Raymond Cordy Movies

Rene Clair's Grand Maneuver was originally titled Les Grandes Manoeuvres, which should surprise no one. Gerard Phillipe plays a dashing dragoons officer, vintage 1913, who wagers his friends that he can make the next woman who enters the room fall in love with him. In strides drop-dead gorgeous Michele Morgan, and the rest writes itself. Phillipe plans a slow seduction and a quick goodbye; Morgan, need we say, is no "goodbye girl." For all its lavish sets and meticulously detailed period costumers, Grand Maneuver is at base the old American farce Sailor Beware with a French accent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director René Clair insisted that his 1952 production Beauties of the Night (Les Belles du Nuit) was intended as a comic variation on Griffith's multipart Intolerance (1916). The Clair film deals with a disillusioned music teacher (Gérard Philipe) who dreams of the beautiful women of history, envisioning himself as the central male figure in each dream. The imaginary ladies (including such internationally famous lovelies as Martine Carol and Gina Lollobrigida) begin converging on the hero all at once, much to the delight of both Philipe and the audience. At several junctures, Clair revives a technique from his earliest talkies by having the characters sing their lines and thoughts rather than speaking them. These treasured musical moments are somewhat dissipated when Beauties of the Night is seen in an edited, redubbed American print -- which also "fudges" the film's notorious Gina Lollobrigida nude scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this fluffy comedy-drama, Manina (Brigitte Bardot) is a beautiful young woman who lives with her father, who tends a lighthouse near the ocean. One day, Manina meets two men who are working along the coastline, searching for treasure. Manina becomes infatuated with the younger of the two treasure hunters, and a romance blossoms between the two. In time, Manina must come to the rescue of her new beau when his parter commits an act of betrayal which could cost him his life. Manina, la Fille Sans Voile was one of Bardot's first starring roles; the film was shot in 1952 (when she was just 18), but was little-seen outside France until five years later, after ... And God Created Woman made her an international star. It was shown in America as The Girl In The Bikini and in the UK as The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Seuls au Monde was released outside of France as Alone in the World. Social worker Francois (Rene Lefevre) is disgusted by the fact that a group of institutionalized orphans are psychologically abused by The System. Overstepping his bounds, Francois liberates the kids, then sets up his own humane orphanage with the help of a wealthy man who himself had been orphaned as child. The usual anal-retentive bureaucracy threatens this enterprise, but the arrival of Genevieve (Madeleine Robinson), the film's heroine, miraculously solves everyone's problems. Seuls au Monde boasts an appealing cast and workable storyline; however, the film's overabundance of dialogue made it difficult to market in America. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

La Beaute du Diable came into being when French filmmaker Rene Clair became fascinated with a structural defect in the "Faust" legend. Clair felt that the beginning and end of the story was perfect, but the middle section, wherein the title character blasphemes the Pope, was "silly." The director also wondered what would happen if, instead of forcing Faust to sign his soul away in exchange for happiness and knowledge, the Devil were to ask for nothing, and simply assume that Faust would sign the contract at a later date. As played by Michel Simon, Clair's devil -- or Mephisto --is actually quite a likeable fellow. In fact, he's more fun to be around than the somewhat ethereal Faust of Gerard Philipe. In establishing the "reality" of his fantasy, Clair utilizes several adroit camera tricks to get the audience to swallow the tale. Nicole Besnard co-stars as Marguerite, the vessel of Faust's ultimate redemption. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally released in France under the title Le Silence est D'Or, Man About Town is set in the Paris of the early 1900s. Maurice Chevalier plays a director of silent films (whose working conditions are recreated with remarkable accuracy), while Marcelle Derien is an actress whom Chevalier hopes to turn into a film star. She falls in love with her younger leading man (Francois Perier), and Chevalier, after putting up a gentle struggle, bows to the inevitability of young romance. The first postwar US/France coproduction, Man About Town won several international prizes. Unfortunately, its American version was hampered by a misguided translation device: Rather than dub the actors' voices or utilize subtitles, the American distributor chose to have Maurice Chevalier narrate the film in English and comment upon its action. The resultant effect took the audience "out" of the picture when it should have been involved with the plot, and this clumsy translation technique was never used again. The best moment in the Americanized Man About Town was Chevalier's opening musical number, directed not by Le Silence Est D'Or's Rene Clair but by RKO film editor Robert Pirosh--who also trimmed the film by 17 minutes for U.S. audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of slippers is the plot catalyst for this rambling French comedy. Hoping to save the reputation of a philandering friend, do-gooder Beatrice (Betty Stockfield) drives all the way from Paris to Switzerland to return an incriminating slipper to its mate. Along the way, she is sidetracked by handsome Georges (Roger Treville). By the time Beatrice arrives at her appointed destination, she finds that her friend has already replaced the tell-tale slipper. Now she's got to get rid of that pesky third slipper-which isn't as easy as it sounds, and which results in all sorts of merry misadventures. The Slipper Episode is based on a story by Tristan Bernard, who appears briefly at the beginning of the film to "explain" the action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

La Belle Equipe (The Good Crew) was the fourth of six smash hits in a row for director Julien Duvivier. The fortunes of five unemployed laborers take a radical turn for the better when they jointly win a 100,000-franc lottery prize. Jean Gabin, the self-appointed leader of the bunch, suggests that they not throw their money away but instead invest it in a road-house on the river Marne. Their dreams of instant success are dashed when Vivian Romance, the common-law wife of Gabin's friend Charles Vanel, shows up demanding her portion of the winnings -- then plots the destruction of Gabin because he refuses to make love to her. In the end, "The Good Crew" collapses under the weight of treachery, jealousy and murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide