Manina, the Girl in the Bikini

A 25-year-old Parisian student, Gérard Morere (Calvé), hears a lecture about a treasure Troilus lost at sea after the Peloponnesian War. Gérard thinks he knows where it is, thanks to a discovery he made five years earlier when diving near the island of Levezzi, in Corsica. He gets friends and an innkeeper to invest in his dream, enough to get him to Tangiers where he convinces a cigarette smuggler, Eric (Vernon), to take him to the island on Eric's boat. There they find 18-year-old Manina (Bardot), the light-keeper's daughter, who is beautiful and pure. Manina and Gérard fall in love. Eric thinks Gérard may have conned him, but Gérard's belief in the treasure compels patience. Gérard dives by day and romances Manina at night. Gérard finds the treasure, though Eric betrays him and absconds with it. However, Eric's boat is shipwrecked in a storm and sinks. The film ends with Manina and Gérard embracing. ==Cast==

• as Gérard Morère • Brigitte Bardot as Manina • Howard Vernon as Éric • Henry Djanik as Marcel (credited as H. Djanik) • as La Franchucha • Raymond Cordy as Francis, the bartender • (credited as Paulette Andrieu) • as Buddy of Gérard (credited as Droze) • Nadine Tallier as Mathilda (credited as N. Tallier) • (credited as Bénard) ==Reception==

"If nothing else, it will inform you of a fetching whimsical innocence that Mlle. Bardot possessed in those days. But aside from this refreshing picture of B. B. before she became a self-conscious and teasing stereotype, The Girl in the Bikini, which was called "Manina, la Fille Sans Voile" in France, has little to set it apart." - Richard W. Nason, The New York Times, 25 October 1958 Filmink argued Bardot "doesn’t appear until the movie is almost half over, but once she does, you can’t take your eyes off her. It’s clear that from the beginning, Brigitte Bardot simply had It – charisma, presence, incredible sex appeal." ==References==