André Daven Movies
An actor, reporter, artist, and general man about town in 1920s Gay Paree, André Daven bore a striking resemblance to Rudolph Valentino, whom he reportedly interviewed in Paris in 1923. Valentino brought the youngster to Hollywood, where he played Duc de Nemours in Monsieur Beaucaire (1924). In his later years, Daven became a co-director (with the Swedish Ralph de Maré) of the Theatre des Champs-Elysées and a film producer of some note. His often cited sexual relationship with Valentino remains pure speculation, the "evidence" resting mainly on hearsay and the typically florid prose of the Italian star's most likely ghostwritten "autobiography." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1957
Port de Lilias was Rene Clair's first film since 1955, and his last until 1960. It is more serious than most of Clair's efforts, ending with a death that is all the more surprising in that the director never quite prepares us for it. Pierre Brasseur plays Juju, a likeable ne'er-do-well who suddenly finds himself the "guardian" of a murderer named Barbier (Henri Vidal). When his identity is discovered by the heroine Maria (Dany Carel), Barbier wins and betrays the girl. This galvanizes the otherwise easygoing Juju into drastic action. Functioning as a Greek chorus throughout the proceedings is well-known balladeer George Brassens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brasseur, Georges Brassens, (more)
- 1945
The bland performance of star George Raft is the only drawback of this splashy 20th Century-Fox musical. Set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, the film casts Raft as Barbary Coast saloonkeeper Tony Angel, who endears himself to patrons and pedestrians alike by tossing out silver dollars at the slightest provocation. Though Tony is loved by saloon singer Sally Templeton (Vivian Blaine), he only has eyes for Nob Hill socialite Harriet Carruthers (Joan Bennett). Upon marrying Harriet, Tony realizes he is sorely outclassed, and turns to the bottle as the result. It's up to "Little Miss Fixit" Katie Flanagan (Peggy Ann Garner) to bring Tony and Sally back together. Ample comedy relief is provided by Alan Reed and B. S. Pully, while the largely uncredited supporting cast includes such familiar faces as J. Farrell McDonald, Nestor Paiva, Bud Jamieson, and Frank McCown, who rose to fame under the new moniker of Rory Calhoun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Raft, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1944
In this touching drama, city-slicker Sparke Thorton goes to live on his aunt and uncle's horse farm in the country. The couple have basically retired from horse-breeding and only have one trotter left. Sparks fly when the young man meets the lovely Char and Cri-Cri, the two farm girls who introduce him to the finer aspects of country life including the cool pleasures of the swimming hole. He soon decides that he wants to raise a filly and become a champion racer. His uncle and the handyman help him. Much of the film was shot on location on racetracks in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. There is also a sequence depicting the filly's birth, but it is sensitively handled. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Brennan, Lon McCallister, (more)
A timely film when first released in 1943, Tonight We Raid Calais survives as an entertaining adventure some fifty years later. John Sutton plays a British intelligence officer, sent into occupied France with a small unit to local a German munitions depot. While travelling under cover of darkness, Sutton confronts a French maiden (Annabella) who hates the British and the Germans with equal fervor. She eventually determines which side is the right side and allows Sutton to continue his mission. The officer is captured by the Nazis, but his comrades locate the munitions plant and notify the Allied bombers. The screenplay for Tonight We Raid Calais was written by future blacklistee Waldo Salt, whose liberal stance was politically correct during wartime but considered a "no no" once peace was declared. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annabella, John Sutton, (more)
- 1943
This French Underground melodrama stars George Sanders as a seemingly apolitical Parisian doctor who is actually a resistance leader. Sanders' nurse (Brenda Marshall) is likewise a French patriot--less so the nurse's husband (Philip Dorn), who has become disillusioned after two years in a POW camp. The husband changes his mind and joins the Resistance, though he and several other freedom fighters lose their lives to German bullets. Worth noting in Paris After Dark is the fact that several of the personnel involved were actual French refugees, including director Leonide Moguy and husband-and-wife supporting actors Marcel Dalio and Madeleine LeBeau. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Sanders, Philip Dorn, (more)
- 1937
Originally titled Gribouille, Marc Allegret's Heart of Paris serves as an excellent vehicle for that matchless stage and screen favorite Raimu. The star is cast as bourgeois family man Camille Morestau, who while serving on a jury in a murder trial takes pity on the accused, waiflike Natalie Rougin (Michele Morgan). Through a series of unlikely circumstance, Morestau invites Natalie to move in with himself and his family for the duration of the trial. Morestau's son Claude (Gilbert Gil) assumes there's some hanky panky going on between his father and Natalie, whereupon he takes a serious interest in the girl himself. Realizing that her presence has caused serious dissension in the Morestau household, Natalie prepares to leave-but not before "borrowing" a few valuables to finance her exit. The ending of Heart of Paris is somewhat grimmer than the one utilized in its American remake, The Lady in Question, in which the three main characters were portrayed by Brian Aherne, Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Raimu, (more)
