Guest
Day for Night chronicles the production of Je Vous Présente Paméla (Meet Pamela, or literally I introduce you to Pamela), a clichéd melodrama starring aging screen icon Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Aumont), former diva Séverine (Valentina Cortese), young heartthrob Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Léaud) and a British actress, Julie Baker (Jacqueline Bisset), who is recovering from both a nervous breakdown and the controversy over her marriage to her much older doctor. In between are several vignettes chronicling the stories of the crew members and the director, Ferrand (Truffaut), who deals with the practical problems of making a movie. Behind the camera, the actors and crew go through several romances, affairs, break-ups and sorrows. The production is especially shaken up when one of the supporting actresses is revealed to be pregnant. Later, Alphonse’s lover leaves him for the film’s stuntman, which leads Alphonse into a palliative one-night stand with an accommodating Julie; thereupon, mistaking Julie’s pity for true love, the infantile Alphonse informs Julie’s husband of the affair. Finally, Alexandre dies on the way to hospital after a car accident.
