Eric Frey Movies

Edmond Rostand's classic drama of inner and outer beauty is given a lavish treatment in this acclaimed French production. Gérard Depardieu portrays the title character, a brilliant, charismatic swordsman with a generous spirit and a genius for poetry. It would seem that such a man would have no trouble attracting women, but Cyrano considers himself doomed to loneliness by an unattractive face featuring an oversized nose. His feelings of inadequacy are emphasized when Roxane, the beautiful woman he adores, attracts the attention of Christian, a young cadet in Cyrano's service. Christian lacks the poetic gift, however, and he ironically turns to Cyrano for help in winning Roxane's love. What follows is a tale of deception, with Roxane falling in love with the ineloquent Christian thanks to Cyrano's words of love. The underlying narrative has become quite familiar to modern audiences through retellings and variations from the 1950 adaptation starring José Ferrer to Steve Martin's Roxanne. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau's interpretation stresses the tragic majesty of the original, setting a vigorous performance by Depardieu against a beautifully designed reproduction of the period and an emphasis on the sound and poetry of Rostand's original language; the subtitles for the film's English release were penned by renowned British author Anthony Burgess. This attention to detail creates a particularly faithful cinematic rendering of the original work that met with positive critical responses. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Tom Tryon plays the title role in this Otto Preminger version of the Henry Morton Robinson novel. In his matriculation from Monsignor to the College of Cardinals, Stephen Fermoyle (Tom Tryon) must undergo several grueling life experiences: standing up to bigots in Georgia, defying Nazis in Austria, and so on. The film boasts cameo appearances by Dorothy Gish, Cecil Kellaway, John Saxon, John Huston, Robert Morse, Burgess Meredith, Raf Vallone, Ossie Davis. Incidentally, Tryon eventually quit acting and became a popular novelist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Felicity Douglas' British stage play It's Never too Late was the source for the Austrian comedy Die Liebe Familie (Dear Family). Luise Ulrich stars as middle-aged wife and mother Betty Lang. Feeling trapped by her bourgeois existence, Betty decides to try her hand at writing. Her novel not only becomes a best-seller, but is also optioned by Hollywood. Leaving her nonplused family behind, Betty flies off to Tinseltown, only to return home when she grows weary of show-biz phoniness. A similar British film, The Passionate Stranger, hit the screen around the same time as Die Liebe Familie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Paul Verhoeven manages to cut through the sentimental strudel in this biopic of "waltz king" Johann Strauss. Future filmmaker Bernhard Wicki plays Strauss, conveying the charisma and genius of the man without digging too deeply into what made the composer tick. The highlights of Strauss' life are handled sketchily, albeit played out before some of the most gorgeous Viennese locations ever committed to film. The picture's strong suit is its musical score, drawn in toto from Strauss' works. Filmed in 1954, Eternal Waltz was released to the U.S. via television five years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having previously portrayed Adolf Hitler in 1951's The Desert Fox, Luther Adler once more dons the postage-stamp moustache of Der Fuhrer in The Magic Face. This time, however, Adler essays a dual role, playing both Hitler and a famed theatrical impersonator known as Janus the Great. While performing in Vienna, Janus attracts the attention of Hitler, who makes a play for Janus' wife Vera (Patricia Knight). When Janus protests, he is beaten and thrown into prison by the gestapo. Janus escapes and vows to destroy Hitler and to that end poses as the German leader, the better to bollix up the Nazi war plans. Predicated on a story than many people would like to believe is true, The Magic Face is given credence via the opening narration by Third Reich chronicler William L. Shirer. The film was lensed on location in Austria and distributed by Hollywood's Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this convoluted melodrama, an elderly thespian falls for a rising young starlet. He admits his love for her and then announces that he will retire from the stage. The young woman pretends she loves him too, but her real motive is to give her struggling lover, also an aspiring actor, a break. The old actor learns the painful truth and though wounded, understands that the relationship would never have worked. When the young actor attempts to end his life, following the loss of his job at the Burg Theatre, it is the elderly actor who saves him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide