Jacqueline Pagnol

Noel-Noel is the nonplused star of the aptly titled Le Terreur des Dames (The Terror of Women). The film's central character is a mild-mannered provincial soul who goes off on a drunken toot in Paris. The next morning, our hung-over hero discovers that he's somehow earned the reputation as a sex maniac! He spends the rest of the film searching for the women he's supposedly "disgraced," hoping to make profuse apologies. Yves Robert co-stars as a worldly-wise Parisian who observes Noel-Noel's plight with detached amusement. Le Terreur des Dames was adapted from a story by Guy de Maupassant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

French novelist-turned-film director Marcel Pagnol made this black and white feature in 1953, He later wrote a novel based on his original script, which in turn was the source material for two much better known films made by director Claude Berri in 1986 - - Jean de Florette and Berri's own version of Manon des sources. Released uncut for the first time in 1988, Pagnol' s feature has a hefty running time of over four and a half hours. The story concerns the efforts of the beautiful shepherdess Manon Cadoret (played by the director's wife Jacqueline Pagnol) to avenge the death of her father Jean de Florette. The chief culprit in that death is a hapless peasant (played by veteran Marseilles comic Rellys), who, sadly, is desperately in love with Manon. Manon's revenge involves cutting off the town's water supply, drawing the wrath of the villagers. Her only ally is the town's somewhat haughty schoolteacher (Raymond Pellegrin), who she eventually marries. The action of this film corresponds roughly to Berri's version of Manon des sources. His Jean de Florette focused on events surrounding the father's death, which is here covered mostly in dialogue. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This little-known Marcel Pagnol production stars his wife Jacqueline as a miller's daughter. The film concerns her romance with the rich and powerful Schubert, played by Tino Rossi. However, the storyline of La Belle Meuniere is not as fascinating as the film's technical history. It was lensed in an experimental process called Rouxcolor, wherein four black-and-white images were projected on the screen simultaneously through special tinted lenses, thereby giving the illusion of color and depth. Pagnol had intended to make film in the usual "flat" black-and-white process, but when he became intrigued with Rouxcolor he scrapped his completed footage and started all over. Unfortunately, Rouxicolor proved too cumbersome for widespread distribution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide