Marta Labarr Movies
- 1936
In this espionage romance, a French spy falls in love with a German operative who has been sent to learn how the French were able steal a German invention. Though she is assigned to kill the Frenchman, she instead falls in love and they decide to leave. Unfortunately, the woman knows that the car has been booby trapped and will fire a bullet into the driver when it reaches a certain speed. She saves her lover and dies in his arms. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marta Labarr, Charles Oliver, (more)
- 1936
Hollywood's Conrad Nagel heads cast of the British Ball at Savoy. The tux-garbed Nagel plays a baron who, while vacationing in Cannes, falls in love with opera star Marta Labarr. The prideful Labarr will have nothing to do with Nagel because of his wealth, so he poses as a waiter. When he's accused of being a thief, Nagel learns that there's two sets of justice, one for the rich, another for the poor. This 1936 remake of an earlier German film, was based on a novel by Alfred Grunwald and Fritz Lohner-Beda. Distribution of Ball at Savoy was handled in Britain and the US by RKO Radio Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Conrad Nagel, Marta Labarr, (more)
- 1938
SOS Sahara is set in a forlorn desert outpost, manned by French officers. Like the rest of his men, commander Charles Vanel has come to this godforsaken spot to forget and to be forgotten. Complicating matters is the arrival of Vanel's faithless wife Marta Labarr, who rapidly becomes the object of lust for the other men. Labarr's affair with young officer Jean-Pierre Aumont at first arouses the ire of the taciturn Vanel, but when the chips are down he puts duty above personal feelings and saves Aumont's life. SOS Sahara was partially remade in 1964 as Station Six Sahara, with Carroll Baker in the Marta Labarr role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Vanel, Marta Labarr, (more)
- 1938
In this offbeat spy drama, an opera diva is suspected of leaking classified information for enemy spies. To see if this is true, a talented policeman is engaged to go undercover as a chorus member. While there, he finds himself the object of another singer's affections. Trouble ensues because the diva also falls for him and the two singers become bitter rivals. Eventually the other singer proves that all suspicions were correct--the prima donna really is a spy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1939
Maxwell Archer, Detective was adapted from Hugh Clevely's novel Meet Maxwell Archer. John Loder plays the famed ficitional private detective whose greatest pleasure in life is to second guess Scotland Yard. Superintendent Gordon (Athole Stewart) calls Archer in to solve an apparently unsolveable case. Ingredients in the stew include a sinister father-and-son duo who may know more than they let on. Loder's leading lady in Leueen McGrath, later famous as the second wife of American playwright George S. Kaufman. Filmed in 1939, Maxwell Archer, Detective was released in the US in 1942, to capitalize on star John Loder's Hollywood popularity. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Loder, Leucen MacGrath, (more)
- 1939
What a combination! Break the News boasted the talents of English stage star Jack Buchanan, French entertainer Maurice Chevalier, legendary director Rene Clair, and songwriter Cole Porter. But what should have made for dynamite entertainment, fizzled in the eyes of disappointed contemporary reviewers. Buchanan and Chevalier play a song and dance team that is getting nowhere fast. In an effort to jump-start their flagging careers, the two dream up an elaborate scheme that begins when Buchanan 'mysteriously' vanishes. Soon afterward Chevalier turns himself in, claiming that he killed his partner, fully aware that Buchanan is actually hiding out in a Balkan village and will magically reappear at the crucial moment. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the jailed Chevalier, poor Buchanan has been captured by revolutionaries who have mistaken him for an enemy general. Will he escape in time to save Chevalier from final justice? The film's source material, a novel by Loic de Gouriadic, has been re-filmed several times, most recently as The Art of Love (65) with James Garner and Dick Van Dyke. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Jack Buchanan, (more)
- 1940
In this spy caper, a double agent swipes classified British plans for a new kind of patrol boat and tries to sell them to the Nazis. They end up beating him. Later his wife burns the plans just before the cops get there. They end up arresting the Germans while the house burns to the ground. The angry spy then shoots his wife and dies in the blaze. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1941
Released in England as Gentleman of Venture, It Happened to One Man was produced in England with "frozen funds" accumulated in that country by RKO Radio Pictures. Inspired by a true story, the film stars Wilfred Lawson as financier Felton Quair. Thanks to the chicanery of his crooked business partner Ackroyl (Reginald Tate), Quair loses his fortune, his family and his freedom. The second half of the story deals with Quair's attempts to find redemption after a four-year prison term. Based on a stage play by Roland Pertwee and John Hastings Turner, the film wisely retains the play's ambiguous ending. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wilfred Lawson, Nora Swinburne, (more)
- 1948
The Plot to Kill Roosevelt was released in the US under the less inflammatory title Conspiracy in Teheran. The fact-based storyline takes place during the Teheran Conference in the waning days of WW2. As Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin try to agree on the world's course after the end of the war, British news correspondent Pemberton Grant (Derek Farr) gets wind of a plot to assassinate the American president. The villains are representatives of an international armaments cartel, who can't afford to have peace declared. Racing against time, Grant endeavors to prevent the assassins from dynamiting Roosevelt's car. Even though the audience knows the outcome, there's thrills aplenty in The Plot to Kill Roosevelt. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Derek Farr, Marta Labarr, (more)
Rating Systems
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