(http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/6300/6393/6393.htm)
It is explicitly mentioned at the beginning of the Smiling Madame Beudet that this film does not take place in Paris – the cultural and artistic hub of France. Instead, the location is less definitively set in provincial France or the countryside. While it cannot be officially determined where in France, it can be narrowed down to areas that neighbor other smaller cultural hubs. Given the transportation that was available at the time, the Beudet’s could not have lived far away from a theater. Below is a snapshot from the film that shows their tickets to Faust, the opera.
In the above screen capture from the film, we can identify that the theater at which Monsieur Beudet attended Faust was the Théatre Municipal Loge No. 4. This theater places the Beudet’s in the region of the French Countryside, however it is never specified where; modes of fast transport were not available in the early 1920s, so one had to live close to cultural centers to experience the arts. Luckily, art was very prevalent in France no matter where people were. Music and the other arts were accessible from any location which contributed to the culture of France.
Kyle Stefek and Annie Cohen