Danielle Darrieux Movies
French actress Danielle Darrieux studied the cello at the Paris Conservatory, but the direction her life took was more towards acting than music. Danielle made an impressive film debut as a headstrong teenager in La Bal (1931), but didn't crack the consciousness of international filmmakers until her heartrending portrayal of the doomed Baroness Marie Vetsera in Mayerling (1937). The success of this film led to Danielle's American contract with Universal pictures; studio executive Joe Pasternak cannily concocted what film critic Leonard Maltin has labelled a "winsome" image for the actress in her first US film, The Rage of Paris (1938). Electing to return to France after her American debut, Danielle found herself working under the scrutiny of the new Nazi regime. She made the best of things, continuing to star in films and entertaining the occupation troops as a singer. Unfortunately, this latter activity caused Ms. Darrieux to be labelled a collaborator by the French underground, which at one point targetted the actress for execution. After the war, there were some awkward moments for Danielle, but the death sentence was allowed to lapse. She returned briefly to the US in the early '50s, appearing as a French chanteuse in Rich, Young and Pretty (1950) and as James Mason's duplicitous lady friend in Five Fingers (1952). Most fans feel that Danielle did her best work in the latter part of her career, notably in director Max Ophuls' Madame De... (1953) and Jacques Demy's Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). The actress sang in concerts and cabarets in the '60s, and in 1970 replaced Katharine Hepburn the Broadway musical Coco. In the '80s, Danielle Darrieux scored a significant success in a Paris staging of the film musical Gigi, playing the role originated in the 1985 film by Hermione Gingold. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1952
Based on a true story, 5 Fingers stars James Mason as a man known to his superiors only as Cicero. Ostensibly the valet of the British ambassador to Ankara during World War II, Cicero is actually a Nazi agent. He holds no particular political viewpoint: the Nazis offered the best price, so for the time being he is loyal to them. Falling in love with the beautiful Danielle Darrieux, Cicero uses her home as a contact point to meet his German associates. At great personal risk, Cicero secures secret British war files and smuggles them to the Germans; they find the information in the files too far-fetched to be taken seriously--and thus are caught unawares on the morning of the D-Day invasion. An ironic coda finds Cicero, setting himself up in luxury in Rio de Janeiro, double-crossed by both Darrieux and the Germans. What else can he do but laugh uproariously? 5 Fingers, based on the memoirs of the real-life "Cicero" L. C. Moyzisch, was adapted into a 1959 TV series, wherein the antihero was converted into a 100% good guy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
A gaggle of mothers, wives, daughters, maids, and mistresses gather for a holiday homecoming at their country mansion -- and end up having to solve a murder-mystery -- in this musical-comic homage to studio-era "women's pictures" from acclaimed French director François Ozon. Partly inspired by George Cukor's 1939 classic The Women, 8 Femmes stars Catherine Deneuve as Gaby, a high-society matron just returned to her country house to celebrate Christmas with her husband; mother Mamy (Danielle Darrieux); sister Augustine (Isabelle Huppert); and daughters Suzon (Virginie Ledoyen) and Catharine (Ludivine Sagnier). Not long after they all arrive, however, do they find the man of the house with a knife in his back, whereupon everyone becomes a suspect -- including maids Chanel (Firmine Richard) and Louise (Emmanuelle Béart). The mysterious arrival of Augustine's sister-in-law Pierrette (Fanny Ardant) only complicates matters, as the titular eight women find themselves snowed in by a fierce blizzard, forced to confront the matter of the lifeless husband -- and their long-standing secrets and resentments -- without the aid of the police. Following its immensely successful release in France in early 2002, 8 Women enjoyed much acclaim at the Berlin and Toronto Film Festivals. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, (more)
- 1938
French director Henri Decoin was married to actress Danielle Darrieux for nearly seven years during which time he cast her in several uninspiring vehicles such as this one. Darrieux plays Lydia, a struggling law student who poses as the estranged daughter of famous historian Jacques Ferney (Charles Vanel). She abuses Ferney's confidence in order to make him adopt her, thus ending her financial problems. Later, the fledgling lawyer finds herself in court, defending a woman in similar circumstances. Vanel and Darrieux are quite good in their early scenes, but the last part of the film seems wooden and contrived. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Charles Vanel, (more)
- 1945
Danielle Darieux stars in the French romantic drama Adieu Cherie (Goodbye Darling). Darieux plays a Parisian woman of affairs who falls in love with wealthy young Jacques Berthier. In the tradition of Camille and Waterloo Bridge, the heroine tries her best to be accepted by Berthier's respectable parents, despite her dubious reputation and uncertain future. The problem lies in the acting of Berthier, who isn't up to his co-star's histrionic abilities. In addition, the usually reliable Raymond Bernard directs as if his mind were on something else. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Gabrielle Dorziat, (more)
- 1952
Newly married Daniel Gelin spends most of Adorable Creatures reflecting longingly on his previous amours. One of his past conquests was unhappy housewife Danielle Darrieux. Another was insatiable widow Edwige Feuillere. And yet another was avaricious Martine Carol (then married to director Christian-Jacque). Originally released in France in 1952, Adorable Creatures didn't get theatrical play in the US in 1956, and then only in a heavily bowdlerized addition. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Daniel Gélin, (more)
