Isabel Jeans Movies
British actress Isabel Jeans was 18 when she made her London stage debut in 1909. Her first film was 1917's The Profligate. The graceful, sophisticated Jeans became a Broadway critics' darling in the 1920s and 1930s by virtue of her performances in such plays as The Road to Rome and The Man in Possession. In Hollywood from 1937, Jeans was all too infrequently seen in plum character roles. She is most fondly remembered for her portrayal of the aunt of courtesan-in-training Leslie Caron in Gigi (1958). Isabel Jeans, who at one time was married to actor Claude Rains, made her farewell stage appearance in 1971, at the age of 80. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Considered a bit too sacrilegious for general consumption in 1963, the Boulting brothers' Heavens Above was simply ahead of its time, and has since accrued a loyal and vocal following. Peter Sellers plays an idealistic British reverend with a bad habit of telling the truth at all times. He also follows his conscience whenever possible, resulting in several cleric decisions that shock his wealthy, landed-gentry parishioners. By inviting such "undesirables" as gypsies and West Africans to worship freely in his church, Sellers rouses the ire of the rest of his white-bread flock. He does, however, compel the selfish owner (Isabel Jeans) of a laxative firm to "see the light" and to sell off all her holdings on behalf of the poor and downtrodden. Unfortunately, by doing this the woman wrecks her business--which is the principal source of income for the community where Sellers works. Retreating from town with an angry mob on his heels, Sellers relocates on a tiny island in the Pacific. Since the island is the site of a missile base, and since the local astronauts have shown signs of agnosticism, where else is there for Sellers to go...but up? Heavens Above was inspired by a notion cooked up by iconoclastic British satirist Malcolm Muggeridge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Bernard Miles, (more)
Based on the Ferenc Molnar play Olympia, A Breath of Scandal serves as an elegant vehicle for a ravishing Sophia Loren. The star plays Princess Olympia, who despite her station in life cannot resist the urge to satisfy her sexual appetites. Exiled to the countryside, Olympia falls in love with American millionaire Charlie Foster (John Gavin). Meanwhile, a marriage of state is arranged between the princess and Prince Ruprecht of Prussia (Carlo Hintermann). Jealous rival Countess Lina (Angela Lansbury) endangers this union by threatening to tell all about Olympia and Foster. A cute, continental plot twist brings this harmless confection to a close. Maurice Chevalier dispenses his usual all-knowing glances and sly smiles as Olympia's understanding father. A Breath of Scandal was directed by Michael Curtiz, who uncharacteristically allows the pace to lag at crucial junctures. Scriptwriter Sidney Howard was credited with the script posthumously, some 21 years after his death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Maurice Chevalier, (more)
- 1959
It Happened in Rome -- as well as in Venice, Florence, and points in between in this frothy excursion into beautiful Italy. The slight story concerns two young girls -- the German Hilde (Inge Schoener) and the French Josette (Isabelle Corey) -- who are hitching through the countryside. Vacationing Britisher Margaret (June Laverick) has pity on them and gives them a lift. Unfortunately, Margaret has not been paying attention to her gas gauge, and the three end up trying to push the vehicle to a gas station. In the process, they lose hold of the car at a crucial moment and it rolls into the sea. With her means of transportation ruined, Margaret joins Hilde and Josette as a hitchhiker. Along the way, each of them encounters their fair share of amorous Latin lovers before finding true love. Interestingly, the writers of this glossy romance include the anarcho-communist Dario Fo, as well as Furio Scarpelli and Age (who both collaborated on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The superb cinematography of Aldo Tonti adds immeasureably to the enjoyment of Souvenir D'Italie. The story revolves around three lovely young ladies: Margaret (June Laverick) from England, Hilde (Ingeborg Schoener) from Germany and Josette (Isabelle Corey) from France. Hitchhiking through Northern Italy, our three heroines enjoy numerous picaresque adventures. Some of the best scenes involve Alberto Sordi as a self-styled gigolo whose charms fail to impress the trio of lovelies. Likewise amusing is Vittorio de Sica in an extended cameo role. An English-language version of Souvenir D'Italie was prepared simultaneously by British producer J. Arthur Rank. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Laverick, Inge Schoener, (more)
- 1949
This French film version of Colette's best-selling novel Gigi predated both the 1950 stage adaptation and the 1958 Hollywood musical of the same name. Set in fin de siecle Paris, The story is the familiar one about 16-year-old Gigi (Daniele Delorme), a waif-like creature who is trained to become a Parisian courtesan by her worldly wise Aunt, Mme. Alvarez (Yvonne de Bray). The girl's first assignment is to serve as the "arm ornament" of wealthy playboy Gaston (Frank Villard), whose previous experiences with women have turned him into something of misogynist. When Gigi falls genuinely in love with Gaston, Mme. Alvarez is appalled: after all, true love is bad for business. Gaston is likewise taken aback by Gigi's devotion -- until he realizes with startling suddenness that he has fallen for her. Long unavailable in the U.S. due to the Oscar-winning MGM musical remake, Gigi happily resurfaced on American cable television in the mid-1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne de Bray, Danièle Delorme, (more)
- 1948
Fans of British film star Anna Neagle had a field day with her bravura Technicolor vehicle Elizabeth of Ladymead--though not enough fans showed up back in 1948 to make the film a success. Neagle portrays four different characters from four different historical periods, each named Elizabeth. The first, Beth, lives in 1854 London, as the Crimean War rages thousands of miles away. The second, Elizabeth, lives in 1903, just after the Boer war. The third, Betty, is a girl of 1919, the year after World War I. And the fourth, Liz, is a contemporary lass of post-World War II London. We watch as each of the four Elizabeths emerges as a woman of independence while the menfolk are off to war. Whenever the film becomes too repetitious, Elizabeth of Ladymead scores on the charm of Anna Neagle and her attractive deportment while wearing period costumes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Neagle, Hugh Williams, (more)
- 1946
American first lady Eleanor Roosevelt's impending visit to a tiny English country village is the motivation of the Anglo-American coproduction Great Day. As the villagers prepare for their prestigious guest, all sorts of internal squabbles and personal foibles rise to the surface. The story concentrates on embittered WW1 veteran Captain Ellis (Eric Portman), whose insecessant drinking and sponging is a source of embarrassment for his long-suffering family. The Captain's daughter Margaret (Sheila Sim) is on the verge of entering into a wealthy but loveless marriage so that she can rescue her mother (Flora Robson) from her father's excesses. In the Lesley Storm stage play on which this film was based, Captain Ellis comes to a bad but not entirely undeserved end; the film allows him a last-minute reprieve, as well as a chance to change his ways before Mrs. R. shows up. A moderate hit in England, Great Day sank like a stone when released in the US by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Portman, Flora Robson, (more)
- 1941
Another cheeky entry from the Aldwych Theatre farceurs, Banana Ridge is based on a play by Aldwych perennial Ben Travers. Alfred Drayton plays a wealthy, respected gentleman suddenly confronted with old flame Isabel Jeans. She shows up out of nowhere, claiming that her illegitimate son is his. The possibility of scandal creates a brouhaha with Drayton's wife Adela Dixon, and daughter Nova Pilbeam. Old chum Robertson Hare offers to help Drayton out--and nearly wrecks his own marriage in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1939
Jack Benny goes to London in this frothy musical. He plays a Broadway producer and while in London begins pining for the love of glamorous singer Dorothy Lamour. Unfortunately, she finds him unattractive. Wanting to make her jealous, Benny pursues a pair of women who are trying to make their neglectful husbands jealous by pursuing Benny. Their ploy works and creates all kinds of comical mayhem until Benny's butler steps into to save his boss from the husbands' wrath. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Benny, Dorothy Lamour, (more)
- 1939
Spunky Joan Blondell is practically the whole show in the diverting comedy Good Girls Go to Paris. Blondell is cast as ambitious college-campus waitress Jenny Swanson, who yearns to see the sights in Gay Paree. She gets her chance by latching onto British exchange professor Ronald Brooke (Melvyn Douglas), who is en route to the City of Light. Once she sets foot on French soil, Jenny proves the veracity of the film's title by straightening out the wayward family of dyspeptic millionaire Olaf Brand (Walter Connolly)-though for a while it looks as though she's a "bad girl", merely out to take the Brands for every penny they've got. In later years, Joan Blondell ruefully recalled that the film's original title was Good Girls Go to Paris Too, but the Hays Office nixed that harmlessly suggestive monicker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melvyn Douglas, Joan Blondell, (more)
- 1938
Andrea Leeds, whose career had shifted into hyperdrive after her brilliant performance in Stage Door (1937), stars in the Universal programmer Youth Takes a Fling. Leeds plays Helen Brown, a New York City department-store salesgirl who falls in love with Kansas City truckdriver Joe Meadows (Joel McCrea). Since Joe barely knows that Helen is alive, she resorts to all sorts of feminine trickery to win her man. With Helen's good buddy Jean (Dorothea Kent) and Jean's brash boyfriend Frank (Frank Jenks) helping out, poor Joe doesn't have a chance-not that he's protesting too much by fadeout time. Producer Joe Pasternak lavishes his usual top-drawer production values on Youth Takes a Fling, which might have been more entertaining had it taken a simpler course. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrea Leeds, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1938
In her only Warner Bros. starring film, Carole Lombard plays a Hollywood movie actress who makes the park-bench acquaintance of an impoverished French marquis (Fernand Gravet). Hoping to coerce Carole into marriage, the nobleman poses as a butler and enters her household. His plan is to compromise Lombard and force her to make him an "honest man"--with the attendant cash settlement. Ralph Bellamy, as ever, is the poor clod who really loves Lombard but who loses her in the end to the chastened Gravet. Rodgers and Hart were commissioned to write several songs for this film, but found most of their efforts consigned to the cutting room floor. Fools for Scandal was based on Nancy Hamilton's stage play Return Engagement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Fernand Gravey, (more)
- 1938
Kay Francis fights off tears, deprivations and a mediocre script in Warner Bros.' Secrets of an Actress. La Francis plays Fay Carter, a popular Broadway star romantically involved with architect Dick Orr (George Brent), who has put up the money for her latest production. Problem is, Dick is already married-albeit unhappily-to selfish Carla Orr (Gloria Dickson). When Carla refuses to give Dick a divorce, he decides to kick over all the traces and sail off alone to Norway. Fay manages to prevent Dick from making this radical move, simultaneously giving him up. Fortunately, Dick's business partner Peter Snowden (Ian Hunter), who isn't married, is waiting in the wings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Francis, George Brent, (more)
- 1938
Dick Powell had already played the poor guy who falls for rich gal in Happiness Ahead (34); Hard to Get is a far superior film in this vein, and with better songs to boot. The wealthy lady in this film is Olivia de Havilland, who at this point in her career specialized in spoiled heiresses. Dick Powell is a gas-station attendant who doesn't recognize de Havilland and refuses to give her credit when her car goes on the blink. She gets even in several nasty ways, but softens when she falls in love with Powell--thanks to a little nudge from her kindly daddy, Charlie Winninger. As in Happiness Ahead, it is the father who financially smooths the path for the loving couple. Powell only has two songs, but one of them is the surefire hit "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby." Ironically, the title Hard to Get had been previously been used in 1929 for a silent Warner Bros. comedy about a poor girl falling for a rich boy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Dick Powell, (more)
- 1938
The Garden of the Moon is a fancy New York nightclub owned by Pat O'Brien. Margaret Lindsay (replacing a recalcitrant Bette Davis) is the girl who comes between O'Brien and his bandleader, John Payne. The duplicitous O'Brien spends most of his screen time figuring out various underhanded means to keep Payne from breaking his contract--and to keep Ms. Lindsay for himself. Though directed by Busby Berkeley, Garden of the Moon is surprisingly shy of dance numbers. Its musical highlight is that Looney Tunes standard "The Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish," with vocal solos by John Payne, Johnnie "Scat" Davis, and Jerry Colonna. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pat O'Brien, Margaret Lindsay, (more)
- 1937
Two members of the Russian monarchy pose as French servants while hiding the Czar's fortune. This unlikely plot is at the core of this successful 1937 Hollywood comedy-drama starring the French-born Charles Boyer as Prince Mikail Alexandrovitch Ouratieff. The prince and his wife, Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna (Claudette Colbert), are entrusted with a huge fortune by the Czar, which they take with them while fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. They arrive in Paris and put all the money in a bank, not wanting to take any for themselves. To fend off poverty, they take a job as servants in the home of wealthy businessman Charles Dupont (Melville Cooper) and his wife Fernande (Isabel Jeans). At a dinner party, their secret is exposed by one of the invited guests, a top Soviet official named Gorotchenko (Basil Rathbone), who had tortured and interrogated Ouratieff before the prince left Russia. Gorotchenko now asks for the fortune to help Russia, which is in economic trouble. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1935
The Crouching Beast was based on Clubfoot, an espionage novel by Valentine Williams. Set in 1915 Constantinople, the story is motivated by the sinister activities of Turkish secret agent Ahmed Bey (Fritz Kortner), better known as Clubfoot. Wynne Gibson stars as American newspaperwoman Gail Dunbar, who becomes inadvertently involved in Clubfoot's skullduggery, and at one point is subjected to a torturous interrogation by the villain. She escapes in time to aid a British agent in stealing plans of the Dardanelles fortifications. Originally released at 79 minutes, The Crouching Beast was shown of a reel's worth of footage before its American release through RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wynne Gibson, Fritz Kortner, (more)
- 1935
In this romantic costume drama, a man in the service of a king finds that falling in love with the queen can carry a high price. Struensee (Clive Brook) is a doctor from Hamburg who is called upon to treat Denmark's King Charles VII (Emlyn Williams) while the potentate visits Germany. The grateful King brings Struensee back to Denmark with him where he will be afforded a life of luxury. However, Struensee's new and idyllic life hits a considerable snag when he falls in love with Queen Caroline (Madeleine Carroll). The Queen is also infatuated with Struensee, but the Queen Mother (Helen Hayes) soon learns of their affair and has both Struensee and Caroline put behind bars. Struensee is able to arrange for the Queen's escape, but she refuses to leave without the man she loves. The film was also shown under the titles The Loves of a Dictator, The Love Affair of the Dictator, and For Love of a Queen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Brook, Madeleine Carroll, (more)
- 1932
In this romance, a typist is the secret mistress of a wealthy man. After three years of illicit romance, he suddenly dumps her for the love of a wealthy heiress. The broken-hearted girl goes on with her life and falls in love with another, but when her original lover returns to beg forgiveness, they are happily reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Barry, Harold Huth, (more)
- 1929
This is the final episode in the three part Rat series. This time, the Rat decides to go straight to marry his beloved. Unfortunately, the relationship disintegrates, and the Rat heads right back for the underworld. There he falls in love with a barmaid, but then finds he cannot escape the specter of his ex-wife when her former lover arrives and demands satisfaction. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1929
In this British mystery, a diplomat's wife, thinking she is protecting her lover, takes the rap for her husband's murder. It is later revealed that a spy was the real culprit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1927
Downhill is an apt title for this disappointing Alfred Hitchcock silent feature. Ivor Novello plays the black sheep of a prosperous family, whose life begins its downward spiral when he is expelled from school after shielding a friend from punishment. Following several desultory adventures, Novello weds faithless actress Isabel Jeans, who divests him of what little money he has and runs off with another man. Only when he is at his lowest is Novello forgiven by his family. Downhill has in recent years gained a negative fame thanks to one of its most treacly dialogue subtitles: after being cashiered from school, the hero asks "Does that mean, sir, that I shall not be able to play with the Old Boys?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
