Heartbeat

Heartbeat is a 1946 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Ginger Rogers, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Adolphe Menjou and Basil Rathbone. It is a direct remake of the French romantic drama Battement de cœur, released in 1940. It was produced by the Hakim Brothers for distribution by RKO Pictures. Plot Professor Aristide (Basil Rathbone) runs a school for pickpockets in Paris. He takes on pupils like Yves (Mikhail Rasumny) and young Arlette (Ginger Rogers) by testing their dishonesty. He takes Arlette even though she fails by only stealing an apple instead of money; she's a runaway from a reform school where she's supposed to stay until she turns 21. Arlette decides to steal just enough to buy into a sham marriage to avoid the reform school. On her first try, however, a well-dressed man (Adolphe Menjou) catches her lifting his stick pin and brings her to his fancy house. He is an ambassador. When Baron Dvorak (Eduardo Ciannelli) arrives, the two agree to a scheme to take Arlette to a diplomatic reception posing as the baron's niece. It's only when they arrive at the reception that Arlette is told that she is to steal the pocket watch of Pierre de Roche (Jean-Pierre Aumont). She does so while they are dancing, but removes a picture of the ambassador's wife which is inside it (Mona Maris). The ambassador is thrilled to find no picture in the watch as he had been worrying his wife might be growing tired of him and has Arlette slip it back into Pierre's pocket. Pierre insists on driving Arlette home and stops along the way to confess how much he likes her; he kisses her and gives her flowers from his garden before dropping her off at the baron's house and extracts the promise that she'll meet him at the train station the next day, as they are both (supposedly) going to Geneva, where she claims to attend boarding school.