Jean Marchat Movies
- 1963
The scene is the French Riviera. Based on eyewitness testimony, three identically dressed men are accused of kidnapping and murdering a child, but two of them can possibly be guilty. Is the innocent party Anthony Perkins, an American who has fled to France in the wake of a sex scandal? Is it Italian Renato Salvatori, whose bad reputation with women has preceded him? Or is it Jean-Claude Brialy, a French businessman whose sister uses her sexual wiles to clinch her brother's big business deals? We'll never know...because Two Are Guilty director Andre Cayatte, a longtime critic of the French justice system, contrives to have all three suspects killed by an out-of-control mob. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Perkins, Jean-Claude Brialy, (more)
- 1960
In this WW II drama, two French soldiers are captured and forced to work as farm hands on a German family's land. One of the soldiers tricks the farmer's innocent daughter into helping him escape. The other soldier has truly fallen for the girl and decides to stay. At the war's end, the escaped POW becomes a successful journalist and the other has gone back to his original wife whom he despises. Later the husband leaves his family and returns to the girl, while the journalist returns to his former mistress who risked it all to save him from being arrested. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Aznavour, Nicole Courcel, (more)
- 1954
Barbara Laage essays the title role in Zoe. Our heroine's adventures begin when she catches the eye of a big-city playboy named Arthur (Michel Auclair), who is attracted not only to Zoe's beauty, but by her insistence upon telling nothing but the whole truth. This trait causes no end of comic complications when Zoe moves into the palatial home of Arthur's family. The limit comes when Zoe botches a big business deal formulated by Arthur's not-altogether-honest father (Louis Seigner). Zoe is based on a stage farce by Jean Marsan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Laage, Michel Auclair, (more)
- 1950
L'Aiguille Rouge is a mountain-climbing melodrama, a genre more indigenous to the German cinema than to French films. Set in the French Alps, the film stars Michel Auclair and Michelle Philippe as Florian and Myra, young lovers fascinated with scaling the heights (in every sense of the phrase!) Their ardor reaches a fever pitch at a mountain resort, but tragedy looms on the horizon. Director E. E. Reinert stages many of the climbing sequences in the studio, using alpine mockups in the background. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Mich_le Philippe, (more)
- 1948
The "trois garcons" in this lightweight French comedy are Michel (Lajarriage), Gilbert (Francois-Patric) and Bernard (Maurice Favieres). The "fille" is the boys' sister (Suzy Carrier). The three heroes and one heroine do their best to break up the romance between their very-married father (Jean Marchat) and his mistress. The audience never sees the "other woman," but she's omnipresent throughout the proceedings. Roger Ferdinand adapted the frolicsome screenplay from his own stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gaby Morlay, Jean Marchat, (more)
Though this interesting film was among many responsible for the critical success of French autuer Robert Bresson, it was by no means a commercial success. Slightly different than his other films, director Bresson utilized the contrasty photography of Philippe Agostini (Sylvie et le Fantome, Monde du Silence) and chose professional actors Paul Bernard (Lumiere D'ete), Maria Casares (Enfants du Paradis), and Elina Labourdette (Shanghai Drama) to star rather than non-professionals. With dialogue written by writer/filmmaker Jean Cocteau, Les Dames du Bois du Boulogne was adapted to the screen by Bresson from an interpolated anecdote in Diderot's Jacques Le Fatalist. Casares plays Helene, a passionate but self-controlled woman who is seething after her lover Jean (Bernard) confesses he no longer loves her. Driven by revenge, Helene engineers a plan to attack Jean via Agnes (Labourdette), the woman he truly loves, and Anges' mother (Lucienne Bogaert). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Casarés, Paul Bernard, (more)
- 1941
Croisieres Siderales is a contemporary fable owing more than a little to Sleeping Beauty. Lovely Madeline Sologne agrees to participate in an experimental space launch. When she returns to Earth, she discovers that 25 years have elapsed and she has remained virtually untouched by the passage of time while those left behind have aged dramatically. Sologne's lover Jean Marchat determines to go into space as well so that he and Sologne will be the same age. Makes sense. Croisieres Siderales is an enchanting piece of whimsy, filmed in France just prior to the Nazi takeover. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Sologne, Suzanne Dehelly, (more)
- 1934
Tullio Carminatti, fresh from a series of successful Broadway and film appearances, returned to Europe to star in La Marcia Nuziale (The Wedding March). Carminati plays the philandering husband of long-suffering Diana Lante. Upon his introduction to Lante's school-chum Kiki Palmer, who has recently shed herself of a dreary husband, Carminati wastes no time going "on the make" for Palmer. Unable to resist his charms, Palmer is on the verge of killing herself, but decides instead that she'd be better off with her dull but dependable ex-husband than with the overwhelmingly charming Carminatti. La Marcia Nuziale was based on a play by Henry Bataille. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Renaud, Tullio Carminatti, (more)
- 1932
Indefatigable French director Maurice Tourneur launched his three-picture schedule for 1932 with Au Nom de la Toi (In the Name of the Law). Marcelle Chantal plays the lovely but lethal head of an opium-smuggling ring. When Chantal orders the murder of a detective, another sleuth, played by Charles Vanel, is ordered to infiltrate her gang. The "heroine" falls in love with Vanel, thereby sealing her own doom. Among the many highlights is the near-surrealistic climax, in which the gang's hideout is bombarded guerilla-style with tear gas. Au Nom de la Loi was based on a novel by Paul Bringuier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcelle Chantal, Gabriel Gabrio, (more)
- 1931
The second of Maurice Tourneur's two 1931 productions, Partir (To Leave) was also released under the more emphatic title Partir!. The hero is a fugitive from French justice who hopes to escape to the Far East. To finance his exodus, the young man links up with the beautiful female star of a travelling opera troupe, heading out of France via ocean liner. The two fall in love, but lasting happiness is not to be theirs; when the young man's criminal past is exposed by another traveller, he jumps overboard and sinks beneath the waves. Partir is largely a "paid advertisement" for a well-known European steamship firm, which ponied up two-thirds of the film's production costs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Cerdan, Jean Marchat, (more)
