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- 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)
- 1965
Bruno (Michele Piccolo) returns for some strange reason to the small French town where he was an informant to the Nazis in this plodding drama. Sophie (Emmanuelle Riva) is a single woman who falls for Bruno partially out of fear of becoming an old maid, but Bruno falls in love with the sister of a man he turned over to the SS. Danielle Darrieux plays Helene, the wife of a man who was arrested because of the informer Bruno. After Bruno is exposed, he is tracked down to an old submarine station where he cowers like a trapped animal. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Michel Piccoli, (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)
- 1964
In this French comedy, a toy inventor travels to the factory of his childhood friend, now an industrial magnate, and tries to persuade him to lend financial backing to his newest invention. Unfortunately their reunion is marred by the reopening of old emotional wounds, but fortunately, the inventor's wife smooths things over. Later she discovers love letters written to her adolescent daughter. Trouble ensues when the toymaker begins suspecting his old pal, the industrialist, of writing the letters. He then blackmails his pal with the letters. When his daughter finds a new boyfriend, the inventor abandons his extortion scheme. The two old pals then reconcile and go into business together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Marais, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1963
This light comedy finds a troubled attorney the focus of a woman's murder plot. He answers newspaper ads of women seeking companionship only to meet up with a wife who is willing to have her husband murdered for his infidelities. When the attorney poses as a millionaire, he finds more than his share of trouble, as a rush of female suitors play up to him in an attempt to kill him to get their hands on his money. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Meurisse, Michèle Morgan, (more)
- 1963
This black comedy is based on the dastardly deeds of French serial killer Henri-Desire Landru, who wined, dined, scammed, and dismembered over 10 women during WW I. He obtained his victims by placing ads in the Personals section of the paper. He then chose wealthy dowagers in their fifties. First he would woo them to his villa. Then he would con them into forking over their fortunes. Finally he would kill them, chop them up, and immolate the pieces. He is finally captured after he is recognized by the sister of one of the victims. Landru swears that he is not a psychotic killer, that he only did it so he could continue to support his family in the bourgeoisie style that they were accustomed to. During his trial, Landru refused to plead for himself one way or the other; he showed no remorse at all. He was guillotined on February 25, 1922. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Denner, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1962
Filmmaker Julien Duvivier returns to the multistoried format of his earlier omnibus films Tales of Manhattan and Flesh and Fantasy with the 1962 French production The Devil and the Ten Commandments. Actually, there are only seven separate episodes in the film, covering such commandments as "Thou Shalt Not Have Any Gods Before Me", "Thou Shalt Not Steal" and "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother." Each of the vignettes seems to owe more to O. Henry or DeMaupassant than the Book of Exodus, with twist endings carrying the day. The all-star cast includes Michel Simon (Episode One), Dany Saval (Episode Two), Charles Aznavour and Lino Ventura (Episode Three), Micheline Presle, Mel Ferrer and Claude Dauphin (Episode Four); Fernandel (Episode Five); Alain Delon and Danielle Darrieux (Episode Six) and Jean-Claude Brialy (Episode Seven). Best of the batch is the fifth episode, wherein horse-faced Fernandel declares that he is God. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Simon, Françoise Arnoul, (more)
- 1961
Les Bras de la nuit is another of the typical love vs. duty stories in which a police inspector, Landais (Roger Hanin) is caught in a tough situation. Daniele (Danielle Darrieux) is a killer -- she has murdered her husband -- yet after the inspector starts investigating the case, he is completely overcome by the woman. Her obvious attractions have him in thrall and eventually he realizes he will do anything not to lose her. His solution is to cover-up for her, a solution that only brings sorrow in the end. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Roger Hanin, (more)
- 1961
A police inspector on the trail of the murderer of a nightclub owner falls for the dead man's drug-addicted mistress. He tries to get her to talk, but the commissioner suspects her and wants the case solved, so he orders her arrested. She disappears, and the inspector is led to the home of the real killer. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1961
A young Susannah York had her first lead role in this drama about a teenage girl on the cusp of womanhood. When her mother falls ill during a vacation in the French wine country, 16-year-old Joss Grey (York) is left to her own devices as she and her three younger siblings are left in the reluctant care of Madame Zisi (Danielle Darrieux), the proprietor of the hotel where they were staying. Eliot (Kenneth More), Zisi's strapping boyfriend, offers to show the youngsters some of the sights in the countryside, and Joss finds herself developing a strong infatuation with the older man. However, when she realizes that Eliot and Zisi are lovers, she becomes despondent and ends up getting drunk on wine with Paul (David Saire), a boy who works in the kitchen at Zisi's hotel. When Joss learns that Eliot is actually a jewel thief wanted by the law, she informs the police of his whereabouts. However, that same night, Paul's efforts to seduce Joss degenerate into a violent attempt at rape, but when Eliot hears her screams for help, he comes to Joss' rescue. Having spared her virtue and perhaps her life, Joss confesses to Eliot that she has turned him in to the police, and urges him to flee for his own safety. One of Joss' sisters is played by Jane Asher, a distinguished actress who was most famous in the United States not for her abilities as a performer, but for spending several years as Paul McCartney's girlfriend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth More, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1961
Henri Verneuil directs a star-studded cast in this slight satire about love and life in the big city. Claudia Cardenale, in her first French film, appears as Albertine, a sexy divorced woman from the countryside who goes to Paris and becomes involved with the fashionable elite. Lino Ventura is Andre, a doctor to the rich and famous who falls in love with Albertine. She becomes his mistress and though he wants to marry her, he has a rival in Didier (Jean-Claude Brialy), a writer. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Brialy, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
- 1960
Five murder suspects are brought forward by investigators for their motives. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1960
This is an uninspired murder mystery directed by Jacques-Gérard Cornu about the unfortunate and unnatural demise of a blackmailer. Gabrielle (Danielle Darrieux) is married to Georges (Mel Ferrer) but both she and her niece had been involved with the blackmailer who is now dead. Assigned to the murder case is a closed-mouthed police inspector whose investigations eventually start to shake down clues and bits of evidence, hinting that the identity of the killer will not be a mystery forever. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Mel Ferrer, (more)
- 1959
This suspensful drama finds ten members of the underground uniting fifteen years after the end of World War II. Nine men and a woman come together to expose a traitor among them. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Fusier-Gir, Serge Reggiani, (more)
- 1959
In this standard wartime melodrama, forty-two-year-old Danielle Darrieux plays Jeanne, an unmarried, older woman with a miserable mother who harps on the supposed "fact" that Jeanne is ugly. Jeanne comes into close association with Pierre (27-year-old Jean-Claude Brialy) a young blind man who is hunted by the Germans and temporarily hiding out in Jeanne's house. Jeanne and Pierre are irresistibly attracted to each other, and a genuine love develops and deepens between them. Unfortunately, Jeanne's mother cannot leave her alone, and circumstances contrive to make her run away from the house -- leaving her relationship in limbo, at least for the time being. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Jean-Claude Brialy, (more)
- 1959
Danielle Darrieux stars in this Belgian chiller as a songstress whose obsessively jealous husband suddenly dies. Feeling free for the first time in years, Darrieux inaugurates a romance with Michel Auclair. But even now she is the victim of her husband's omnipresence; evidently returning from the grave, the dead man haunts both Darrieux and her new lover. If you've seen Diabolique, you may catch on to a few of this film's many plot twists. Oddly, Murder at 45 R.P.M (produced in 1960, released in the US five years later) is frequently absent from the published resumes of both Danielle Darrieux and Michel Auclair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Michel Auclair, (more)
- 1958
Un Drole de Dimanche (What a Sunday) stars Danielle Darrieux as Catherine and Bourvil as her ex-husband Jean. By chance, Catherine and Jean are reunited five years after she walked out of his life. In a fit of romantic nostalgia, Jean mentally reconstructs the events that led up to their separation. He then determines to win her back, certain that he'll never, ever make the same mistakes again? or will he? Listed fifth in the cast of Un Drole de Dimanche is a young sprout named Jean Belmondo, who as Jean-Paul Belmondo would burst onto the international film scene in Godard's Breathless. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Bourvil, (more)
- 1958
