Sous le ciel de Provence (1956)
Directed by Mario Soldati

Film Synopsis

Paul Verdier has a shrewish, sharp-tongued wife but thankfully he has a job - that of a travelling salesman - that keeps him away from home for most of the time.  It is during one of these frequent trips that he meets a young woman named Marie on a train bound for his home town of Marseille.  Marie is in a terrible state, visibly anxious over how her family and neighbours will react to the news that she is pregnant and cannot name the father of the unborn child.

Paul's protective instincts get the better of him and he offers to accompany the distressed girl back to her home village and pass himself off as the father.  The plan works better than Paul could have hoped, and he is surprised to find a way of life in Marie's village that is very different to what he is used to.  Instead of the endless rowing and abuse he gets at home, Paul is treated as a respected guest amid Marie's easy-going entourage.  But sooner or later the harmless deception is bound to be discovered, and what is Paul to do when this happens...?