Leon Bary Movies

The Paris demimonde of 1900 is the setting for Casque d'Or. Georges Manda (Serge Reggiani), an honest woodworker, falls in love with Marie (Simone Signoret), the "moll" of minor crook Roland (William Sabatier). Gangster boss Felix Leca (Claude Dauphin) orders Georges and Roland to fight a duel to the death over the girl, as prescribed by the "code of the apache." Felix then pins the blame for Roland's death on Georges' boyhood chum, Raymond (Raymond Bussières), knowing that the woodworker will nobly accept the blame; this will leave Marie alone, which is what the lustful Felix has wanted all along. When Georges learns he's been set up as a dupe, he escapes from the police and kills Felix. Casque D'Or was based on the true-life Leca-Manda scandal, wherein an otherwise decent man was guillotined for shooting down a gangster boss in broad daylight. Since the scandal was common knowledge in France, the downbeat ending of this film was hardly unexpected but still extremely moving. Completed in 1951, Casque D'Or was a failure on its first release but then built up an excellent word-of-mouth reputation abroad. The film was released in the U.S. in 1956 as Golden Marie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Le Secret du Docteur is a Gallic rendition of The Doctor's Secret, a play by James M. Barrie. Marcelle Chantal plays Lilian Garner, the bored, disenchanted wife of Richard Garner (Leon Bary). Preparing to run off to parts unknown with her lover Jean Colman (Jean Bradin), Lilian is prevented from doing so when Jean is killed in a motor accident, right before her eyes. The attending physician at the scene of the tragedy is Dr. Brady (Maxaudian), Garner's best friend. Brady is aware that Lilian and Jean were lovers, but he intends to remain mum when invited for a weekend party at the Garland's home. The method by which the truth is revealed is at once clever and cruel but in complete accordance with the mood of the rest of the story. This adaptation of The Doctor's Secret is the French version of the 1929 English-language talkie, which starred Ruth Chatterton as the errant wife and Robert Edeson as the discreet physician. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A silent Western in the grand old tradition of William S. Hart and Harry Carey, The Grail presented a near epic story of crime and redemption. Dustin Farnum starred as Chic Shelby, a Texas Ranger chasing a couple of outlaws -- John Trammel (Jack Rollens) and his son James (James Gordon -- accused of killing a cattleman in the eternal struggle between ranchers and homesteaders. Chic tricks John out of his hiding place by pretending to be an itinerant preacher. The hardened outlaw is so moved by Chic's sermon on eternal love that he comes forward willingly and is arrested. Sam Hervey (Leon Bary), meanwhile, kills James over a girl (Alma Bennett) and pins the blame on Chic. The latter clears himself by capturing Hervey, John is acquitted because of his newfound faith, and lovely Dora Bledsoe (Peggy Shaw) prepares to make a home for the returning ranger. Dustin Farnum, who had starred in the first feature film to be produced in Hollywood proper, The Squaw Man (1914), suffered ill health in his later years and retired in 1924. He returned to play George Armstrong Custer in The Flaming Frontier (1926), but he died from kidney failure at the age of 53 in 1929. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Comedienne Mabel Normand was in the middle of production for this comedy-drama when William Desmond Taylor was murdered. She was the last person to see him alive, and the shock of his death, combined with stressful police interrogations, caused her to have a breakdown. Filming was halted for several weeks, then resumed in the spring of 1922, and the picture itself wasn't released until the next year. A pair of Castilian nobles, Don Fernando (George Nichols) and Don Diego (Eric Mayne) want to combine their two estates through the marriage of their children. But Don Fernando's son, Ramon (Walter McGrail), has fallen in love with Suzanna, the daughter of a peon on his father's estate. Meanwhile, Don Diego's daughter, Dolores (Winifred Bryston), has been expelled from boarding school because of her love affair with Pancho, a toreador (Leon Bary). Don Fernando tries to separate Suzanna from his son by sending her away, and she ends up as Dolores' maid, with the two young ladies less than fond of each other. The plot thickens when it is revealed that the girls were switched at birth, and Suzanna is really Don Diego's daughter. Although Suzanna tries to keep quiet out of respect for the two old men, the truth eventually comes out and she is allowed to marry Ramon, while Dolores is happily left with Pancho. This was Normand's next to last film for Mack Sennett, and apparently it did well at the box office in spite of the previous year's scandal. Critics, however, gave the film mixed reviews since it didn't have the kind of slapstick that was Normand's special talent. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Easy going screen cowboy Hoot Gibson plays the easy going Simple Cox in this silent Western satire about a bodyguard hired to keep a notorious flirt away from a bad match. The girl is Edna Murphy, whose father is a former gunman known as "Five Notch" (Lionel Belmore). She usually falls for the wrong kind of guys and slick Fred Bolston (Leon Bary) is as wrong as they get. Enter Gibson the bodyguard and exit poor Fred! "The Hooter" excelled in playing the ruffled but sly cowpoke whose backwoods charms inevitably gets him the girl by the fadeout. Playing the former gunman, corpulent Lionel Belmore was a rare visitor to a Western set. A native of Wimbledon, England, the jovial Belmore is best remembered for playing the burgomaster in almost all the Universal horror melodramas of the 1930s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

This first film version of the Edward Knoblock theatrical chestnut Kismet stars the actor who made the play famous (and virtually his life's work): Otis Skinner. As he had so many times before, Skinner plays Hajj, the Arabian Nights beggar-magician who enjoys the amorous attentions of the wazir's wife. Hajj manages to secure his daughter's marriage to the young caliph, rid the land of the evil wazir, and bedeck himself in splendiferous clothing, all between sunrise and sunset. Otis Skinner was 61 when he appeared in this film, and looks it; he also looked his age ten years later when he starred in the first sound version of Kismet. Nonetheless, he carries off his trademarked role with the energy and aplomb of a man half (nay, one-third) his age. Though primitively directed by Louis J. Gasnier, Kismet was one of the first significant successes for the young production firm Robertson-Cole, which later matriculated into RKO Radio Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi