Françoise Rosay Movies

Based on a story by Anatole France, the silent Crainquebille was updated and directed by Jacques Feyder. Heavily influenced by the then-popular school of German symbolism, the film nonetheless bears traces of the French realism that would dominate the Gallic cinema of the 1930s. This 6-reeler stars child actor Jean Forest, whom Feyder would utilize to even better effect in his follow-up films Visage d'Enfants and Gribiche. The film, an essentially adult effort, is told from Forest's point of view, solidifying Feyder's expertise at directing children. Released in France in 1922, Crainquebille made the international rounds the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1988, the Belgian Film Archive released a restored print of the 1925 film Visages d'enfants by the renowned Belgian director Jacques Feyder (1885-1948), who had a considerable influence on European filmmaking. His films were noteworthy for their introduction of the style of "poetic realism," which eventually became a cinematic movement. This films concerns Jean Amsler (Jean Forest), a young lad whose mother has recently died. When his father Pierre (Victor Vina) marries Jeanne Dutois ($achel Devirys), a woman with a child of her own, he feels betrayed, and not only rejects his stepmother but torments her daughter Arlette (Arlette Peyran). Eventually, he puts the little girl in mortal peril. Overwhelmed with remorse for the evil of his actions even though the girl was saved, he throws himself into a river but is saved by his now-vigilant stepmother. As he regains consciousness in her arms, at long last he calls her "mamma." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Metropolitan Opera diva Grace Moore made her film debut in MGM's A Lady's Morals. The film purports to be the biography of "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind, who was ballyhooed to stardom by 19th-century showman P.T. Barnum (Wallace Beery, who'd re-create the role in 1934's The Mighty Barnum). Most of the story, however, is given over to the fabricated romance between Lind (Moore) and young composer Paul Brandt (Reginald Denny), who gives her up when stricken with blindness. As if this wasn't trouble enough, Lind loses her voice at the height of her career; she regains her golden throat, but Paul is lost to her forever. Grace Moore sings seven songs during the film's amazingly brief (75-minute) running time, two of them operatic classics. The anemic box-office showing of A Lady's Morals and her follow-up vehicles briefly squelched Grace Moore's hopes for film stardom, but a few years later she enjoyed enormous success in a series of Columbia musicals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a disillusioned wife, learning that her husband has been unfaithful, divorces him and moves to Paris where she is changed from a frowsy hausfrau to a sexy, sophisticated lady. A wealthy dame asks her to help destroy the affair between her granddaughter and the woman's ex-husband. The woman agrees to do it and returns to the U.S. where she hosts a large party. Among the guests are her ex-husband and his lover--the granddaughter. The wife has become so lovely, that her former spouse does not at first recognize her. When at last he does, their romance begins anew. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on the stage comedy by Charles W. Bell and Mark Swan (previously filmed in 1920), Parlor, Bedroom and Bath is a curious mixture of all that was good and everything that was bad in Buster Keaton's talkie features. Keaton plays Reginald Irving, a dimwitted bill-poster who finds himself the pawn in a scheme cooked up by wealthy Jeffrey Haywood (Reginald Denny). It seems that Jeffrey will not be permitted to marry Virginia Embrey (Sally Eilers) until a suitable husband is found for Virginia's older sister Angelica (Dorothy Christy). Since Angelica has rejected all the available suitors, Jeffrey schemes to offer Reginald as an eligible mate. First, however, he has to transform our dopey hero into a gentleman -- and a great lover. Somehow or other, poor Reginald innocently ends up in a compromising situation involving vampish Polly Hathaway (Charlotte Greenwood) and the very married Nita Leslie (Joan Peers) at a posh no-tell hotel. Keaton is permitted a few choice pantomimic moments in Parlor Bedroom and Bath, notably his scenes with the aggressive Charlotte Greenwood and a spectacular sight gag "borrowed" from his 1920 silent classic One Week. On the whole, however, Keaton is lost in a sea of unfunny dialogue and tired farcical situations -- a not untypical pitfall of his MGM talkies. Long unavailable due to legal complications, Parlor, Bedroom and Bath can be purchased from any of the public-domain video companies proliferating in the U.S. (Incidentally, that baronial "upstate New York" mansion in the film's early scenes was actually Buster Keaton's Beverly Hills home) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The only thing magnificent about Magnificent Lie is its title. As usual, Ruth Chatterton plays a woman of variable morals, this time a seedy cafe entertainer. Ralph Bellamy costars as a recently blinded man, whose sole reason for living is his adulation of a famous French singing star. To boost the man's morale, Chatterton impersonates the star in his presence. They fall in love...but will it last once the ruse is revealed? Magnificent Lie features Charles Boyer in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Carmen Boni plays La Femme en Homme (The Woman Dressed as a Man) in this Gallic romp. The real star of the show, however, is Andre Dubosc, cast as a misogynistic old nobleman. Told that he is to take charge of his grandson, Dubosc is taken aback when he discovers that "he" is actually a "she." At first rejecting the girl, the old coot finally comes to love and accept her. Only the pronounced Italian accent of leading lady Carmen Boni detracts from the comic credibility of the tale. But after all, Boni was the wife of director Augusto Genina, whose impressive list of credits allowed him leeway to indulge in a bit of favoritism now and then. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "unaware papa" of the title is played by French comedian Noel-Noel. Ordered by his father to marry a wealthy heiress, our hero changes his mind when he discovers that his former sweetheart has given birth to his child. Noel-Noel sneaks into the maternity hospital and swipes the baby, leading to a merry chase before all is forgiven and Daddy finally marries Mommy. Papa Sans le Savoir was adapted by Yves Mirande from the stage play Little Accident, previously filmed in 1930 with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The same property would be remade under its original title in 1939, then again as Casanova Brown in 1944. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide