Vadim agreed provided his then-wife Brigitte Bardot was cast as the female lead and if Michel Boisrond, René Clair's first assistant director, would direct.

Vadim later wrote "for the first time, Brigitte played a character written for her, in modern language; and she had a classically trained director who was making his first film."

[3] The Observer wrote that the director "has learnt the knack of raising a simple laugh, not yet the art of touching heart and mind.

"[5] The New York Times wrote that the film: Is full of slapstick and clumsy farce, and some oldish and splashy dance numbers.

The direction by Michael Boisrond seems rather fuzzy about whether or not Mam'zelle Pigalle should be a broad take-off on a Hollywood romantic melodrama.