosco Giachetti are the names singled out; the cast also includes Leda Gloria, Renato Salvatori, Tina Pica, Alberto Sordi, Andrex, Charles Dechamps, Georges Cusin, Henri Arius, Jean Brochard and Nino Castelnuovo.

As with the original, Blasetti is among the credited writers, together with Giuseppe Amato, Aldo De Benedetti, Piero Tellini and Cesare Zavattini. The film runs about 95 minutes and was made in French and Italian.