Professeur Cupidon: An Old-School Lesson in Payback

Is this for you?

If you like old black-and-white comedies where everyone speaks with a certain theatrical flair, you might dig Professeur Cupidon. If you need pacing faster than a tortoise on a nap, or if you get annoyed by predictable romance tropes from the 1930s, you should probably skip this one.

The whole thing is basically a classic power-trip fantasy. We start with Suchet, who is so shy it hurts to watch. He’s the kind of guy who probably apologizes to his furniture when he bumps into it. Then there’s Lucette, who is essentially a professional bully masquerading as a schoolgirl. 🙄

Watching her mess with him is honestly kind of rough for the first act. She’s not just quirky; she’s actively making his life a misery for the sake of a laugh. The movie feels like it’s trapped in a rigid classroom set that smells like old chalk and desperation.

The Paris Switch

Then comes the magic of the Paris makeover. It’s such a cliché, but it works in that old movie way where someone buys a new suit and suddenly they’re James Bond. When he walks back into the room with that new confidence, the shift in his posture is actually pretty fun to see. He stops slouching, and you can tell the actor is having a blast with the transformation.

I found myself thinking about Her Second Chance during the middle section. There’s that same feeling of people trying to outmaneuver each other, but this is way less serious. It’s fluff, pure and simple.

• The dialogue is snappy, even if it feels a bit stagey.
• Suzy Delair has this energy that makes the scenes feel less stale whenever she’s on screen.
• The classroom scenes drag a bit too long, like the director just loved the sound of the school bell.

Is it a masterpiece? No. It’s barely a footnote. But there’s something oddly nice about watching a movie that doesn't care about being deep. It’s just a guy getting his dignity back after a student treated him like a joke. It reminds me a bit of the lighthearted chaos in Slippery Silks, though with way less slapstick and more posturing.

Also, notice the hats. Everyone in this movie has a very specific opinion on what a hat should look like. It’s distracting if you focus on it too much, but it adds a weird layer of detail to the whole production. 🎩

It’s not going to change your life, but it’s a decent way to kill an hour if you want to see someone get a taste of their own medicine. Just don't expect the script to be winning any awards for realism.