Printemps went on the stage in Paris at the age of 12, and at 21 she was singled out by the actor, director and playwright Sacha Guitry as a leading lady.

Her voice could have led her to an operatic career, but guided by Guitry she concentrated on operette and other types of musical show, along with non-musical plays and films.

[11] Sir John Gielgud wrote that Printemps and her husband "returned … many times to delight London in various pieces artfully contrived by him to show them both off to the best possible advantage.

"[7] He described her thus: With a trim, elegant figure, appealing spaniel eyes, and a broad turned-up nose not unlike that of our own Gertrude Lawrence ... her acting had something of the same inimitable brand of impish sentimental comedy.

But unlike Gertie Lawrence, whose singing voice, fascinating though it was, could be distinctly unreliable and wobbly, Printemps' tones were exquisitely delicate and true.

She was sometimes tempted, perhaps, to prolong her top notes unduly in order to show off her brilliant breath control, and to yield rather too easily to demands for encores.

Gielgud recalled, "she seemed ravishingly youthful and touching in her powdered wig, black knee breeches and buckled shoes, while Sacha hovered over her with avuncular authority, not attempting to try to sing himself, but contributing a kind of flowing, rhythmic accompaniment with his speeches, delivered in a deep caressing voice.

"[7] After playing successfully at the Théâtre Edouard VII,[14] the company presented the piece for a three-week season in London in June and July 1926.

[15] The critic James Agate wrote, "It is not exaggerating to say that on Monday evening people were observed to cry, and by that I mean shed tears, when Music's heavenly child appeared at the top of the stairs.

[18]The Observer said, "The best conversation in this piece is not that which occurs on the stage, but that which flashes over the footlights between the bright eyes of Miss Yvonne Printemps and her fascinated audience.

The critic Richard Traubner commented in 2006 that because of the performances of Printemps and Fresnay the film still "hangs over anyone who dares revive the operetta on stage".

[3] She continued to perform on stage until she was well into her sixties, and remained active with Fresnay, co-directing the Théâtre de la Michodière in Paris with him until his death in 1975.