Bella Darvi Movies
International actress Bella Darvi, led a tragic, tempestuous life. She was born Bayla Wegier in Poland but raised in Paris. When she was 12, she was sent to a concentration camp when the Germans invaded France. For much of her adult life, Darvi was a gambler unable to resist the lure of casinos, and even as a young woman racked up many gambling debts. It was in such a place, in 1951 Paris, that Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century-Fox, and his wife Virginia met Darvi. Feeling she had potential as an actress, they paid her debts and took her back to Hollywood to groom her to be a Fox star. Her stage name was a combination of the Zanucks first names. Darvi made three films in Hollywood, but none of them were memorable. After a scandal erupted within the Zanuck home, Darvi was thrown out and her contract broken. She went back to Europe and appeared in a few mediocre French and Italian films and by the 1960s her career was over. Darvi went back to gambling and became deeply indebted and suicidal. During the '60s she attempted suicide three times, and sadly, in early 1971, Darvi succeeded and was found gassed to death in her apartment in Monte Carlo. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
In this mystery, a 13-year old girl gets a crush on her good looking neighbor and soon finds herself entangled in a murder case when a prostitute is found dead in their apartment building. To create an alibi for himself, the handsome neighbor begins encouraging the girl's infatuation with him. In the end, the girl changes her mind about the neighbor and tells all to the police. Unfortunately, they, thinking she is acting out of spite, disbelieve her. A kindly inspector suggests that the girl's mother send her to a convent for protection. He then changes his mind and decides to look into the case; he soon discovers that the girl told the truth. The neighbor is arrested just before he marries an heiress. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brice, Giorgia Moll, (more)
- 1959
Lino Ventura stars in this French espionager as a secret agent known only as "The Gorilla". While it's never fully explained how our hero earned this simian nickname, it is perfectly clear that The Gorilla is much sought after by the police and the criminal underworld. The cops suspect that the Gorilla is himself a crook, while the bad guys simply want to remove him from the face of the Earth. The main plot involves stolen plans for a new guided missile; in trying to retrieve these plans, the Gorilla runs afoul of counterfeiters and drug dealers, in addition to his usual enemies. Le Gorille vous Salue Bien (The Gorilla Greets You) was the first in a profitable series of spy flicks starring Lino Ventura as the title character. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Charles Vanel, (more)
- 1959
Comedy and tragedy are thrown together in this undistinguished gangster flic by director Jacques Severac. Rather than focus on the gore of a murderous gangland rivalry or the rise to power of a mob boss, Le Pain de Jules looks at the downfall of an older mobster, past his prime and ripe for some serious mistakes. The gangster is not much different than any other older man caught in an emotional maelstrom over the charms of a young woman. In this case, the charmer's morals leave something to be desired -- at least according to the enamored hoodlum. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bella Darvi, Henri Vilbert, (more)
- 1956
The plot of Je Revendrai a Kandara is buried somewhere in its title, which translates to I'll Get Back to Kandara. Francois Perier plays a mild-mannered professor who inadvertently witnesses a murder while stopping over in the titular locale. The problem here is that the professor, feeling somewhat ineffectual and unimportant, finds no real reason to "get involved." Besides, murderer Daniel Gelin must have had his reasons, mustn't he? The two story elements prevalent in Je Revendrai a Kandara -- the murder melodrama and the professor's identity crisis -- do not altogether mesh. Onetime Hollywood leading lady Bella Darvi figures significantly into the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Bella Darvi, (more)
- 1955
The CinemaScope process gets a rugged workout in Henry Hathaway's The Racers. Kirk Douglas stars as an Italian bus driver who dreams of entering the Grand Prix as a world-famous race car driver. Being Kirk Douglas, he achieves his goal, racing in all the major events around the globe. Dedicated to the philosophy of "winning is the only thing", Douglas alienates his fellow racers and everyone else with whom he comes in contact. Only when he is on the verge of losing his sweetheart Bella Darvi does our hero put his priorities in order. Adapted from a novel by Hans Ruesch, The Racers was remade in a 60-minute version as Men Against Speed, an entry in the weekly TV anthology The 20th Century-Fox Hour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Bella Darvi, (more)
- 1954
Based on the novel by Mika Waltari and helmed by Casablanca director Michael Curtiz, The Egyptian, a lavish period soaper, is set several centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. Young Egyptian healer Sinuhe Edmund Purdom (ere accompanied by his servant, Kaptah, played by Peter Ustinov) draws the affection of barmaid Merit (Jean Simmons) who seeks his hand in marriage. Sinuhe provides medical assistance to the epileptic Pharoah, Akhnaton (Michael Wilding), who, meanwhile, becomes convinced that only one god exists, and thus infuriates all of his polytheistic priests, who secretly plot to assassinate him. Sinuhe has an affair with a Babylonian whore, Nefer (Bella Darvi), but grows listless with her and eventually ends the relationship, harkening back to Merit. However, she is soon extinguished, with an arrow through the heart, for also being monotheistic. Angered by this, and believing Akhnaton's ideas directly responsible for Merit's death,
Sinuhe and his muscular friend, the affable Horemheb (screen heartthrob Victor Mature) poison the Pharoah. Akhnaton then dies while Horemheb prepares to ascend to the throne.
Ingmar Bergman had a point when he admonished the idea of falling for one's lead actress, and it is a lesson one wishes producer Daryl Zanuck had learned; he purportedly had an extramarital affair with Darvi, taking her as a "plaything," but grew sick of her after casting her in seven films. Her career then torpedoed. (Little wonder - her horrendous performance in this film must be seen to be believed; Variety called it "less than believable or skilled.") This $4.2 million film (a massive amount for 1954) suffered from additional production problems as well, with Marlon Brando originally slated to star, but replaced, at the very last minute, by Purdom, a contract player for 20th Century-Fox.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Purdom, Jean Simmons, (more)
- 1954
Hell and High Water brings an intriguing Cold War slant to a standard submarine melodrama. Richard Widmark plays a soldier-of-fortune sub commander who agrees to sell his services to noted atomic scientist Victor Francen and his assistant (and daughter) Bella Darvi. Francen intends to prove that the Communists intend to launch a nuclear attack on Korea from an Arctic island, then blame the attack on the United States. Widmark frankly doesn't give a fig about politics, but he is won over by the sincerity of Francen and his idealistic cohorts, and by the beauty of Ms. Darvi. Before the Reds' evil intentions can be thwarted, however, Widmark must face down a Communist Chinese submarine loaded with highly volatile atomic weaponry. The special effects are very impressive, especially for a mid-1950s 20th Century-Fox production. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, (more)
