Kitty and the Great Big World 1956

An international conference is under way in Geneva, drawing many foreign ministers to the city. In Jeannot’s prestigious hair salon, Kitty Dupont, [Romy Schneider], and Jeannot, [Charles Regnier], work as manicurists amid the day’s bustle as delegates arrive and depart. A distinguished gentleman asks Kitty for directions to the Paradiso restaurant, and she kindly guides him there, then accompanies him to dinner. After they eat, they decide to try a second, less expensive place nearby, where a reporter Sammy Drechsel who had observed them at Paradiso photographs the pair. Paying the bill, Kitty discovers that her dining partner is Sir William Ashlin, [O.E. Hasse], the British Foreign Secretary.

The morning after, that photo graces the major newspapers. Crawford, [Ernst Schröder], the secretary of the British delegation, accuses his superior of leaving the restaurant unescorted and risking a scandal. He quickly devises a plan to keep the matter quiet by arranging for Sir William’s nephew, Robert Ashlin, [Karlheinz Böhm], a fellow diplomat in Geneva, to help out of the dilemma. Robert’s first task is to secure Kitty a few days’ leave from her employer so she can stay away from the press, and he and Kitty slip out of the salon through the back door. They head into the mountains above Lake Geneva, where the two grow closer, and they arrange to take a boat trip to Malraux the next morning.

Sir William has prepared for the main session, and while he sits for a shave in Jeannot’s salon, the hairdresser notes his nerves and suggests a long walk in the fresh air, a routine that once helped Briand. He then impulsively decides to drive his car along the lake toward Malraux, but the road is closed. He enlists a fisher’s boy to take him to Malraux by boat, yet the boy demands two francs and the Foreign Secretary realizes he has forgotten his wallet. With no way to pay, he cannot disembark, and the conference proceeds without him. Sir William’s absence is soon interpreted as a stroke of luck for the United Kingdom, and back at the English villa he is warmly welcomed and congratulated for steering the outcome of the talks.

Meanwhile, Robert remains in Geneva after the conference, allowed to stay for two more weeks to finish some diplomatic tasks. This extended time gives him the chance to pursue his growing relationship with Kitty toward a hopeful, shared future, even as the political posturing and high-stakes diplomacy play out around them.