In Nice, the Studios La Victorine is producing the film "Je Vous Presente Pamela", about a French man that marries the English Pamela in England and brings his wife to France to introduce her to his parents. However, his father and Pamela fall in love with each other and she leaves her husband to live with her father-in-law. The producer Bertrand (Jean Champion) and the director Ferrand (François Truffaut) invite the British Julie Baker (Jacqueline Bisset),who had a nervous breakdown and married her Dr. Nelson (David Markham),to the role of Pamela.

Along the shooting, the cast and crew are lodged in the Hotel Atlantic and Bertrand and Ferrand have to deal with problems with the stars Severine (Valentina Cortese),an aging artist with drinking problems that affect her performance; the immature, spoiled and needy Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Léaud); Julie that is emotionally unstable. But in the end, they succeed to complete the film.

"La Nuit Américaine" is a film about making a film and a great tribute to the cinema. This is one of my favorite Truffaut's films and the last time I saw it was on 08 January 2001.

It is impossible to highlight performances in this film, but the mesmerizing beauty of Jacqueline Bisset shines. Jean-Pierre Léaud performs his usual role of an insecure man, using the same gestures of Antoine Doinel.

In 1992, Louis Malle explored the storyline of "Je Vous Presente Pamela" in "Damage". My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Noite Americana" ("The American Night")

This movie reminded me very much of Fellini's movie, 8 1/2--except it seemed a little more narrative and a lot less surreal than the Italian film. For some, this might mean that this Truffaut film is perhaps a little less "exciting" and more concrete, but I still preferred it to 8 1/2. Truffaut played, what else, a film director making a film entitled "Pamela". It was a little odd that the names were all changed--the actors, director, producer, etc. I think this is because this isn't really a documentary but a movie about you watching a movie being made and so it isn't exactly reality. This left some questions, though, about where reality and fiction diverged. In particular, I was curious if Truffaut REALLY was hard of hearing, as in the role of the director he wore a hearing aid. I never saw Truffaut with one before, though he couldn't have worn it when he acted in the movie Wild Child, as it was set in the later 18th century! Overall, the film was very interesting and worth watching. Great? Not really, but certainly on of Truffaut's better films and much more conventional that the similar but wildly surreal film 8 1/2.

Director Ferrand (François Truffaut) struggles with many challenges to finish shooting his film "Je vous presente Pamela". Julie Baker (Jacqueline Bisset) is a British actress struggling with personal issues. This film follows the many people associated with the production.

This is a classic film from iconic French director François Truffaut. He's playing with many modern meta filmmaking ideas. It is a film within a film. It has quasi-documentary techniques. The characters are a little hard to keep track. Other than Bisset and Truffaut, I'm not familiar with any of the other actors. It makes it harder to follow. The most memorable are little filmmaking triumphs like the candle and the cat. This is a movie at the foremost front.