Certain Smile, A

The main protagonist and narrator in the film, law student Dominique Vallon, returns from a walk to her parents' house. We are in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, Bourgogne region, France, with the rear view of the property 4, Rue de la Voyère.

Tilting down, the camera finds the grounds of the mansion with the now unkempt garden site.

The taxi driver rings the bell at the gateway to number 4, Rue de la Voyère. Villeneuve-sur-Yonne in the Yonne department.

For returning to Paris Dominique takes the taxi from Rue de la Voyère to the railway station, situated on the opposite side of the river.

The cab, a 1955 Simca Vedette Versailles, turns into Quai du Commerce and brings the half part of the Saint-Nicolas bridge into view, crossing Yonne river.

Paris, 5th arrondissement, with an establishing shot from the roof terrace of the La Tour d'Argent restaurant at 15, Quai de la Tournelle, looking over the Seine river with Île de la Cité (on the left) and Pont de l'Archevèché and Île Saint-Louis (on the right) with Quai d'Orléans and Pont Saint-Louis.

Still in the 5th arrondissement, with an establishing shot from Boulevard Saint-Michel towards Place de la Sorbonne, with the dome of the Sorbonne Chapel.

Dominique heads back to school and can be seen near the corner of Place de la Sorbonne with Rue de la Sorbonne.

Seen from Rue Victor Cousin, our young heroine takes the steps to the Chapelle de la Sorbonne, one of the entrances to the prestigious Sorbonne University. Later Dominique meets fellow students and boyfriend Betrand , who tells her, that he has arranged to meet his uncle.

Together they ride the bus to the meeting point at Rue Royale. Driving along Boulevard Saint-Michel, the Fontaine du Bassin Soufflot comes into view, seen from Rue de Médicis towards Rue Soufflot, with the Panthéon in the distance.

The bus on line 84 continues its journey along Boulevard Saint-Michel in direction of Place Saint-Michel.

The bus crosses Place Saint-Michel, with Pont Saint-Michel to the left background. Onto Île de la Cité, Quai du Marché Neuf with the police prefecture and to the right is Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.

Still on Place Saint-Michel, but on the corner of Quai des Grands Augustins. Opposite Quai des Orféves is visible and in the background to the right the dome of Tribunal de commerce de Paris (the commercial court, inaugurated in 1865) can be recognised, located on Boulevard du Palais.

Arriving in the 8th arrondissement, Dominique Vallon (Christine Carère) and Bertrand Griot (Bradford Dillman) leave the bus at the corner of Rue Royale and Rue Saint-Honoré.

The two cross Rue Royale, with La Madeleine church in the background, while Bertrand's Uncle Luc already waits in the nearby restaurant.

Now switching to the 16th arrondissement, Place du Trocadéro with a view towards the Palais de Chaillot and the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

Still in the Place de Trocadéro, where the 1957 Citroën ID 19 type cab turns into Avenue d'Eylau. In the background, Avenue Raymond Poincarè (to the left) and Avenue Kléber (to the right) branch off.

The young couple get out of the taxi in front of the entrance to the No 4, Avenue d'Eylau, the chic residence of worldly Luc Ferrand (Rossano Brazzi), who later turns out to be a philanderer, and his charming wife Françoise (Joan Fontaine), Bertrand's aunt.

We move to the 1st arrondissement, where the couple strolls on Île de la Cité embankment nearby Square du Vert Galant, with Pont Neuf visible in the background. Also seen in the rarely aired 'House of Cards' (1965).

A little less of the Pont Alexandre Brdige than I would have liked but as one can see this is still a romantic venue. SJ

Later in the 4th arrondissement, where the two can be seen on Île Saint-Louis, exactly opposite the property 16, Quai d'Orléans.

Facing from the colonnades of the Sorbonne chapel towards the courtyard of the Sorbonne University during the semester break.

The establishing shot from Boulevard Émile Peynot towards the river with the First World War memorial indicates that Dominique is spending the semester break at the parents' house in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne.

At Quai du Commerce, right next to Bonneville tower, one day the postman hands Dominique a letter from Luc. In it, he makes her an offer to spend a weekend by the sea together.

Again at the backyard with the view towards the properties Rue de la Voyère No 4 and No 6. in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. Dominique finds out from her boyfriend Bertrand on the phone that he will be visiting her soon.

The couple meets on the 210 m long Pont Saint-Nicolas. The view from the middle of the bridge towards Faubourg Saint-Laurent.

Together they drive on the moped into the town of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, which is overlooked by the Église Notre-Dame de l'Assomption.

Here they drive onto Rue Joubert towards the church.

At the church, visible in the background, they have just turned right onto Rue Carnot.

The couple finally reach Dominique's home. The view along Rue de la Voyère towards the entrance to the courtyard of property No 4, and property No 2 by the corner with Quai du Commerce.

However, the visit does not end well because of a quarrel between Bertrand and Dominique. She therefore decides to accept Luc's offer but tells her parents that she is spending the weekend with a school friend. On the platform of Villeneuve-sur-Yonne station with a departing passenger train of French State Railways (SNCF) on track 2 for Lyon can be seen, consisting OCEM type corridor coaches.

After changing in Avignon to Aix-en-Provence, the SNCF standard diesel railcar nicknamed "Picasso" (series X 3801 to X 4051) can be see crossing the Pont de l'arc Meyran viaduct (38 arches, 547 m long) outside of Aix.

As Dominique arrives in Aix-en-Provence, located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, miraculously an SNCF standard type diesel rail car of X 2400 class can be seen now pulling in from the north.

