Annie Vernay Movies
- 1940
Le Collier de Chanvre (Hangman's Noose) is one of the lesser-known works of prolific actor-director Leon Mathot. A death occurs at the country estate of a venerable and highly respected British family, and the local constabulary is willing to write off the tragedy as an accident. But amateur detective Andre Luguet suspects that the decedent was murdered and sets out to prove it despite opposition from the authorities. Upon discovering the guilty party, the class-conscious Luguet offers him the "gentleman's way out" by suggesting a quick and painless suicide. Heroine Annie Vernay is called upon to widen her eyes in terror but little else. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacqueline Delubac, Annie Vernay, (more)
- 1939
No less a literary luminary than Jean Anouilh was responsible for the dialogue exchanges in Les Otages (The Hostages). Set during WWI, the film takes place in a tiny French village, occupied by the Germans. When an enemy officer is killed, five villagers are taken hostage, sentenced to execution if the guilty party does not come forward. Through an incredible coincidence, one of the hostages is town mayor Charpin, who not only knows the killer's identity, but is also an accessory after the fact. A rather abrupt deux ex machina provides the film with a happy ending, especially for young lovers Jean Paqui and Annie Vernay, whose forbidden rendezvous precipitated the killing in the first place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Vernay, Mady Berry, (more)
- 1938
Originally Tarakanowa, Feodor Ozep's Princess Tarakanova resurfaced under a variety of titles following its 1937 European release, including Orloff and Tarakanova and Betrayal. Annie Vernay plays the title character, an ambitious young woman of dubious heritage who aspires to the throne of 18th-century Russian monarch Catherine the Great. Princess Tarakanova is able to muster an army of fervent supporters, and for a while its seems that Catherine will be toppled from her throne. But the princess foregoes power in favor of romance when she falls in love with the dashing Count Orloff (Pierre Richard Wilm). Essentially a romantic drama, Princess Tarakanova ignores the tragic fate of the real-life princess in favor of a storybook ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Vernay, Pierre Richard-Willm, (more)
- 1937
Le Mensonge de Nina Petrova (The Lie of Nina Petrova) was filmed in 1937, one year before its director, Russian-born Victor Tourjansky, set up shop in Germany. The titular Nina, played by Isa Miranda, wants to romantically pursue the dashing Lieutenant Franz Korff, played by Fernand Gravet. To do this, it is necessary for Nina to tell a lie, which starts harmlessly but snowballs into a disastrous situation. The film's Continental ambience didn't play well in the American hinterlands, but did go over in larger, more cosmopolitan communities. Critics in 1938 were moved to comment that star Fernand Gravet was infinitely more effective in this film than he's been in his recent Hollywood efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isa Miranda, Gabrielle Dorziat, (more)
