Paul Demange Movies

A flamboyant, scatterbrained divorced woman allows a pompous composer to use her home to finish his unfinished symphony. He becomes involved in a accidental murder in this dark comedy of errors. Maria Schell stars as the pleasure seeking woman whose heartstrings are played by Paul Meurisse as the egocentric, self proclaimed musical genius. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The seven major sins receive treatment from some of France's greatest directors in this lively portmanteau. "Anger" by Dhomme, chronicles a single horrific day when every bowl of soup in France is found to contain a fly. This causes a devastating nationwide revolt. "Envy" by Molinaro tells the story of a chambermaid whose dream of sleeping with a millionaire comes true. Unfortunately, she goes back to work and finds herself still consumed with jealousy. De Broca's "Gluttony" provides one of the film's most enjoyable episodes as it follows the exploits of a voracious family heading off for a funeral. "Lust" by Demy is set at a Parisian sidewalk cafe and eavesdrops upon the lusty conversation between two young men, one of whom has x-ray eyes that enable him to see through women's clothing. "Laziness" by Godard features real life matinee idol Constantine as a movie star who finds himself too sluggish to respond to the starlet trying so hard to seduce him. "Pride" by Roger Vadim tells the satirical tale of a philandering wife who changes her mind and stays with her husband after learning that her happy home is being threatened by another woman. Finally in Chabrol's "Greed," young men who have pooled their meager resources to buy a prostitute, fight for the chance to be with her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A social worker endeavors to rehabilitate Parisian streetwalkers in this drama. Two men later meet a pair of these reformed women and fall in love. When one of the women's old friend's is murdered, one of the girl's become a prime suspect. Actually the dead woman was slain by the ex-hooker's former employer, a gangster. Unfortunately the gangster dies in an auto wreck. Meanwhile, the social worker tries to clear the girl by telling police that she had been with her lover. The truth about the girls eventually comes out, and only one of their lovers is understanding. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The raincoated gent of the title is horse-faced French comedian Fernandel, who plays luckless jazz musician Albert Constantin. Thanks to the chicanery of a slick gangster boss, Albert finds himself up to his ears in murder and treachery. The farcical elements of the film are juxtaposed with moments of startling violence, but in the end laughter wins out. American actor John McGiver, in France to film his supporting role in Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon, is herein cast as a pivotal character. The Man in the Raincoat (L'Homme à l'Impermeable) was not officially remade as The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972), though the similarities between the two films are quite pronounced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this French crime drama, a young man gets revenge upon the criminals who caused his grandfather to kill himself. Unfortunately, the fellow doesn't realize how bad the criminals are. Fortunately, a kindly hooker, who does know the crooks, saves him from the same fate. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director René Clair insisted that his 1952 production Beauties of the Night (Les Belles du Nuit) was intended as a comic variation on Griffith's multipart Intolerance (1916). The Clair film deals with a disillusioned music teacher (Gérard Philipe) who dreams of the beautiful women of history, envisioning himself as the central male figure in each dream. The imaginary ladies (including such internationally famous lovelies as Martine Carol and Gina Lollobrigida) begin converging on the hero all at once, much to the delight of both Philipe and the audience. At several junctures, Clair revives a technique from his earliest talkies by having the characters sing their lines and thoughts rather than speaking them. These treasured musical moments are somewhat dissipated when Beauties of the Night is seen in an edited, redubbed American print -- which also "fudges" the film's notorious Gina Lollobrigida nude scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Scandals of Clochemerie proved that Hollywood filmmakers had no monopoly so far as poking fun at the movie industry is concerned. This French effort is a glorious lampoon of the "typical" Gallic film, complete with broadly caricatured characters and deliberately exaggerated cliches. Adapted by Gabriel Chevalier from his own novel, the film revolves around the construction of a comfort station in the village of Clochemerie. This momentous undertaking has serious ramifications on the community, not least of which is the exposure of several family skeletons. The film ran into censorship trouble in the States, not just because of its erotic content and occasional religious satire, but also because, at base, the film is about an open-air toilet facility. Originally released in France in 1947 as Clochemerie, the film proved an enormous success during its initial run; as such, it was the last truly profitable venture from veteran filmmaker Pierre Chenal, once the darling of the Parisian critics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally released in France under the title Le Silence est D'Or, Man About Town is set in the Paris of the early 1900s. Maurice Chevalier plays a director of silent films (whose working conditions are recreated with remarkable accuracy), while Marcelle Derien is an actress whom Chevalier hopes to turn into a film star. She falls in love with her younger leading man (Francois Perier), and Chevalier, after putting up a gentle struggle, bows to the inevitability of young romance. The first postwar US/France coproduction, Man About Town won several international prizes. Unfortunately, its American version was hampered by a misguided translation device: Rather than dub the actors' voices or utilize subtitles, the American distributor chose to have Maurice Chevalier narrate the film in English and comment upon its action. The resultant effect took the audience "out" of the picture when it should have been involved with the plot, and this clumsy translation technique was never used again. The best moment in the Americanized Man About Town was Chevalier's opening musical number, directed not by Le Silence Est D'Or's Rene Clair but by RKO film editor Robert Pirosh--who also trimmed the film by 17 minutes for U.S. audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even in 1945, Marcel Carné's Children of Paradise was regarded as an old-fashioned film. Set in the Parisian theatrical world of the 1840s, Jacques Prévert's screenplay concerns four men in love with the mysterious Garance (Arletty). Each loves Garance in his own fashion, but only the intentions of sensitive mime-actor Deburau (Jean-Louis Barrault) are entirely honorable; as a result, it is he who suffers most, hurdling one obstacle after another in pursuit of an evidently unattainable goal. In the stylized fashion of 19th-century French drama, many grand passions are spent during the film's totally absorbing 195 minutes. Amazingly, the film was produced over a two-year period in virtual secrecy, without the knowledge of the Nazis then occupying France, who would surely have arrested several of the cast and production staff members (including Prévert) for their activities in the Resistance. Children of Paradise has gone on to become one of the great romantic classics of international cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jean Renoir was the director of The Crime of Monsieur Lange, but this French film might just as well have been made in Hollywood by Frank Capra. The titular Lange (Rene Lefevre) is an author of wild west novels. When the owner of the company that publishes Lange's works absconds with the company funds, Lange rallies the employees together to create their own publishing house. The publisher returns, disguised as a priest, and demands a share of the profits. Lange responds by killing the bounder. The grateful employees help Lange to escape prosecution, allowing him to leave the country with his lovely fiancee (Florelle). Jacques Prevert adapted the screenplay of The Crime of Monsieur Lange from a story by Renoir and Jean Castanier. Stage actor Jules Berry makes his film debut in the role of the shady publisher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide