Fernand Fabre Movies
- 1972
In this French romantic tragedy, introverted soldier Leon and the lovely Leonie fall in love, but unfortunately, poor Leon has been emotionally damaged by his overbearing mother and the horrors he endured while at war and is unable to keep their love alive. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jacques Brel, Barbara, (more)
- 1966
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Given the opportunity to turn out a Sacha Guitry-style spectacle, director Roberto Rossellini charts his own neorealist course for The Rise of Louis XIV. It's as if a documentary cameraman was let loose in the royal court of the 17th Century Sun King, here played by Jean-Marie Patte. The use of unfamiliar actors in the major roles adds to the film's realism. Though shown to be the product of a decadent lifestyle, Louis is depicted as being trapped by his royalty, forced in spite of himself to be a raconteur and trendsetter. The Rise of Louis XIV was one of several innovative films made for French television by the Italian Rossellini. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jean-Marie Patte, Raymond Jourdan, (more)
- 1962
Roger Hanin plays "The Gorilla" in Deadly Decoy. No, he doesn't have elongated arms or hair all over his body. The Gorilla is a top secret agent, famed for his strength and dexterity. His assignment this time around is to prevent a political assassination. He expedites this by setting himself up as the target. Roger Dumas and Pierre Dac costar in Deadly Decoy, which didn't make it into American theatres until the James Bond craze peaked in 1965. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1958
Charles Boyer is Maxime in this seriocomic period romance. Maxime is an ageing roue who, partly out of boredom and partly because he needs a steady source of income, arranges the romantic assignations of his protégé, wealthy Hubert (Felix Marten). The old rake's current mission is to weaken the resolve of the lovely Jacqueline (Michele Morgan), who had previously told Hubert to get lost. As it turns out, Maxim falls in love with Jacqueline, especially after discovering that, despite her own impoverished state, Hubert's money means nothing to him. But when Hubert begins acting like a human being instead of a rich jerk, Jacqueline is at last attracted to him, leaving the philosophical Maxim to stand by philosophically, his rogueish smile hiding his broken heart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1953
- PG
A man running away from his problems escapes conventional reality with the help of a band of pirates in this offbeat fantasy. Manuel (Manuel Mesquita) is a musician who is short on money and behind on his tax payments. Eager to leave his troubles behind, he spies a 15th Century pirate's ship and impulsively jumps on board. Throwing in his lot with the sea-going bandits, Manuel discovers they're an unusual bunch, searching for a strange but powerful substance called plutex and possessing the ability to become invisible, adopt new languages, or fashion strange gizmos at will. But matters of principle and opinion lead to conflicts among the crew, and Manuel searches for a way to follow his own path while doing right by his friends. A Espada e a Rosa (aka The Sword and the Rose) was the first feature film from director Joao Nicolau. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Todd, Glynis Johns, (more)
Moulin Rouge is the story of 19th century French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, portrayed by José Ferrer. The film records his frustration over his physical handicap (the growth in his legs was stunted by a childhood accident), his efforts to "lose" himself in Paris' bawdy Montmartre district, and his career as a painter, which brought him money only when he turned out advertising posters--but what posters! Toulouse-Lautrec's drinking and debauchery lead to his early death, which in the hands of director John Huston is staged (brilliantly) in the manner of a musical comedy finale. This is the film in which Zsa Zsa Gabor actually acts, in the role of demimonde entertainer Jane Avril. As a bonus, the film's musical score (by Georges Auric) managed to hit the Top Ten charts in the U.S. When this immensely successful film was released to television in the late '50s, Moulin Rouge proved to be one of the strongest-ever incentives to purchase a color TV set. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- José Ferrer, Colette Marchand, (more)
- 1948
The troubled turn-of-the-century marriage of a Nobel Prize winner provides the basis of this complex French domestic drama. Neither husband nor wife have been faithful to each other. She is currently having a blatant affair with a drunken news reporter while the writer once had a mistress himself. Unfortunately, she is now dead. His wife discovers that the mistress bore a child and she decides to adopt the orphan herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Simone Renant, Gisèle Pascal, (more)
- 1947
Released in the US as The Chips are Down, Jean Delannoy's Les Jeux sont Faits represented the first work written directly for the screen by Jean-Paul Sartre. Not surprisingly, the film is drenched with existentialist philosophy, but overall it works best as a romantic tragedy. The story takes place in an unnamed dictatorship, resistance fighter Pierre (Marcello Pagliero) is killed in a street confrontation. Almost simultaneously, Eve (Micheline Presle), the wife of the dictator, dies of poison administered by her unfaithful husband. Pierre and Eve rematerialize on a dismal little street outside of Heaven's waiting room, where the businesslike admissions clerk (Marguerite Moreno) informs them that they might have become lovers had they met while still alive--and that it is possible to briefly return them to Earth to find out if their romance could have been consummated. Desperately, Eve and Pierre agree to be restored to life, hoping not only to fall in love but also to alter the events leading up to their deaths. Alas, and inevitably, nothing works out as planned. Though Sartre's traditional defeatism is prevalent throughout Les Jeux Sont Faits, what lingers longest in the memory is the brilliant performance by Micheline Presle and the (literally) haunting musical score by Georges Auric. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Micheline Presle, Marguerite Moreno, (more)
- 1947
In this drama, set after the Napoleonic Wars, the aristocratic Chabert comes back to his palatial home to find that his wife has remarried. She had given Chabert, whom she never really loved, up for dead. Her new husband, who is also richer, makes her much happier. To protect her new life, the wife calls Chabert an imposter and has him committed to an asylum. He sneaks out and wanders the streets where he meets and becomes friends with the impoverished street folk. By the time his true identity is revealed it is too late. Chabert has decided to renounce his aristocracy and opts to live with the poor. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Raimu, Marie Bell, (more)
- 1939
The Maginot line, designed to be the deepest war trench in the world, provides the focus for this espionage drama. The French began building the trench during WW II. It did not matter that trench warfare had proved to be terribly ineffective during WW I, the French were determined to make it work. It didn't. The Germans simple drove their tanks around the complex maze and invaded France. The story in the film begins as the new Line commander is murdered by a machine gun. Three lieutenants are the prime suspects. One of them is a German spy. He is soon discovered by counterintelligence agents who pursue him to a blind corner in the trench. Though he is only 200 yards from the German border, the spy kills himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vera Korene, Victor Francen, (more)
- 1936
Filmed in 1936 but not released in the US until 1940, Julien Duvivier's Man of the Hour (L'Homme du Jour) was, believe it or not, Maurice Chevalier's first French starring feature (all of his previous vehicles had been made in Hollywood or London). Chevalier plays a dual role: "Himself", the well known singer-boulevardier, and a humble stage electrician named Alfred Boulard. The hero of the occasion is Boulard, who attains fame and fortune after donating blood to save the life of stage actress Mona Talia (Elvira Popesco). His sudden celebrity goes directly to Boulard's head, and soon he is impossible to be around. In the end, Mona teams up with Boulard's boarding-house companions to teach him a lesson. Critics in 1936 were overwhelmed with the scene in which both Chevaliers sing together, though that sort of thing was already kid stuff in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elvire Popesco, Renee Devillers, (more)
- 1934
When French-filmmaker Jean Renoir offered his 1934 version of Flaubert's Madame Bovary to the distributors, he was compelled to cut it severely. This was not due to the subject matter, but because Renoir's "director's cut" ran nearly 3 and a half hours! Though Renoir steadfastly defended his choice, Valentine Tessler was much too old for the part of Emma Bovary, a Frenchwoman whose life is ruined because she seeks escape from a boring bourgeois upbringing and an even more tiresome marriage. Renoir saw the character as "noble and elegant," which Flaubert most certainly did not; still, he was reasonably faithful to the source novel, even to the point of sometimes exasperating slowness. Madame Bovary was filmed several times, most famously by director Vincente Minnelli in 1949. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierre Renoir, Alice Tissot, (more)
- 1933
A choice early example of esoterica from the great Max Ophuls, On a Vole un Homme (Man Stolen) is a bit more lighthearted than later Ophuls efforts. Typical of the director's best works, the film's strongest character is the heroine, a young adventuress named Annette (Lily Damita). Hired by the business rivals of young banker Jean de Fayate (Henry Gayat), Annette lures the youthful millionaire into a kidnap trap. Eventually falling in love with her victim, Annette helps Jean to escape -- and to get even with those who've been plotting against him. Gorgeously photographed on the French Riviera and other such eye-catching locations, On a Vole un Homme was the first of a brace of films produced in France by Erich Pommer on behalf of Hollywood's Fox Films. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lili Damita, Charles Fallon, (more)
- 1932
La Chance (Luck) was based on a story by Yves Mirande, who also supervised the production. Marie Bell plays Tania, a Russian widow who can't stay away from the gaming tables of the Riviera. A chronic gambler, Tania overextends her monthly allowance and is stone broke when she meets handsome surgeon Victor (Fernand Fabre). Convinced that Tania is interested in Victor only for his money, his best friend Gaston (Marcel Andre) tries to break up the romance. It turns out, of course, that Gaston is all wrong, and Tania is all right. And there's several songs in the bargain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marie Bell, Françoise Rosay, (more)
- 1931
L'Etrangere (The Foreigner) is Mrs. Clarkson (Elvire Popesco), the wife of a wealthy American (Henri Debain). Mrs. Clarkson has entered into matrimony for the express purpose of accumulating a great deal of money. No, she isn't a spendthrift: She hopes to use the cash to finance a campaign of revenge, levelled against the man who seduced her own mother. Our heroine then makes it her mission in life to destroy all males who've caused the downfall and ruin of innocent females. Her campaign comes to an end when she falls in love with Mauriceau (Emile Drain), her husband's assistant, but there's no happy ending in the wings for this avenging angel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elvire Popesco, Fernand Fabre, (more)
- 1931
Le Requisitoire is the French-language version of the 1931 Paramount drama Manslaughter. Though Claudette Colbert, the star of the original film, was fluent in both French and English, her role was taken over in this version by Marcelle Chantal. The heroine is a spoiled-rotten heiress whose reckless driving causes the death of a motorcycle cop. Despite her money and influence, she is sentenced to prison, where for the first time in her life she is denied preferential treatment. Vowing revenge against the moralist DA who put her behind bars, she ends up falling in love with him instead. Le Requisitoire, like its American counterpart, was based on a novel by Alice Duer Miller, previously filmed by Cecil B. DeMille in 1922. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marcelle Chantal, Helena Manson, (more)
- 1929
Le Collier de la Reine (The Queen's Necklace) was based on the Alexandre Dumas yarn of the same name. Countess Jeanne de la Mote (Marcelle Favel-Chantel) impulsively decides to purloin a necklace owned by Queen Marie Antoinette (Diana Karenne). Part of her scheme is to hire a Parisian prostitute named Olivia, who happens to be an exact double of the Queen (and who also happens to be played by Diana Karenne). The outcome of the plot hinges on a packet of forged love letters. Why the Countess goes to all this trouble is never made clear, at least not in the version made available to American audiences. A silent picture, Le Collier de La Reine was released with an additional five-minute talkie sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marcelle Chantal, Georges Lannes, (more)
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