Rossano Brazzi as Luc Ferrand, a good-looking middle-aged charmer, impresses Dominique also with his exclusive sports car. They stand at Place de la Gare on the corner of Rue Gustave Desplaces and Avenue Victor Hugo, Aix-en-Provence.

Still at the station square, by the corner of Avenue Maurice Blondel and Avenue Victor Hugo, the roadster can be seen heading for the centre. Hotel Terminus, in the left background, has since been replaced by a modern apartment block.

While crossing through the university town to head for the French Riviera at Saint-Raphaél, the brand new Mercedes-Benz 300 SL reaches Place du Général de Gaulle and drives past the Fontaine de la Rotonde.

After they have reached Nice and have circled Colline du Château, they continue on Quai Lunel along the port basin called Bassin Lympia.

Coming from Quai Papacino, the roadster turns into Place de l'Ile de Beauté at the corner of Rue Antoine Gautier.

Still driving along Place de l'Ile de Beauté, Église Notre-Dame du Port comes into view. In the background, a Chausson AP3 type bus stops by the corner with Rue Pacho.

An establishing shot of the Jardin exotique d'Èze, situated beneath the ruin of Château d'Èze, facing towards Cap Roux, where, at the bottom right, Avenue de la Liberté can be recognised, which runs parallel to the Marseille to Ventimiglia railway along the coast line.

But now we are in Villefranche-sur-Mer, where the roadster takes the dead-end Chemin Privé de la Darse to reach the castle-like mansion Castel Floréa, built in 1912 and used as a hotel at the time of filming.

The hotel terrace of Castel Floréa offers a splendid view of the Port de la Darse harbour and the Saint-Elme citadel of Villefranche-sur-Mer. The building at the top left, which was still whitewashed at the time, is the Hotel De La Darse, located by the corner of Quai de la Corderie and Rue des Galères.

Luc actually planned to go shopping together in Monaco, which was very fashionable after Grace Kelly married Rainier III in 1956, and visit the Monte Carlo casino. But Dominique prefers to fish from the jetty on the Quai de l'Amiral Courbet, nearby the today marina Port de la Santé, while the Villefranche-sur-Mer waterfront can be seen. In the background on the right we see the Le Neptune hotel, which was still under construction at the time.

In the Vieille Ville (old town) of Villefranche-sur-Mer, also known for the unusual Rue Obscure, a hidden medieval street. Coming down the stairway leading up to Saint-Michel church the couple passes by the archway at Rue Baron de Brès.

At the corner of Rue Baron de Brès with Rue de May Luc buys a trinket for Dominique from a toy seller.

Then the couple heads up Rue de May in direction of Place de la Paix.

Still at Villefranche-sur-Mer, using the stairway that leads up from Rue du Vallon, the couple reaches a then existing market place next to Avenue Sadi-Carnot, with the then Hotel de la Rade in the background. In the distance the Cap Ferrat peninsula can be recognised.

Seen from the Moyenne Corniche major road the view towards the eagle's nest of Èze.

In Èze village, Dominique and Luc watch a wedding party having a photo session just in front of the then restaurant "A votre eze chez Justin".

Luc has to return to Paris earlier than planned, due to an urgent business matter. Back at Aix-en-Provence station, they say goodbye, although Dominique's disappointment can be seen. In the meantime, not only the square in front of the train station, but also the background surroundings have completely changed. But the then residential building to see in the center top still exists, now as No 8, Avenue des Belges.

But instead of Aix station, Villeneuve station (see Capture 30) can be recognised again, but now at platform 4 with an SNCF passenger train consisting again OCEM corridor coaches, pulling out towards Paris.

Geographically quite absurd, this shot is supposed to imply that Luc's roadster is overtaken by the train carrying Dominique home. Taken on the Basse Corniche coastal road east of Beaulieu-sur-Mer , an oil-fired Mikado 2-8-2 type tender loco of SNCF class 141R can be seen with an Marseille bound express train at the west portal of the Tunnel de Cap Roux (length 411 m).

With the return of Dominique to Paris, an establishing shot can be seen from Promenade Cours-la-Reine, facing downstream with the silhouette of Pont Alexandre III with a full length 160 m, built by Jean Résal and opened in 1900 to celebrate the World Exhibition.

Back again in the 8th arrondissement, where Dominique hopes to see Luc again in the famous café-restaurant Weber, existing until 1961 at 21, Rue Royale. Times are changing, so there is now a Gucci store there.

Luc actually appears but for another reason, immaculately dressed as always, approaching the restaurant by crossing Rue Royale, with Rue Saint-Honoré to the left background.

Poor Dominique completely loses it as she watches Luc flirt with his currrent love interest and hastily leaves the brasserie through the back exit. Although the alley is supposed to be in the 8th arrondissement, the area is more similar to the Latin Quarter in the 5th arrondissement. But, as it turns out, this is the northern end of Rue de l’Échaudé in the 6th arrondissement. (SR)

However, she is noticed by Luc, who then tries to follow her. Dominique, who keeps looking around for Luc, mindlessly runs across the street and is hit by a car. Rue de Seine facing the junction with Rue de l’Échaudé. (SR)

Dominique drags herself along apparently uninjured, but collapses in a side street. Luc, who followed her in the taxi, takes Dominique to his home, whereupon their affair comes to light. The view along Rue Visconti, which connects Rue de Seine, from where the 1933 Renault G7 taxi comes, and Rue Bonaparte. The left side has been completely renovated over the last six decades.

Another establishment shot of the Place de la Sorbonne, facing towards the Sorbonne university, stands for the beginning of the winter semester.

Dominique and Bertrand meet again in the inner courtyard of the university, with the west wing, hosting the library, visible in the background. And somehow a Happy Ending is in the air ...