Josette Day Movies

The second of director Julien Duvivier's sound pictures, Hier Spricht Berlin was also released as Allo Berlin? Ici Paris! Two male telephone operators from Berlin fall in love with two female receptionists in Paris, even though they've never met. After carrying on a "courtship by wire" for several months, the two heroes and the two heroines vow to meet each other face-to-face. Alas, some unexpected obstacle always seems to pop up to keep the boys and girls apart -- until the very, very end. This bilingual romantic comedy boasts an impressive continental cast, headed by Karel Stepanek. Wolfgang Klein, Josette Day and Germain Aussey (Stepanek, like director Duvivier, would later spend several years in Hollywood). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a music performance film in which the Rossini opera, without English subtitles, is performed in French. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

With director Abel Gance at the helm, the title character in Lucrezia Borgia exudes more sex appeal and wears fewer clothes than any previous screen incarnation of the infamous Florentine poisoner. Edwige Feuillere stars as Lucrezia, who learns her ruthless political cunning at the knee of Machiavelli (Aime Clariond) himself. Sold into a marriage of convenience by her craven brother Cesare (Gabriel Gabrio), Lucrezia soon holds all of 15th-century Florence in thrall. Her despotic rule is energetically challenged by tireless reformer Savonarola, who more or less functions as Abel Gance's alter ego (though Gance would certainly not have wished to meet Savonarola's grisly fate!) Filmed in 1935, Lucrezia Borgia ran into censorship problems in England (thanks to its implicit anti-Papal stance), Italy and Germany, holding up its international release for nearly two years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Club de Femmes (Girl's Club) of the title refers to a Parisian boarding house, populated in its entirety by beautiful, unwed damsels. The rules of the club are quite strict, with chaperones making certain that the ladies keep a safe and respectable distance between themselves and their gentleman callers. But the mischievous Claire (Danielle Darrieux) is determined to enjoy a rendezvous with her sweetheart Robert (Raymond Gall), and to that end she talks him into disguising himself as a woman. Things look bleak for Claire when she becomes pregnant, but things turn out OK when she gives birth to a girl, thereby upholding the club's "No Males Allowed" edict. Featured in the cast is a young newcomer named Else Argell, who by an incredible coincidence was the wife of director Jacques Deval. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide