Huguette Duflos Movies
- 1952
Benjamin (Jean Tissier) is the irresponsible patriarch of a fun-loving Roman family. Ostensibly the owner of a drug store, Benjamin would much rather rummage through ruins in search of ancient Roman artifacts. While searching for a valuable statue of the great God Jupiter, our hero must contend with his status-seeking wife (Huguette Duflos), who intends to marry off her daughter (Dany Robin) to a wealthy distant cousin. The comic complications come thick and fast when a genial escaped lunatic named Jupiter (Georges Marchal) shows up, and is immediately mistaken for the much-anticipated cousin. Jupiter is a faithful adaptation of a stage play by Robert Bolsey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Georges Marchal, Dany Robin, (more)
- 1938
Based on a stage play by Georges Berr and Henri Verneuil, Le Train pour Venise was adapted for the screen by Verneuil himself, who also plays a leading role. The farcical plotline focuses on neglected wife Caroline (Huguette Duflos), who on the urging of her father (Max Dearly) walks out on her businessman husband (Verneuil). En route by train from Paris to Venice with her would-be lover (Victor Boucher), Caroline eventually has a change of heart. Before this happens, however, all sorts of comic complications manifest themselves, most of them instigated by the heroine's carefree dad. Heavily reliant upon dialogue to carry its comedy, Le Train pour Venise lost a lot of its charm when it was translated into English. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huguette Duflos, Madeleine Suffel, (more)
- 1938
Le Coeur Ebloui (Troubled Heart) is set in France during WWI. Too young to enlist, student José Noguero remains behind in school. With no real competition, Noguero has no qualms about falling in love with much-older headmistress Huguette Duflos. From this point onward, the plot becomes confusing and cluttered; suffice to say that the course of true love has several potholes and speed bumps, especially when math professor Max Dearly also falls for Duflos. The running time of Le Coeur Ebloui is padded with reams of wartime newsreel footage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huguette Duflos, Catherine Fontenay, (more)
- 1936
Letzte Rose (The Last Rose) was adapted from Frederich von Flotow's opera Martha. Set in a very Teutonic-looking England, the story concerns a royal lady-in-waiting named Harriet (Carla Spletter) who is promised in marriage to an aristocrat, Lord Tristan (Georg Alexander). Alas, Harriet has fallen in love with humble peasant Lyonel (Helge Rosenwange). All seems lost for Harriet and Lyonel until Queen Elizabeth unexpectedly rules that the English peasants are now permitted to be landowners, putting Lyonel on equal footing with the huffy Tristan. Considering the fact that the film deals in individual personalities, it's surprising that most of the musical highlights in Letzte Rose are group production numbers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hanna Ralph, Huguette Duflos, (more)
- 1931
Le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune (Mystery of the Yellow Room) is based on a novel by Gaston Leroux, of Phantom of the Opera fame. Hugette Ex-Duffos plays a scientist's daughter, who is targeted for a murder by an unknown assailant. When the police prove unable to protect the heroine, wisecracking reporter Roland Toutain assumes the responsibility. Toutain not only saves the girl from a second homicidal assault but also exposes the killer's identity. Critics complained that the film was too faithful to the original Leroux novel, dwelling too long on exposition and extraneous characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roland Toutain, Huguette Duflos, (more)
- 1930
A novel by Gaston Leroux (of Phantom of the Opera fame) was the source for Parfum de la Dame en Noir (Perfume of the Lady in Black). The story takes place on the Riviera, where the title character may or may not be involved in various shades of skullduggery, including murder. The film's highlight involves a coffin containing the body of a man who committed suicide -- or, did he? Huguette Duflos played the title character, while the comedy relief was in the capable hands of Belieres. In emulation of the 1928 American film The Terror, the opening credits are not printed on screen, but instead spoken by a mysterious "ghost" voice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huguette Duflos, Vera Engels, (more)
- 1926
Huegette De Fluos of the Comedie Francaise heads the cast of The Secret Spring. The star plays a Grand Duchess in a confusing story that seems to owe a great deal to such Ruritarian romances as The Prisoner of Zenda. Material of this nature requires a certain lavishness of production, but the producers of the film apparently ran out of money early in the proceedings. As a result, most of the sets looked as through they were hastily slapped together out of cardboard. Based on a novel by Pierre Benoit, Secret Spring did miserable business when it was released in the U.S. by Famous Players-Lasky (aka Paramount). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huguette Duflos
- 1924
Originally released in 1924 and fully restored in 1990 by the Cinematheque Française, this silent French melodrama is especially notable for starring Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa. The story centers on the wealthy wife of a professor of "Orientalism." She is being harassed by a pair of con men who are blackmailing her for an alleged indiscretion. Her old friend and business associate Hideo (Hayakawa) has just moved to Tokyo after losing his family in the country's devastating 1923 earthquake. An antique dealer by trade, he starts looking for ways to prove that the blackmailing is just an elaborate scam and not based on fact. This leads to tragedy when Hideo is mistakenly charged with the murder of the wife's husband, who suffered from a weak heart and was trying to save her from one of the grifters when he died. Hideo's willingness to die to protect her honor, touches the wife into disclosing the past problem that has caused everyone so much grief. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huguette Duflos, Denise Legeay, (more)
