French Dressing

Judy writes an article proposing a film festival featuring Brigitte Bardot to revitalize the seaside town of Gormleigh. Jim is content with his easy life and his girlfriend Judy, while Henry Liggott backs the idea as a way to boost tourism. The plan sets the town on a new cultural course.

The trio is summoned to explain Jim's conduct to the mayor. The mayor threatens to dismiss him if Bardot cannot be secured. Jim suggests instead approaching Françoise Fayol, whose latest film is premiering in Boulogne, and they plan a cross-Channel mission.

In Boulogne, Fayol accidentally drives into a group of inflatable dolls on the beach, triggering chaos. Jim and Liggott intervene as Fayol confronts the pressures of her career and public image. The incident leads to a decision to burn the replicas, underscoring Fayol's disdain for such symbolically manufactured fame.

Fayol laments being typecast as a sex symbol and longs for more intellectual roles. Jim and Liggott win her friendship by helping destroy a large batch of inflatable replicas of her that she hates. With trust built, Fayol agrees to accompany them back to Britain.

Back in Britain, Fayol joins the campaign to host a pageant linking England and France. The floats celebrate symbols like King Harold, Madame Guillotine, and French art, while a Napoleon and Josephine tableau creates a spectacle. A mishap occurs when the Napoleon float jams and the VIP grandstand slides down a slipway.

Fayol's introduction to life in Gormleigh is rough: she's soaked by sea spray, then rain, then a puddle, and she initially refuses to leave her hotel. Jim coaxes her into the town, and a quiet attraction begins to grow between them. The publicity machine around Fayol begins to churn.

Jim and Fayol launch a publicity campaign to shake up the town, drawing crowds and media attention. Judy grows increasingly upset about the closeness forming between Jim and Fayol. The town begins to buy into the festival's new energy.

The festival opens to a roaring reception as tourists and media descend, drawn largely by Fayol's glamour. The crowd fills the town with excitement, and the finale screens Fayol's Pavements of Boulogne. The town feels transformed by the spectacle.

The next morning, the town inaugurates a new nudist beach, and Fayol is extremely nervous about seeing herself on screen. She hopes to win the Golden Cockle prize, a symbol of triumph in the festival. The energy of the festival keeps rising despite her fears.

A violent brawl, organized by jealous mayors of rival towns, disrupts the screening and jeopardizes Fayol's triumph. The incident casts a pall over the festival's success and stirs sensational newspaper coverage, including Judy's reviews.

Distraught by the chaos and savage newspaper reviews, Fayol decides to return to the Continent where her mentor has found her a new film. Liggott makes a frantic rush to stop her, but she boards a train before they can intervene. The town faces the prospect of losing its star at the peak of the festival.

With Fayol's departure imminent, Judy dons a blonde wig and sunglasses to impersonate Fayol and takes her place for the opening of the town's nudist beach. The ruse buys the festival time and keeps the town’s celebrations alive. Jim watches as the plan unfolds, his feelings unresolved.