her, an ingratitude made even worse by the fact that it was Boule de Suif's personal sacrifice that allowed them to leave. Her self-sacrifice in sleeping with the German officer underlines her personal courage and the blind hypocrisy of the other travellers; the travellers go to great lengths to persuade Boule de Suif to sleep with the officer in order that he will let the coach continue its journey, and the travellers fill Boule de Suif's head with arguments, arguing that it is for the good of the country; that it is not morally wrong to sleep with the officer to let the travellers leave; and that the longer she waits, the more young French soldiers will die as the nuns are not there to look after them. When Boule de Suif gives in and sleeps with the officer, the rest of the travellers throw a party without her, and when the coach finally leaves the next morning, they treat her with utter disgust and contempt although she has freed them and they had induced her to lose her dignity. Publication history It was first published in 1880 in Les Soirées de Médan, a collection of Naturalist short stories dealing with the Franco-Prussian war. Adaptations The plot has often been adapted, in whole or in part, for films and other media: In 1928 in the US, a silent film version was The Woman Disputed by Henry King & Sam Taylor. In 1932, also in the US, Shanghai Express by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich, was loosely based on the story, with significant changes. In 1934, the Moscow Art Players, under the auspices of the Soviet studio Mosfilm, produced a silent film version of "Boule de Suif" called Pyshka (Dumpling). It was adapted and directed by Mikhail Romm and starred Galina Sergeyеva. The film was re-released by Mosfilm in 1955 with a narration and sound effects added to it, but remained unknown outside of Russia until its belated premiere in New York in 1958. New York Times reviewer Howard Thompson describes the film as "little more than a musty curio" but with a storyline that "is still pretty wonderful as a yarn and a scathing commentary on hypocrisy and selfishness" In 1935 in Japan, Kenji Mizoguchi made Maria no Oyuki (Oyuki the Virgin). Of his 1939 U.S.A film Stagecoach, John Ford said it was "really 'Boule de Suif'" and McBride