Micheline Francey Movies

Pierre Brasseur plays the "mad monk" Rasputin -- or "Raspoutine" -- in this French historical melodrama. Insinuating himself into the court of the Romanoffs in early-20th-century Russia, Rasputin is able to gain enormous power through his apparent ability to heal the hemophiliac son of the Czarina (Isa Miranda). Taking advantage of his clout, the unkempt, barely literate Rasputin embarks on a series of orgies and debaucheries. A group of Russian nobles conspire to murder Rasputin and save the monarchy -- but as history records, Rasputin was not so easily bumped off. Despite his monstrous behavior, Rasputin is depicted as a man who genuinely came to believe in his own "holiness," and who desperately strived to bring peace and stability to Russia before his assassination. With both eyes on the box office, director Georges Combret manages to slip a modicum of female nudity into the film's bacchanal scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Holiday for Henrietta (originally released in 1952 as La Fete a Henriette) is a Pirandellian comedy about the art of moviemaking. Louis Seigner and Henri Cremieux play a team of screenwriters whose latest project is stuck in a mire of indecision. Should fictional heroine Henriette (Dany Robin) be permitted a happy ending as the romantic Seigner insists, or suffer an unhappy one as "film noir" specialist Cremieux demands? While the screenwriters hash out their contrasting points of view, we see a film-within-a-film, dramatizing the formulating screenplay and its abrupt changes of mood and direction. Finally reaching a compromise, the writers are interrupted by one of the actors in their imaginary movie, who informs them that their "original" plot has already been filmed! When Hollywood got hold of Holiday for Henrietta, it pumped up this modest project into a bloated star vehicle for Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, titled Paris When It Sizzles (63). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Envoi des Fleurs is based on incidents in the life of French composer Paul Delmet. Played by popular French singing star Tino Rossi, Delmet is depicted as a man all too willing to give up personal happiness in favor of blind ambition. After carrying on a romance by correspondence with beautiful young Suzanne (Micheline Francey), Delmet is on the verge of marrying the girl. Instead, he allows himself to be talked out of leaving France to further his own career, with disastrous results for all concerned. Fans of Tino Rossi would have felt cheated had their idol not sung a few songs in Envoi des Fleurs; Rossi obliges those fans brilliantly. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Originally La Cage aux Rossignois, A Case of Nightingales could just as well have been titled "The Noel-Noel Show," inasmuch as the famed French actor is both star and co-screenwriter. Having completed a book about his experiences as a reform-school teacher, Clement Mathieu (Noel-Noel) is unable to interest a publisher in the project. To make ends meet, he takes a promotional job with toy-airplane manufacturer Raymond (Georges Biscot), who as a gesture of friendship serializes Mathieu's memoirs in the Paris Telegram. Astonished by the story, Mathieu's girlfriend Martine (Michel Francey) wants to know more -- whereupon Mathieu recalls how he was able to organize a group of the most incorrigible reform-school inmates into an angelic-voiced boys' choir (hence the film's title). His tale told, Mathieu is himself astonished to discover that Martine is the cousin of one of his former pupils! An overly melodramatic finale mars this otherwise sensitive comedy-drama. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rita is a curious crime melodrama with mystical overtones. Facing the guillotine, condemned murderer Sylvain (Clement Duhour) is given the opportunity to undo the damage he's caused. Sylvain is transported back to a few days before the murder. Perhaps he can avoid his previous mistakes and save himself from execution. Ah, but they don't call Fate "cruel" for nothing. Billed over nominal leading man Clement Duhour is the popular Vivien Romance, going through her usual paces as a femme fatale who is literally "to die for." American prints of Rita run an abrupt 71 minutes, suggesting that the film was given a thorough going-over by the censors before it was deemed suitable for stateside consumption. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Midnight in Paris was originally titled Monsieur La Souris, the character played by the incomparable Raimu. M. La Souris is a downtrodden nobody who stumbles upon a corpse and dutifully reports his find to the constabulary. Alas, La Souris is himself suspected of murdering the victim, throwing the police off the track and allowing the genuine killer to elude capture. When the identity of the killer is finally revealed, it comes as a genuine surprise, especially since there's no logic or credibility to the revelation. Filmed in 1941, Midnight in Paris was released in the U.S. in 1947, one year after Raimu's death. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Previously filmed in Sweden by Victor Sjostrom in 1921, Selma Lagerloff's haunting fable The Death Cart was remade in 1940 by Julien Duvivier as La Charette Fantome. According to Scandinavian legend, whosoever dies on the stroke of Midnight on the last day of the year (St. Sylvester's Night) must assume the duties of the "phantom charioteer," collecting souls for the next 365 days. Pierre Fresnay stars as a boorish lout who is forced to relive the events of the past year -- and to find spiritual salvation -- as the death chariot approaches. Louis Jouvet co-stars as Fresnay's best friend, the most recent candidate for the "honor" of driving the phantom cart. Filmed in 1939, La Charette Fantome was released in March of 1940. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi