A very ordinary object – a compact – has got a relevant role in this movie. It belongs to Fran, a charming elevator operator who works at an insurance company where she has got an affair with the influential personnel director Jeff Sheldrake. This object reveals the affair to C.C. Baxter, a lonely bachelor who works at the same company.

It may be ordinary, but it has some peculiarities, for example the fleurs de lys decorations on it.

This is a compact by Volupte, an American brand established in the 1920s. The same shape of the compact and the position of the decorative elements can be seen in a mother-of-pearl version, but the one seen in the film is made of metal.

Another interesting detail is the powder puff inside the compact.

The upper side of the puff reads “Lushus”, an American brand producing deep-pile powder puffs.