Josette Day
- 1950
Cornell Wilde serves as "box office insurance" in this Swiss-filmed romantic comedy. Wilde plays American sailor Stanley Robin, who while vacationing in Switzerland falls in love with Suzanne (Josette Day), the daughter of a local watchmaker. Their romance is threatened by the arrival of French femme fatale Yvonne (Simone Signoret). Those not interested in the amorous entanglements will be amused by Cornel Wilde's antic attempts at learning to ski. Wilde's navy buddies include such TV stars-to-be as Alan Hale Jr. (of Gilligan's Island) and George Petrie (of Dallas). Among the screenwriters for Swiss Tour was Curt Siodmak, who adapts to comedy as well as he did to Gothic horror in the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornel Wilde, Josette Day , ( more )
- 1949
Also known as The Storm Within, Les Parents Terribles was adapted by director Jean Cocteau from his own stage play. Yvonne de Bray plays a manipulative, possessive mother, married to weakling Marcel Andre. At present, Yvonne is violently opposed to the impending marriage between her son Jean Marais to Josette Day. It gets more complicated than that: Day is Andre's mistress, who in turn is coveted by de Bray's sister Gabrielle Dorzat. These stunning revelations loosen the hold that De Bray has on her household. Her power gone, she seeks solace in self-destruction. Utilizing several of the original stage production's cast members, Les Parents Terrible was one of Cocteau's personal favorites (that's his voice as off-screen narrator); the property was ineffectively remade in England as Intimate Relations (1953). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Marais, Josette Day , ( more )
Jean Cocteau's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (originally released in France as La Belle et la Bête) stars Josette Day as Beauty and Jean Marais as the Beast. When a merchant (Marcel André) is told that he must die for picking a rose from the Beast's garden, his courageous daughter (Day) offers to go back to the Beast in her father's place. The Beast falls in love with her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis; she refuses, having pledged her troth to a handsome prince (also played by Marais). Eventually, however, she is drawn to the repellent but strangely fascinating Beast, who tests her fidelity by giving her a key, telling her that if she doesn't return it to him by a specific time, he will die of grief. The film features a musical score by Georges Auric. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josette Day, Jean Marais , ( more )
- 1941
The Well-Digger's Daughter served to reunite star Raimu and writer/director Marcel Pagnol, who'd earlier scored an international hit with the "Marseilles trilogy" (Fanny, Marius, Cesar). The title character played by Josette Day, is impregnated by aviator George Gray. Her father, Raimu, orders Josette out of the house so that her younger sisters won't be likewise "corrupted". There's many a moment of pathos and hilarity before Raimu realizes the folly of his behavior. Filmed in 1940, just after France's acquiescence to their Nazi conquerors, The Well-Digger's Daughter didn't make it to the US until 1946. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raimu, Josette Day , ( more )
- 1939
The inimitable Raimu heads the cast of the frothy farce Monsieur Brotoneau. Known for his infallible punctuality, bank president Brontoneau (Raimu) causes a panic when he shows up 45 minutes late. When Brontoneau reveals that his tardiness was due to discovering his wife in bed with her lover, his faithful secretary Louise (Josette Day) is most sympathetic. Thus encouraged, Brontoneau allows his wife to go her own way and settles down to a hopefully blissful romantic relationship with Louise. All this changes when the wife's lover tires of her and she tearfully returns to Brontoneau, begging forgiveness. The banker is all for remaining with Louise, but his employees, shocked at such impropriety, try to arrange a reconciliation between Monsieur and Madame Brotoneau. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josette Day, Marguerite Pierry , ( more )
- 1939
Filmed during the war, this little-known Fernandel vehicle finally attained an American release in 1951. The star plays Lavarede, an obnoxious braggart and spendthrift who falls heir to his uncle's fortune. But there's a condition to the will: in order to claim his uncle's millions, Lavarede must first spend three months travelling around the world with but five sous to his name. Reportedly, the film ran into censorship problems with the provisional German government. Whatever the case, existing prints of Les Cinq Sous de Lavarde are obviously incomplete, with co-star Josette Day's role sliced into near-nonexistence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josette Day, Fernandel , ( more )
- 1938
This French melodrama was originally released in 1938 as Education de Prince. Comic actor Fernand Charpin plays the Bargekeeper, whose daughter (Josette Day) falls in love with prince-in-exile Sascha (Robert Lynen). Wealthy baron Cercieux (Louis Jouvet) raises enough money to restore Sascha to his throne, but this will require a marriage of convenience to a worthy member of royalty. Refusing to renounce his sweetheart, Sascha cleverly arranges to ascend to the throne and marry the girl of his dreams -- but it takes a heap of operetta-style plotting to do so. By the time the New York censors were finished with The Barge-Keeper's Daughter, it had been shorn by nearly three reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvire Popesco, Josette Day , ( more )
- 1938
Le Patriote (The Patriot) was the first of director Maurice Tourneur's two 1938 productions. The incomparable Harry Baur heads the cast as the demented Czar Paul I of Russia. Drunk with power, Paul becomes not only a detriment to his countrymen, but also a clear and present danger. Pahlen (Pierre Renoir), military governor of St. Petersburg, sadly realizes that the only hope for Russia's salvation is Paul's death. Despite his patriotic motives, Pahlen is accused of murdering the Czar for his own political gain, forcing him to take very extremes measure to prove his loyalty and sincerity. A silent version of The Patriot, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Emil Jannings, was filmed in 1927. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josette Day, Suzy Prim , ( more )
- 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 )
- 1936
Filmed in 1936 but not released in the US until 1940, Julien Duvivier's Man of the Hour (L'Homme du Jour) was, believe it or not, Maurice Chevalier's first French starring feature (all of his previous vehicles had been made in Hollywood or London). Chevalier plays a dual role: "Himself", the well known singer-boulevardier, and a humble stage electrician named Alfred Boulard. The hero of the occasion is Boulard, who attains fame and fortune after donating blood to save the life of stage actress Mona Talia (Elvira Popesco). His sudden celebrity goes directly to Boulard's head, and soon he is impossible to be around. In the end, Mona teams up with Boulard's boarding-house companions to teach him a lesson. Critics in 1936 were overwhelmed with the scene in which both Chevaliers sing together, though that sort of thing was already kid stuff in Hollywood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvire Popesco, Renee Devillers , ( more )
- 1935
With director Abel Gance at the helm, the title character in Lucrezia Borgia exudes more sex appeal and wears fewer clothes than any previous screen incarnation of the infamous Florentine poisoner. Edwige Feuillere stars as Lucrezia, who learns her ruthless political cunning at the knee of Machiavelli (Aime Clariond) himself. Sold into a marriage of convenience by her craven brother Cesare (Gabriel Gabrio), Lucrezia soon holds all of 15th-century Florence in thrall. Her despotic rule is energetically challenged by tireless reformer Savonarola, who more or less functions as Abel Gance's alter ego (though Gance would certainly not have wished to meet Savonarola's grisly fate!) Filmed in 1935, Lucrezia Borgia ran into censorship problems in England (thanks to its implicit anti-Papal stance), Italy and Germany, holding up its international release for nearly two years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edwige Feuillère, Gabriel Gabrio , ( more )
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