Henri Guisol Movies

Danielle Darrieux stars in this Belgian chiller as a songstress whose obsessively jealous husband suddenly dies. Feeling free for the first time in years, Darrieux inaugurates a romance with Michel Auclair. But even now she is the victim of her husband's omnipresence; evidently returning from the grave, the dead man haunts both Darrieux and her new lover. If you've seen Diabolique, you may catch on to a few of this film's many plot twists. Oddly, Murder at 45 R.P.M (produced in 1960, released in the US five years later) is frequently absent from the published resumes of both Danielle Darrieux and Michel Auclair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Max Ophuls' final film (and his only movie in color) is a cinematic tour-de-force masquerading as a biography, in this case a dazzling fictionalized life of the notorious 19th century dancer, actress, and courtesan. A still beautiful, but weary and disillusioned (and, as we later discover, ailing) Lola Montes (Martine Carol) is first seen as the featured attraction at a seedy American circus, appearing at the center of a series of various tableaux depicting the scandalous events for which she is known. With a strangely sincere yet sinister and manipulative ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) providing color commentary, some of it very ironic on two or more levels, the movie flows between these staged recreations in the circus and the events as recalled by the subject. In a series of dissolves, the film takes us through her girlhood with her mother, interrupted when her mother's lover (Ivan Desni) becomes attached to the daughter; her unhappy marriage and its aftermath; romances with composer Franz Liszt (Will Quadflieg), abduction by a Russian general (in the arms of Cossacks, no less); her affairs across the landscape of Europe with men great and notable; her thwarted aspirations as a dancer; and her romance with King Ludwig I (Anton Walbrook) of Bavaria, which led to her being made Countess of Landsfeld, and, later, to his abdication. The gracefulness of Ophuls' cyclical narrative, and the transitions between the recalled elegance of the locales, and the people with whom her romances and affairs took place, and the seediness of the circus -- where she is also compelled, in the course of performing, to perform as an aerialist -- were lost on viewers in 1955. And for many years the movie only existed in a version re-cut without the director's approval, in which the story was presented in linear fashion. It was only in the 1960's, long after Ophuls' death, that efforts were made to restore the original structure, and in 2008 the movie's original Technicolor luster was restored to its full depth and richness. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The title of this French bedroom farce translates to A Fly in the Ointment. That "fly" is music-hall performer Lucette (Suzy Delair), the current girlfriend of rakish roue Bois D'Enghien (Noel-Noel). Preparing to marry into a wealthy and honorable family, Boris is bedeviled by Lucette, who refuses to break up their relationship. Her tune changes abruptly when a handsome millionaire enters the picture. Adapted from the stage play by George Feydeau, Un Fil a La Patte is all slamming doors, bedroom tete-a-tetes, and lines like "But mon cherie, I can explain everything!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Released in the U.S. in 1950, Mask of Korea has the sort of title that suggests a tie-in with the then-raging Korean Conflict. Not true. The film was actually lensed in France in 1940, under the title Macao l'Enfer de Jeu. Silent-film veterans Erich Von Stroheim and Sessue Hayakawa star as, respectively, a gun-runner and a gambling-house proprietor. The two men are brought into conflict over a revolution in Korea, and are also rivals for the affections of a beautiful woman (Mirielle Balin). When customers complained about the misleading title Mask of Korea, the film was rechristened Gambling Hell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of this French romantic comedy translates as Once is Enough, which was hardly conducive to the film's repeat business! Veteran movie heartthrob Fernand Gravey stars as a famed explorer, who falls in love with gorgeous sculptress Edwige Feuillere. Their romance is blighted by a series of lover's quarrels, which range from minor spats to all-out guerilla warfare. It is up to philosophical art critic Henri Guisol, friend to both Gravey and Feuillere, to bring the couple back together. A minor star vehicle, Il Suffit d'une Fois would have benefited from more comedy and less quarrelling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Completed in 1941, Portrait of a Woman (Une Femme disparait) was the final effort of veteran director Jacques Feyder. Though filmed in Switzerland, this is French production through and through, both in terms of production personnel and subject matter. Francoise Rosay, Feyder's wife, stars as a faded opera star who commits suicide. When her body is found, the police are unable to identify her. Subsequently, several people come forth, each claiming that he or she is an acquaintance of the dead woman. Their flashbacked reminiscences permit Rosay to offer an astonishing array of characterizations, from timid schoolmistress to bawdy waterfront dame to pathetic old peasant. For its 1946 American release, Portrait of a Woman was paired with the musical short subject Hymn of All Nations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide