Babette Goes to War is a wartime comedy chronicling the misadventures of a French housekeeper who parachutes into German-occupied France to thwart the Nazis and help win the war. While not an overt piece of pro-de Gaulle propaganda, the release of a film during his presidency that reminded audiences of the importance of the French Resistance that he had once led reinforced his positive public image. De Gaulle himself was a fan of the film’s star, Brigitte Bardot, insisting that her contribution to the French economy was equal to that of Renault, the country’s most exported automobile. Bardot was a complex figure within French female identity. She typically played innocent characters (orphans, schoolgirls) who were oblivious to their hypersexualization within a film’s narrative. These movies most often end with her marrying a more worldly, father-like figure, thereby making her an “acceptable” French woman—one ready for her duty as a wife and mother. Even her nickname, “B.B.” (bébé or baby), which is graphically emphasized in the poster, implies a need for paternal protection. The director of the film, Raoul Lévy, approached Lefor-Openo with the request to create this poster because of the striking resemblance between the star and their signature character in the referendum poster the year before. The designers had already told the press that they had been inspired by Bardot as well as by the general aesthetic of contemporary young women who emulated her. This poster was pivotal in Lefor-Openo’s career as it introduced them to an international audience: most posters for the foreign release of the film, which was widely distributed and one of the highest grossing movies of the year, featured a variation of this image. Even in posters that relied on photography rather than illustration, a mini Lefor-Openo Bardot was present somewhere in the design. This poster for the French release was printed in three colors (patriotic red, white, and blue) and often pasted along streets in rows to evoke the country’s flag.