The Young Girls of Rochefort

"…They're singing and dancing in the streets."

1967 2h 6m FR

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🔥

98%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 679🍅98%Rotten Tomatoes★7.7IMDB · 12,502

RomanceComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In the seaside town of Rochefort, twin sisters Delphine and Solange dream of love and artistic fulfillment beyond their quiet lives. As sailors, artists, musicians, and chance visitors pass through town during a weekend fair, a web of near-misses and romantic longing brings ideal partners tantalizingly close—without their realizing it.

“…They're singing and dancing in the streets.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Catherine Deneuve
Delphine Garnier
Françoise Dorléac
Solange Garnier
Jacques Perrin
Maxence
Gene Kelly
Andy Miller
Danielle Darrieux
Yvonne Garnier
Michel Piccoli
Simon Dame
George Chakiris
Etienne
Grover Dale
Bill

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jacques Demy
Writers: Jacques Demy
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

59 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jacques Demy, shot by Ghislain Cloquet. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michel Legrand. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jean Hamon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac and Jacques Perrin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "…They're singing and dancing in the streets.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0062873 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jacques Demy directs. Ghislain Cloquet behind the camera. Michel Legrand scores. Jean Hamon cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

159 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Jacques Demy, shot by Ghislain Cloquet. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Michel Legrand. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Jean Hamon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac and Jacques Perrin carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "…They're singing and dancing in the streets.".
7IMDB entry: tt0062873 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 15 themes, including "new love", "sibling relationship", "mistake in person", "unexpected happiness".
9Released under 26 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ghislain Cloquet
Original score: Michel Legrand
Editing: Jean Hamon
Production design: Bernard Evein
Makeup / hair: Janine Jarreau
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 12,502 votes
MPAA: G
US box office: $91,837

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 nominations total

Also by

Jacques Demy

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

badelf2026-08-30
★ 5/10
Summary: 5/10: gorgeous to look at and blessed with Gene Kelly's still-limber dancing, but weighed down by a predictable script and forgettable songs that haven't aged nearly as gracefully as the restoration that preserves them Jacques Demy's follow-up to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg arrives dressed in Criterion's admirable 2K restoration, with colors so vivid they practically hum. Production designer Bernard Evein reportedly repainted forty thousand square meters of the actual town to achieve this candy-colored fantasy, and the effort shows; every frame looks like a postcard from an idealized France that never quite existed. Which makes it all the more disappointing that the film beneath the surface hasn't aged well. The story, following twin sisters Delphine and Solange (real-life siblings Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac) as they dream of escaping their provincial port town, unfolds with a predictability that curdles into tedium well before the two-hour runtime concludes. Demy's script telegraphs its romantic coincidences so far in advance that watching the characters arrive at conclusions we reached scenes earlier becomes an exercise in patience rather than pleasure. Michel Legrand's score, despite the composer's evident craft and his celebrated collaboration with Demy, produces nothing that lingers. The songs function adequately as connective tissue between dance numbers, but not one melody stays with you after the credits roll, a real problem for a film built entirely around its music. What does work, and works considerably, is the physical performance. Gene Kelly, playing American composer Andy Miller, brings his signature rubbery-legged athleticism to a role that doesn't ask much of him dramatically but gives him ample room to move. Kelly was fifty-five when he made this film, and watching him dance through French streets with that effortless elasticity still intact, undiminished by age, offers the film's most purely pleasurable moments. George Chakiris and the ensemble cast match him with genuine technical skill; the choreography throughout demonstrates real craft even when the material surrounding it doesn't. This is ultimately a film of surfaces triumphing over substance: gorgeous to look at, pleasant to watch performers move through, but hollow at its narrative core. The restoration itself is a genuine achievement, preserving Evein's elaborate production design and Demy's saturated color palette for new audiences. But no amount of technical polish can disguise a script that mistakes repetition for structure and predictability for charm. Sixty years on, "your slip is showing".

Production companies