Frank Lyon Movies
- 1943
This French Underground melodrama stars George Sanders as a seemingly apolitical Parisian doctor who is actually a resistance leader. Sanders' nurse (Brenda Marshall) is likewise a French patriot--less so the nurse's husband (Philip Dorn), who has become disillusioned after two years in a POW camp. The husband changes his mind and joins the Resistance, though he and several other freedom fighters lose their lives to German bullets. Worth noting in Paris After Dark is the fact that several of the personnel involved were actual French refugees, including director Leonide Moguy and husband-and-wife supporting actors Marcel Dalio and Madeleine LeBeau. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Sanders, Philip Dorn, (more)
- 1930
Le Grande Mare is the French-language version of Paramount's The Big Pond (1930), with Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert in their original roles as Pierre Mirande and Barbara Billings. Pierre is a Venetian tour guide, who falls in love with wealthy American tourist Barbara. Her male relatives think that Pierre is merely a fortune-hunter, but Barbara's mom persuades her husband to give Pierre a job in his chewing-gum factory. The menfolk finally approve of Barbara's choice when Pierre comes up with the brilliant, money-making idea of coating the gum with liquor! Both La Grande Mare and The Big Pond were filmed simultaneously at Paramount's Long Island studios, but if the stars were tired out by this procedure, one would never know it from their enthusiastic performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andree Corday, Claudette Colbert, (more)
- 1921
Popular early 20th century author Winston Churchill should not be confused with the English statesman of the same name. Many of Churchill's books were made into motion pictures, and this one is a fierce indictment of Christian hypocrisy. John Hodder (William P. Carleton) is the new rector at St. John's, a church in a fashionable section of town that isn't so far away from the misery of poverty-stricken Dalton Street. It doesn't take Hodder long to discover the true nature of his supposedly pious congregation. Primary among them is Eldon Parr (David Torrence), a bank president whose daughter, Alison (Edith Hallor), leaves to perform settlement work. Eldon's son, Preston (Jack Bohn), has deserted the family because of his father's treatment of the poor girl he loved, and is now living a life of degradation. Hodder is disgusted by the cruelty of Parr and others who attend St. John's, and he exposes them all from the pulpit. He refuses to resign after his tirade and goes about correcting all the wrongs perpetrated by his parishioners. This wins Alison's heart. One of Parr's disgruntled former workers shoots him and then himself. Parr survives just long enough to make amends for all he has done, and to unite his family once again. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William P. Carleton, David Torrence, (more)