Director Giles Grangier adapted the screenplay of Les Desordre et la Nuit from his own novel. Jean Gabin stars as Vallois, a vice inspector for the Paris police. Vallois takes special interest in the plight of drug-addicted Lucky (Najda Tiller), whom he considers to be more victim than criminal. Taking it upon himself to wean Lucky away from narcotics, Vallois also wins her love -- and, incidentally, smashes the dope ring responsible for her addiction. Second-billed Danielle Darrieux actually has a minor role, which she pulls off with finesse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1958
French filmmaker Sacha Guitry had intended to direct as well as write 3DLa Vie a Deux3D (3DLife as a Couple3D), but death claimed him before he could bring his plan to fruition. Adapted from Guitry's original by Jean Martin and directed by Clement Duhor, the film offers an all-star cast in a series of seriocomic anecdotes. The narrative is tied together by a millionaire novelist (based on Guitry himself), who on his deathbed wants to bequeath his fortune to several married couples upon whom he'd based one of his books. The proviso is that the couples must have remained happily wed to claim their money. The millionaire's family anxiously hire private detectives to prove that the couples in question are not only unhappy, but shameless philanderers in the bargain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brasseur, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1958
Though the title of this French drama translates to Seventh Heaven, it bears no relation to the classic 1927 silent film of the same name. Danielle Darieaux plays a widowed philanthropist with a most unorthodox method of raising money for her many charities. Courted by con men and sharpsters, Danielle turns the tables by persuading these men to invest their money in her pet stocks. She then murders her erstwhile suitors with the help of her old flame Noel-Noel. Ten "contributors" go the way of all flesh before the film comes to its unexpected (but very amusing) denouement. Based on a novel by Andre Lang, Le Septieme Ciel bears a marked resemblance to the 1961 Ernie Kovacs vehicle Five Golden Hours. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Noël-Noël, (more)
- 1957
The second of director Julien Duvivier's two cinematic contributions of 1957 was Pot-Bouille (Boiling
Pot). Based on a novel by Emile Zola, the film stars Gerard Philipe as Octave, an opportunistic Parisian youth who hops from bed to bed -- and from bedmate to bedmate. Young or old, plain or beautiful, Octave loves and leaves 'em all. His romantic rovings come to a halt when he meets pragmatic businesswoman Mme. Hedouin (Danielle Darrieux). Apparently impervious to Octave's charms, Mme. Hedouin nonetheless marries the boy and transforms him into a useful (and least to her) member of society. Director Duvivier never misses an opportunity to contrast the respectable facade of Civilization with the unvarnished, often depraved truth beneath the surface. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Pot). Based on a novel by Emile Zola, the film stars Gerard Philipe as Octave, an opportunistic Parisian youth who hops from bed to bed -- and from bedmate to bedmate. Young or old, plain or beautiful, Octave loves and leaves 'em all. His romantic rovings come to a halt when he meets pragmatic businesswoman Mme. Hedouin (Danielle Darrieux). Apparently impervious to Octave's charms, Mme. Hedouin nonetheless marries the boy and transforms him into a useful (and least to her) member of society. Director Duvivier never misses an opportunity to contrast the respectable facade of Civilization with the unvarnished, often depraved truth beneath the surface. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1957
This Franco-Japanese production made the American TV rounds as Typhoon Over Nagasaki. Jean Marais heads the cast as Pierre, a French engineer working in the titular Japanese metropolis. Ignoring social and racial conventions, Pierre falls in love with local girl Noriko (Kishi Keiko). The fly in the ointment is Pierre's ex-flame Francoise (Danielle Darrieux), who launches an aggressive campaign to win him back. The plot is resolved by a climactic typhoon (surprise!), forcing the engineer to make a fateful--and not altogether emotionally satisfying--decision. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Jean Marais, (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)
- 1956
Producer/director Sacha Guitry's contribution to the 1956 film season was the free-flowing historical pageant Si Paris Nous Etait Conte (If Paris Were Told to Us). Guitry himself appears as the ghost of King Louis XI, who relates the story of Paris to a group of fascinated modern-day students. As usual, Guitry manages to "humanize" history by depicting the great men and women of France in amusing warts-and-all fashion. Symbolizing the indomitable spirit of Paris is Robert Lamoureaux as Latude, a prisoner of the Bastille who repeatedly tries to escape, and just as repeatedly is captured and thrown back in jail. A note of pathos is provided by Jacques de Feraudy as the dying Voltaire. Though Sacha Guitry suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair throughout much of the filming of Si Paris Nous Etait Conte, he still had two more films left in him before his death in 1957--just 10 days after Bastille Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sacha Guitry, Jean Marais, (more)