The short life and quick death of Alexander the Great is recounted in this literate historical epic. Decked out in a blonde wig, Richard Burton stars as the Grecian warrior who conquered the known world while only in his twenties, then wept because there were no more worlds left to conquer. While the film's 141 minutes are occasionally bogged down by near-existential dialogue sequences (What doth it profit a man etc. etc.), the battle sequences are among the best and most accurate ever filmed. Fredric March and Danielle Darieux costar as Alexander's parents Philip of Macedonia and Olympius, Claire Bloom does what she can with the nothing role of Alexander's wife Barsine, and Michael Hordern and Harry Andrews are cast as Demosthenes and Darrius, respectively. Lensed in Spain and Italy, Alexander the Great conquered no new worlds at the box-office, perhaps because Richard Burton, brilliant though he was, hadn't yet attained "saleability". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Fredric March, (more)
- 1945
French film favorite Danielle Darrieux had only recently cleared herself of a wartime "collaboration" charge when she starred in Au Petit Bonheur. The title translates as Happy Go Lucky, perfectly capturing the tenor of the film. Things aren't so happy at the outset, however, not with wealthy Andre Luguet on the verge of suicide. Luguet gets a second lease on life when he finds himself the nonplused host of Darrieux, who wants to make her errant husband Francois Perier jealous. Au Petit Bonheur is rather obviously derived from a stage play, written by Marc Gilbert Sauvajon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, François Perier, (more)
- 1939
Heart Throbs is the rather prosaic English title of the French romantic comedy Battlements de Coeur. Danielle Darrieux plays an impoverished reform-school escapee who finds a new lease on life when she enrolls in a school for pickpockets run by Fagin-like Saturnin-Fabre. Before long, Darrieux is the school's prize pupil, though she intends to abandon her life of crime should the right man come along. But Saturnin-Fabre has other ideas, and grooms Darrieux for her entree into High Society, the better to divest foreign ambassador Andre Luguet of his valuables. Unfortunately for her mentor, Darrieux falls in love with Luguet, and the plot takes off from there. Battlements de Coeur was remade in Hollywood as Heartbeat (1946), with Ginger Rogers as the elegant cutpurse and Basil Rathbone as her suave instructor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Junie Astor, (more)
- 1947
Danielle Darrieux stars as Arabella Delvaire in this baroque adaptation of Pierre Benoit's novel Bethshabee. Arabella is a woman of the world who arrives at a remote Foreign Legion outpost for a rendezvous with her current lover, Captain Duveuil. It so happens that one of Arabella's previous amours, Captain Somerville (Paul Meurisse), is also serving at the same post. So much for joining the Foreign Legion to forget. A climactic knife duel "solves" the film's various plot complications. Despite its Foreign Legion background, Bethsabee has next to no action, which must have made things difficult when the film was distributed to the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Georges Marchal, (more)
- 1989
Based on a popular novel with the English title Devil in the Flesh by Alexandre Jardin, this little drama tells the story of Virgile (Thomas Langmann), a sixteen-year old boy who has grown tired of being a virgin, and decides to seduce Carla (Kristin Scott-Thomas), an older woman. Rather to his surprise, despite his callowness, she proves to be quite willing. One highlight of the film is the performance of veteran screen actress Danielle Darrieux as Virgile's grandmother, L'Arquebuse. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Langmann, Kristin Scott Thomas, (more)
- 1966
Comedian Soupy Sales makes his feature film debut in this silly outing as a janitor cleaning up at Cape Kennedy. He has been specially assigned to make sure that none of the nuclear warheads there get dusty. It's not easy because spies run around spreading dust. One day the janitor stumbles into an experiment and ends up with some very strange abilities: he can fly and women cannot stay away from him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Soupy Sales, Tab Hunter, (more)
- 1954
Michel Auclair is the leading character (he certainly isn't the hero!) in the French Bonnes a Tuer (Ripe for Killing). A two-bit hustler from a poor family, Auclair manages to break into society by seducing and abandoning a series of female domestics. Once he's made it to the big time, he lines his pockets by promising to keep spicy tidbits out of the scandal magazines. After several romantic liaisons, Auclair perversely invites his former wife, his present one, his future one and his mistress to a party, intending to murder one of the ladies and then get away with it. He doesn't. Almost Wellesian in its use of multiple flashbacks, Bonnes a Tuer is far more slick and elaborate than its seamy subject matter deserves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1954
Chateaux en Espagne (Castles in Spain) was written and directed by former cinematographer Rene Wheeler. When her boss dies suddenly, secretary Genevieve (Danielle Darrieaux) is stranded in Spain. Genevieve seeks shelter in the home of her boss' brother, famed bullfighter Mario (played by real-life matador Pepin Martin Valezquez). Love blooms, much to the discomfort of the leeches and sycophants in Mario's entourage. A potentially tragic finale is sparked by the jealous goadings of Mario's sexy former lady friend Maria (Sylvia Morgan), who insists that he return to the bullring despite Genevieve's protestations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux
- 1936
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
