Marc Allégret Movies

Nobles try desperately to cling to the crumbling aristocracy in the days following World War I. The Count (Jean-Claude Brialy) and his Countess Mahe (Sylvia Fennec) delight in throwing lavish costume balls. The couple develops a friendship with a young boy who delights in the parties thrown by the noble couple. Love soon blooms between the Countess and the boy as she searches for something more than a string of endless parties and social affairs. The masquerades are an attempt to freeze time and hold on to the nostalgia of a bygone era. For fear of losing her, the Count allows the Countess to continue her love affair. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This drama's main asset is Charles Boyer as Pierre, a father out looking for his son one night. Pierre receives a call from a woman who says she will kill herself because of his son. Naturally disturbed at this news, Pierre takes off to find his son and avert disaster. Along the way, he picks up a malcontent, wealthy young woman who decides to stick with him and help him look for his son. After traveling through some of the worst aspects of Paris' demi-monde, Pierre begins to wonder if his son will ever be found. Meanwhile, the relationship with his newfound wealthy friend is heating up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The French omnibus feature Tales of Paris is made of four separate romantic playlets, each with its own cast, director, and scenarist. "The Tale of Ella," directed by Jacques Poitrenaud, stars Dany Saval as an ambitious nightclub performer who very nearly messes up her chances for success by bullying a mild-looking but important producer. "The Tale of Antonia," directed by Michel Boisrond, finds housewife Dany Robin exacting a sweet revenge on her cheating husband. "The Tale of Francoise," directed by Claude Barma, concerns the efforts of Francoise Arnoul to test the fidelity of her best friend's lover. And "The Tale of Sophie," directed by Marc Allegret, features Catherine Deneuve as a goody-two-shoes who fabricates a torrid romance in order to be accepted by her sexually knowledgeable schoolmates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sois Belle et Tais Toi is more popularly known by its American-release title Be Beautiful but Shut Up. Mylene Demongeot plays a birdbrained young lady who gets mixed up with a gang of juvenile-delinquent smugglers. The crooks use the heroine as their go-between, intending to leave her holding the bag if and when the cops show up. Fortunately, a handsome police inspector (Henri Vidal) catches on to their scheme. One of the screenwriters for Sois Belle et Tais Toi was no less Roger Vadim. When the film was first released, its direction was often erroniously credited to Marc Allegret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Because of star Brigitte Bardot's single fleeting disrobing scene in the French farce Please, Mr. Balzac!, the film was retitled Mademoiselle Striptease by one enterprising American distributor. Essentially, this is a harmless little escapade in which Bardot, escaping the strictures of her puritanical father, jumps off a train bound for a proper girls' school to seek her fortune in Paris. Here she moves in with her brother, a museum curator. The presence of the voluptuous Bardot causes most of her brother's stuffy co-workers to behave like Tex Avery's cartoon wolf. Co-written by director Yves Allegret and Roger Vadim, Mlle. Striptease was released in France as En Effeuillant la Marguerite; some English-language prints bear the title While Plucking the Daisy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Futures Vedettes (Future Stars) relies upon the appeal of its cast to coast by. Jean Marais plays a handsome singing teacher who enthralls two of his nubile female students (Brigitte Bardot, Isabelle Pia). Their ardor for the teacher begins innocently enough but soon deepens into something far more serious. Before the situation can be resolved, a near-disaster strikes. Mischa Auer lightens things up a bit as Marais' dour valet. Filmed on location in Vienna, Futures Vedettes was distributed in America by Columbia Pictures, mainly on the box-office strength of Brigitte Bardot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beautiful Hedy Lamarr finds herself faced with a difficult decision when she must choose an appropriate costume for an important masquerade ball in this metaphorical fantasy that unfolds in three parts. To help her decide, she asks a trio of male friends. Their disparate suggestions that she go as either Helen of Troy, the Empress Josephine or Genieve de Brabant, and the reasons behind their choices provide the bulk of the film. Originally, the film was three hours long and purported to present the essence of being a woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Julietta (Dany Robin) is not fond of the wealthy older man (Bernard Lancret) whom her mother has selected for her husband. Dreaming of a Prince Charming who will rescue her from this loveless marriage, Julietta believes that handsome attorney Andre (Jean Marais) is the man of the hour. Trouble is, Andre doesn't want to be the girl's savior, and goes out of his way to avoid her. Eventually, Andre helps smooth the path of true romance for Julietta and the man who is truly worthy of being her life partner. Based on a novel by Louis De Vilmorin, Julietta was released in the U.S. by Columbia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Naked Heart was also released as Maria Chapdelaine, which also happened to be the title of its source, a novel by Louis Hemon. Adapter-director Marc Allegret has fashioned the material into a vehicle for one of his most successful discoveries, Michele Morgan. This is the story of a young woman whose romantic fantasies begin spilling over into actuality. The film's novelty value is its setting: a remote village in Northern Canada. Filmed simultaneously in French and English-language versions, The Naked Heart was produced independently on a tiny budget; while the seams begin to show towards the end, for the most part the film works. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Blanche Fury combined two elements that were surefire moneymakers in postwar Britain: a brooding, Gothic-novel storyline and the dazzlingly handsome Stewart Granger. Heroine Blanche Fury (Valerie Hobson) is an impoverished governess who marries into wealth and sets herself up as the mistress of a vast estate. Enter Heathcliffe-like stable boy Philip Thorn (Granger), who intends to run the estate and eventually claim Blanche as his own. After a torrid, bodice-ripping romance between Blanche and Philip, the story segues into a no-names-please reenactment of the infamous 19th-century "Rush Murder." To "explain" the motives of the characters, the screenwriters deviate from the original Joseph Shearing novel by imposing all sorts of 20th-century "psychological disturbances" upon hero and heroine, with an abruptness and lack of logic that takes the viewer's breath away. Up until the end, however, Blanche Fury is a prime example of high-budget postwar British melodrama. Oddly, despite its $1.5 million price tag, con brio performances and superb Technicolor cinematography, Blanche Fury was a box-office disappointment, bringing an end to the "Gothic cycle" that had begun so promisingly with 1943's The Man in Grey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide