A shy bank clerk is transformed into a social climber through seduction and manipulation in 1970s Paris.
LOVE AT THE TOP
A cynical tragicomedy focusing on the different ways of love in the times of the sexual revolution. Nicholas Mallet, an inconspicuous and shy bank employee, one day successfully invites Marie-Paul, a young woman he hadn't known before, in the streets of Paris to a café and sleeps with her the next day. When he tells his surprised friend Claude about the incident, the disillusioned and handicapped writer develops a plan to control and manipulate Nicholas' life. First of all, he procures him to Roberte, a professor of philosophy's frustrated and bored wife.
Quick Answer
Love at the Top is a 1974 French-Italian comedy-drama directed by Michel Deville about a timid bank clerk whose life is upended when an old friend orchestrates his transformation into a confident seducer, using a string of affairs as the key to social ascent.
Programmer's Pick
Social climbing was never quite so French—or so naked. With Jean-Louis Trintignant's understated transformation and Romy Schneider's steel beneath the silk, Deville’s tragicomedy skewers both romance and ambition with a knowing wink.
— SassyFlix Programmer
Overview
Details & Specs
- Director
- Michel Deville
- Writers
- Christopher Frank, Roger Blondel
- Release
- 1974
- Runtime
- 1h 45m
- Country
- France, Italy
- Language
- French
- Also Known As
- Çapkin tilki, El trepa, Love at the Top, The French Way Is, Le mouton enragé, Bli rik och ligga med flickor, O cordeiro enfurecido, Lover on a String, Menestyksen maku, Escalada ao Poder, Kariera na zlecenie, Il montone infuriato, To lyssasmeno provato, Det vilde får
Why This Matters
This 1974 satirical comedy-drama directed by Michel Deville adapts Roger Blondel's 1956 novel, highlighting a cross-media collaboration between literature and film within French cinema.
Cast & Crew
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Why Cult
Watch an introverted bank clerk become a master seducer, steered by his calculating friend’s literary schemes.
Set in 1970s Paris, the film revels in the era’s changing attitudes toward love, sex, and ambition.
Delivers a sardonic take on social climbing, power plays, and the different forms of love, all with a Gallic shrug.
With a cast boasting Jean-Louis Trintignant, Romy Schneider, and Jane Birkin, the performances ooze charm and complexity.
Scene Gallery
Questions from the Vault
Who directed Love at the Top? +
Love at the Top was directed by Michel Deville.
How long is Love at the Top? +
Love at the Top has a runtime of 105 minutes.
What genre is Love at the Top? +
Love at the Top is a comedy, drama, and romance film.
When was Love at the Top released? +
Love at the Top was released in 1974.
How does Nicolas Mallet transform from a timid clerk into a confident seducer? +
Nicolas is guided and manipulated by his old friend Claude Fabre, who orchestrates Nicolas’s encounters and social ascent, using his own writing skills to shape Nicolas’s new persona.
What role do the women in Nicolas's life play in his rise? +
The women Nicolas seduces, often unwittingly, are instrumental to his social ascent, as his relationships with them—arranged or influenced by Fabre—help him gain power and influence.