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Betty Stockfeld, (more)
- 1932
Coquecigrole was adapted from a novel by Alfred Marchard. Max Dearly stars as a washed-up stage actor who unofficially adopts a young orphan girl nicknamed Coquecigrole (Daniele Darrieux, in her second film appearance). Working "between engagements" as a waiter, the old actor becomes friendly with Tulipe (Raymond Galle), a young dishwasher with theatrical ambitions. Dearly raises enough funds to stage a revue, starring Coquecigrole and Tulipe, who of course fall in love with each other. Things take a dark turn when the girl's natural father appears out of nowhere to claim his parental rights. Poor Coquecigrole is snubbed by her "real" family, forcing her father to realize that she'd be better off with her old friends. Things end on a triumphant note when the reunited Coquecigrole and Tulipe are married, with their old mentor beaming happily from the sidelines. That is, things should end here: instead, the producers insist upon dragging in a comic coda, wherein Max Dearly is seen playing nursemaid to the couple's troublesome baby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Gina Barbieri, (more)
- 1986
In a standard tale of intrigue and foul play, Michel Sauvage (Lambert Wilson) has just gotten away with murder and is now marrying rich heiress Ariane (Ingrid Held) in hopes of taking all she's worth. Unfortunately for Michel, the murder victim's hard-fisted, tippling neighbor Madam Krantz (Danielle Darrieux in a great comic performance) has just blown into Paris with the intention of tracking down the killer. On one hand, Michel has to defend himself from her prying, and on the other, protect his wife's fortune from the increasingly attractive and avaricious Helene, Ariane's half-sister (Dominique Sanda). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Sanda, Lambert Wilson, (more)
- 1938
Danielle Darrieux stars as a scatter-brained college coed who miraculously becomes a lawyer. Her father would prefer that she give up the law in favor of marriage, but our heroine intends to out-Portia Portia in the courtroom. She gets her big chance when she's hired to defend Henry Garat, a charming but unregenerate crook. While trying to reform her client, Darrieux falls head over heels in love with him. The story ends when Garat reveals his true identity, which takes everyone's breath away. Utterly forgettable, Avocate D'Amour (Counsel for Romance) is also infinitely charming, with both stars at their peak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Henri Garat, (more)
French filmmaker Josée Dayan directs the erotic drama Les Liaisons Dangereuses, based on the 18th century novel by Choderlos de Laclos and updated by screenwriter Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. A co-production of France and Canada, this French-language television miniseries is reimagined with a swinging '60s setting. Madame de Mertueil (Catherine Deneuve) and Vicomte de Valmont (Rupert Everett) are a couple of wealthy and seductive aristocrats. Advancing in years, Mertueil grows jealous when she learns that her old flame Gercourt (Andrzej Zulawski) is planning to marry the much younger Cécile Volanges (Leelee Sobieski). The bored rich couple plot a scheme to have Valmont seduce Cécile before the wedding. Valmont also goes to visit Rosemonde (Danielle Darrieux) in Saint Tropez, where he meets the married woman Marie Tourvel (Nastassja Kinski). Featuring a musical score by Angelo Badalamenti and period costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier. Les Liaisons Dangereuses premiered on U.S. television on WE: Women's Entertainment in March 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Rupert Everett, (more)
- 1975
It is difficult enough for Marion (Danielle Darrieux) to be an actress who is rapidly approaching the has-been stage; after all, she was once a great tragedienne. She must also cope with the insistent attentions of a young man (Richard Fontana) who is infatuated with her. This pleases neither the boy's fiancee nor Marion's longtime companion, a theatrical impresario (Jean Le Poulain). In this musical comedy, the actress tries many methods for getting rid of the boy; one that backfires miserably is her pretense of being a drunken old harridan. This only convinces the lad that she really needs his help. Finally, she weans him from her by getting him hooked on a much more demanding mistress: she gives him stage training. This done, she can send him back into the impatiently awaiting arms of his fiancee and resume her own life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Jean Le Poulain, (more)
- 1964
Dany Carrel and Danielle Darrieux star in this adaptation of a novel by Jean-Pierre Ferriere. Attending the funeral of her husband, a widow notices a stranger present. The stranger turns out to be a woman who was involved with a drug deal her deceased husband was making. Now the stranger is after some missing heroin and uses her boyfriend to try to find out where it might be. The unfortunate widow, however, is not as much a victim as she seems. French director Jacques Poitrenaud of Du Grabuge Ches Les Veuve/Trouble Among Women would go on to act in such films as Autour de Minuit/'Round Midnight and Un Dimanche a la Campagne/A Sunday in the Country. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Dany Carrel, (more)
- 1983
Françoise Canavaggia (Danielle Darrieux) heads back to Toulon in 1963 with murderous plans for the people who now inhabit the villa that had once been hers. After arriving in Toulon, Françoise meets up with her sister and a niece, both adding to her tendency toward self-analysis. But with images of the present and past mixed with memories and fantasies of the past -- and excerpts from speeches by Petain and De Gaulle combined with psychological and philosophical ramblings -- director Paul Vecchiali has created complexities that many an audience will never figure out. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Hélène Surgère, (more)
