Lucien Baroux Movies

Filmmaker Julien Duvivier returns to the multistoried format of his earlier omnibus films Tales of Manhattan and Flesh and Fantasy with the 1962 French production The Devil and the Ten Commandments. Actually, there are only seven separate episodes in the film, covering such commandments as "Thou Shalt Not Have Any Gods Before Me", "Thou Shalt Not Steal" and "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother." Each of the vignettes seems to owe more to O. Henry or DeMaupassant than the Book of Exodus, with twist endings carrying the day. The all-star cast includes Michel Simon (Episode One), Dany Saval (Episode Two), Charles Aznavour and Lino Ventura (Episode Three), Micheline Presle, Mel Ferrer and Claude Dauphin (Episode Four); Fernandel (Episode Five); Alain Delon and Danielle Darrieux (Episode Six) and Jean-Claude Brialy (Episode Seven). Best of the batch is the fifth episode, wherein horse-faced Fernandel declares that he is God. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jean Pierre (Roland Alexandre), an aspiring composer, falls in love with seemingly impoverished flower girl Denise (Geraldine Page). In truth, Denise is a popular actress en route from a costume party. Fortuitously, she is also the star of a musical revue, and, as such, secretly tries to use her clout to give Jean Pierre his Big Break. Upon learning that Denise is not a flower girl, and that she is engaged to her director, Jean Pierre angrily walks out of her life. Anyone who's seen a 1930s Warner Bros. musical will know how this one turns out. Pepping up the proceedings in Plaisirs de Paris is a sensuous striptease number, which was usually excised from American prints. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No relation to the same-named 1934 Maurice Chevalier musical nor the 1954 Toulouse Lautrec biopic, the French Moulin Rouge began life as a showcase for the dazzling talents of African American entertainer Josephine Baker. Alas, Baker's provocative dance routines-not to mention the hints of miscegenation in the storyline-resulted in a complete story overhaul when Moulin Rouge was released stateside in 1944, nine years after its original French release under the title Princess Tam Tam. Originally, the story concerned the efforts by a famous author (Albert Prejean) to pass off an African peasant girl (Baker) as an Indian princess. The heavily censored and extensively reshot version concentrates on the misadventures of an aspiring nightclub singer (Rene Dary), who lands a job as a caretaker for the proprietor of the famed Moulin Rouge nightclub. Thus it is that Josephine Baker's starring role has been whittled down to a few specialty numbers, while Albert Prejean has been eliminated from the story entirely! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fire in the Straw (Le Feu de Paille) was the final directorial effort of French filmmaker Jean Benoit-Levy before he left his wartorn native country in favor of a teaching post at the New School for Social Research. Based on Henri Troyat's award-winning novel Grandeur Nature, the film details the progress of 12-year-old Christian Vautier (Jean Keller), who rises to fame as a movie star. Christian's father Antoine (Lucien Baroux), himself a failed actor, is gratified by his son's popularity, though he knows it's only a matter of time before the boy falls out of public favor. The film paints a fairly bleak portrait of show business, which in France at least seems to be in the hands of sycophants, fly-by-night opportunists and backstabbers. Filmed in 1940, Fire in the Straw was released in the US three years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The French Way (Fausse Alert) stars American expatriate musical star Josephine Baker as a Parisian cabaret singer. The plot is your standard "star-crossed lovers" melange, distinguished by the conspicuous lack of clothing on the female characters. The coy ingenue is played by 18-year-old Micheline Presle, several years removed from her international stardom vis-a-vis Devil in the Flesh. Because Josephine Baker was black, and because she performed in the nude for the most part, The French Way didn't make it to American shores until 1952. Even then, Ms. Baker's climactic feather dance was entirely excised, though the film spends its last two reels building up to it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Feu de Paille (Straw Fire) was adapted by director Jean Benoit Levy from the prize-winning novel by Henri Troyat. Lucien Baroux plays Antoine Vautier, an aging and modestly talented ham actor of the Old School. Unable to achieve prominence on the stage, Vautier is understandably put out when his handsome son (Jean Fuller) is promoted to stardom in talking pictures. At first feigning pride in his son's achievements, Vautier eventually succumbs to jealousy, taking comfort in the fact that the boy's second picture is a failure. But when his son falls victim to a debilitating illness, the elderly actor realizes how much he truly loves the boy, bringing a permanent end to their familial rivalry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sacha Guitry not only wrote and directed Remontons les Champs-Elysses (Remounting the Champs Elysses), but also plays five roles, including Louis XV and Napoleon III. The film proposes to detail the history of the famous Parisian thoroughfare of the title, beginning with its inception under the aegis of Marie de Medicis. Other famous historical personages depicted herein are Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who allegedly came up with the idea for the first open-air restaurant, and composer Richard Wagner, here seen as a frustrated café musician. At the time of its release, Remontons les Champs-Elysses was compared unfavorably to Guitry's earlier historical pageant Pearls of the Crown. Today it can be appreciated as one of his most entertaining pre-war efforts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide