Charles Frank Movies
In his final film, Jean Cocteau brilliantly evokes memories of his past triumphs, Blood of a Poet (1930) and Orpheus (1949). Cocteau casts himself as an aging poet who knows he is dying (as indeed he was); his greatest desire is to be reborn so that he can qualify for celestial immortality. The stellar cast includes such French film favorites as Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jean Marais, and François Perier, along with Hollywood's Yul Brynner and such Cocteau friends and admirers as Pablo Picasso, singer Charles Aznavour, and bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguen. Given the influence Cocteau's influence over the French New Wave directors of the 1950s and 1960s, it is altogether appropriate that the producer of Testament of Orpheus was François Truffaut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Cocteau, Edouard Dermit, (more)
- 1953
The romantic travails within an English family provide the basis of this remake of Les Parents Terribles. It all begins as a young man finds himself falling in love with his father's mistress, causing his mother to fear that she lose both her husband and her son. When the father finds out about his son's love for the mistress, he gallantly gives her up. Meanwhile, an enamored aunt sees that family peace and harmony is restored. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Released in America by Lippert, Johnny the Giant Killer is a feature-length animated cartoon, produced in France by Jean Image Films. The titular hero leads his young companions to the castle of a fearsome giant. Intending to slay the huge antagonist, Johnny ends up the giant's prisoner. He and his buddies are magically miniaturized, leading to no end of hair-raising adventures. With the help of a friendly bird, Johnny is able to briefly escape his plight, only to fall into the clutches of a spider. He is then rescued by an amorous queen bee and so it goes, for 70 minutes (or 60 minutes, depending upon which print one sees). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Obsessed was based on the William Dinner-William Moray play The Late Edwina Black, which also served as the film's original British title. The play had a cast of four: a Scotland Yard inspector, a schoolteacher, the schoolteacher's illicit lover, and his late wife's housekeeper. The film expands the cast list somewhat, though most of the dramatic weight is carried on the shoulders of the four protagonists. When Gregory's (David Farrar) wife dies of arsenic poisoning, suspicion immediately falls upon Gregory, his mistress Elizabeth (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and housekeeper Ellen (Jean Cadell). It's up to the Inspector (Roland Culver) to determine the guilty party -- a difficult task, inasmuch as the three suspects work overtime casting doubts on one another. Released in the U.S. by United Artists, Obsessed was copyrighted under the name of Stuart Scheftel, then the husband of star Geraldine Fitzgerald. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Farrar, Geraldine Fitzgerald, (more)
- 1947
An evil guardian plots the murder of his young heiress niece in this Victorian melodrama, also known as Uncle Silas. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Bond, Frederick Burtwell, (more)
