Simone Cerdan Movies
- 1932
Based on a stage play by Robert de Flers and Francis de Crosset, this French comedy was also known as Our Lord's Vineyard. Victor Boucher plays Henri Levier, a typical Frenchman having a typical affair with the typical married woman. While drunk, Henri confesses all to the woman's husband. A disaster? Mais non, because our hero eventually finds a more agreeable romantic companion in the shapely form of his ex-lover's pretty sister. Victor Boucher's drunk scene is easily the highlight of this by-the-numbers Gallic farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Cerdan
- 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)
- 1931
Grain de Beaute (Beauty Spot) stars Simone Gerdan as the footloose wife of cabinet attache Roger Treville. Though she tries to remain loyal to her husband, Gerdan defies his orders to stay away from a fancy masked ball. While heavily disguised, she is wooed by young Roger Treville, who follows her home. Hoping to send Treville home happy without compromising herself, Gerdan asks her maid to don her costume and mask -- and that's when the fun begins. Previously filmed in a German-language version, Grain de Beaute ran into censorship problems in the U.S. for showing a husband and wife in bed together (Sacre bleu!). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Cerdan, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, (more)
- 1931
After a few projects in Germany and France, Russian filmmaker Victor Tourjansky returned to his adopted country of France to direct Le Chanteur Inconnu (The Unknown Singer). While touring Siberia, a Parisian operatic impresario discovers a young man with a beautiful singing voice. The impresario is amazed that his discovery speaks perfect French, but the audience knows why: The hero is actually a Frenchman, who after losing his memory wandered aimlessly into the snowy Siberian wastes. More revelations are in store when the producer builds up the amnesiac tenor as "The Unknown Singer." It turns out that the singer had been the victim of a murder plot, hatched by his faithless wife, who along with her treacherous paramour is thoroughly punished by film's end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucien Muratore, Simone Simon, (more)
