Michel Auclair Movies
German-born actor Michel Auclair made his first impression upon international audiences with his supporting appearance in Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bete (1946). He gradually developed into a leading man in the post-war French cinema, with few appearances outside his adopted country. As his career continued into the 1970s, he could be seen on occasion in such international productions as The Day of the Jackal (1973), but still he was hardly a household name in the United States. Michel Auclair's most memorable English language appearance was his fourth-billed turn as Professor Emile Flostre in the Fred Astaire/Audrey Hepburn musical Funny Face (1957). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1952
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Dany Robin, (more)
- 1951
This German drama tells the story of a musician who is killed and leaves his work unfinished. His apprentice is cleared of the murder and turns out to be the real composer. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1950
L'Aiguille Rouge is a mountain-climbing melodrama, a genre more indigenous to the German cinema than to French films. Set in the French Alps, the film stars Michel Auclair and Michelle Philippe as Florian and Myra, young lovers fascinated with scaling the heights (in every sense of the phrase!) Their ardor reaches a fever pitch at a mountain resort, but tragedy looms on the horizon. Director E. E. Reinert stages many of the climbing sequences in the studio, using alpine mockups in the background. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Mich_le Philippe, (more)
- 1950
In Justice est Faite, French director Andre Cayatte and his favorite screenwriter Charles Spaak tackle the delicate issue of euthanasia. The story is related in flashback, from the vantage point of a murder trial. The central character is Marceline (Valentine Tessier), who kills her incurably ill lover at his request. Emphasis is placed not on the crime itself, but on the thought processes and legal strategies of the prosecution and defense. Justice est Faite won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Its chance for success in English-speaking countries was hampered somewhat by the film's overabundance of dialogue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentine Tessier, Claude Nollier, (more)
- 1950
Loving husband Charles (Bernard Blier) brings his handsome young friend Maurice (Michel Auclair) home to meet his wife, Fernande (Madeleine Robinson). Charles' equally loving missus is delighted to have Maurice as a guest. A little too delighted, as it turns out. In the course of a single evening, Fernande and Maurice become lovers, then conspire to murder poor Charles. There are too many plot twists to detail here--and besides, it isn't fair to give away surprise endings. Suffice to say that, despite the farcical nature of the plot, L'Invite du Mardi is anything but amusing...especially to the character played by Bernard Blier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Robinson, Nadine Alari, (more)
- 1950
Pas De Pitie Pour Les Femmes is a tricky French-filmed murder mystery. It is so tricky, in fact, that it defied the efforts by contemporary reviewers to synopsize the plot! Most observers agreed on this much: At stake in the proceedings is a vast inheritance, fought over by a group of remarkably unsympathetic stock characters. Michel Auclair and Simone Renant head the stellar cast. Director Christian Stengel seemed more interested in his villainous characters than in simply telling the story at hand. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Renant, Geneviève Page, (more)
- 1949
An established film favorite in both her native Sweden and Hollywood, Viveca Lindfors made her French film debut in Singoalla. Lindfors plays the title character, a wild-eyed gypsy lass who falls in love with a nobleman (Michel Auclair) The plot thickens when the nobleman's son (Johnny Chambot) likewise lusts for Singoalla. Director Christian-Jacque exhibits his customary lack of restraint, which in this instance is a plus rather than a minus. Filmed in French, Swedish and English versions, Singoalla was also released as The Wind is My Lover and The Mask and the Sword. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viveca Lindfors, Michel Auclair, (more)
- 1949
Updated from Abbe Prevost's Manon Lescaut, this non-operatic version of the familiar tale stars Cecile Aubrey in the title role. Accused of collaborating with the Nazis during WW II, Manon Lescaut is rescued by Robert Desgrieux (Michel Auclair). Safely ensconced in Paris with Robert, Manon falls victim to the machinations of her dishonest brother Leon (Serge Reggiani). Once more Robert comes to her rescue then takes his love with him to Palestine. Director Henri-Georges Clouzot departs most radically from the Prevost original in the closing scenes, which concentrate on a group of Jewish war refugees. Obviously under the influence of American film noir, Clouzot takes great delight in concentrating on society's castaways in Manon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cécile Aubrey, Gabrielle Dorziat, (more)
- 1947
This psychological drama is set aboard a submarine carrying Nazi officials fleeing their country just before the end of World War II. They are trying to get to South America, but along the way they meet with many obstacles including a bout with a destroyer where they are depth-charged. When the count's wife, Marly, (she is also the on-board general's mistress) is wounded the sub lands in France where the Germans snatch a doctor. The doctor knows his life is in danger. To combat the self-exiles he begins manipulating their emotions, getting them to feel despair, defeat, and helping them realize that all their actions are hopeless. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Henri Vidal, (more)
Jean Cocteau's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (originally released in France as La Belle et la Bête) stars Josette Day as Beauty and Jean Marais as the Beast. When a merchant (Marcel André) is told that he must die for picking a rose from the Beast's garden, his courageous daughter (Day) offers to go back to the Beast in her father's place. The Beast falls in love with her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis; she refuses, having pledged her troth to a handsome prince (also played by Marais). Eventually, however, she is drawn to the repellent but strangely fascinating Beast, who tests her fidelity by giving her a key, telling her that if she doesn't return it to him by a specific time, he will die of grief. The film features a musical score by Georges Auric. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josette Day, Jean Marais, (more)
