Pierre Magnier Movies

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, Ruy Blas was adapted for the screen by no less than Jean Cocteau. The title character, played by Jean Marais, is a dashing nobleman-turned-bandit operating in 17th century Spain ("played" by France and Italy). Marais is also seen as a bookish student who happens to bear a striking resemblance to Ruy Blas. Top-billed as the Queen of Spain is Danielle Darrieux, making her film comeback after weathering accusations of collaboration during WW2. A long and frequently verbose film, Ruy Blas delivers the goods and more during the action highlights and love scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Now often cited as one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir's La Règle du jeu/Rules of the Game was not warmly received on its original release in 1939: audiences at its opening engagements in Paris were openly hostile, responding to the film with shouts of derision, and distributors cut the movie from 113 minutes to a mere 80. It was banned as morally perilous during the German occupation and the original negative was destroyed during WWII. It wasn't until 1956 that Renoir was able to restore the film to its original length. In retrospect, this reaction seems both puzzling and understandable; at its heart, Rules of the Game is a very moral film about frequently amoral people. A comedy of manners whose wit only occasionally betrays its more serious intentions, it contrasts the romantic entanglements of rich and poor during a weekend at a country estate. André Jurieu (Roland Toutain), a French aviation hero, has fallen in love with Christine de la Chesnaye (Nora Gregor), who is married to wealthy aristocrat Marquis Robert de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio). Robert, however, has a mistress of his own, whom he invites to a weekend hunting party at his country home, along with André and his friend Octave (played by Jean Renoir himself). Meanwhile, the hired help have their own game of musical beds going on: a poacher is hired to work as a servant at the estate and immediately makes plans to seduce the gamekeeper's wife, while the gamekeeper recognizes him only as the man who's been trying to steal his rabbits. Among the upper classes, infidelity is not merely accepted but expected; codes are breached not by being unfaithful, but by lacking the courtesy to lie about it in public. The weekend ends in a tragedy that suggests that this way of life may soon be coming to an end. Renoir's witty, acidic screenplay makes none of the characters heroes or villains, and his graceful handling of his cast is well served by his visual style. He tells his story with long, uninterrupted takes using deep focus (cinematographer Jean Bachelet proves a worthy collaborator here), following the action with a subtle rhythm that never calls attention to itself. The sharply-cut hunting sequence makes clear that Renoir avoided more complex editing schemes by choice, believing that long takes created a more lifelike rhythm and reduced the manipulations of over-editing. Rules of the Game uses WWI as an allegory for WWII, and its representation of a vanishing way of life soon became all too true for Renoir himself, who, within a year of the film's release, was forced to leave Europe for the United States.. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The English-language title of this French slice-of-life drama is Lady Killer, an apt description of anti-hero Lucien (Jean Gabin). A colonial cavalry officer, Lucien gives his love to whomever he fancies, then forgets about them as he moves from post to post. The one he can't forget is Madeline (Mireille Balin), and the feeling is mutual. Years later, Lucien is the wretched, embittered proprietor of a rundown Parisian café. Who should come back into his life but Madeline -- a reunion that ends tragically for them both, literalizing the film's title and leaving Lucien even more devastated than before. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Charles Robert Dumas, Deuxieme Bureau is another espionager of the "Mata Hari" and "Fraulein Doktor" school. Vera Korine stars as Erna Flieder, notorious female spy of the WWI era. Though she seemingly has ice water in her veins, Erna forgets all about her mission in life when she falls in love with her AEF adversary Captain Benoit (Jean Murat). In time-honored tradition, our heroine ultimately lays down her own life to save Benoit from harm. Reviewers in 1935 felt that the film was stolen by Pierre Larquey in the supporting role of Benoit's adjutant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Maurice Tourneur production is based on the old theatrical warhorse The Two Orphans, previously (and more famously) filmed by D. W. Griffith as Orphans of the Storm. Rosaine Derain and Renne Saint-Cyr star as sister Louise and Henriette, cruelly separated early in the proceedings and kept apart by fate, villainy and deprivation until the very last scene. Kidnapped by gypsies, the blind Louise is forced to beg in the streets, while Henriette searches desperately for her missing sister. In the end, however, it is Louise who rescues Henriette from a horrible fate. Filmed in 1933, Les Deux Orphelins came to the U.S. in a crudely subtitled version the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When her aristocratic lover Andre (Lucien Galas) is forced to give her up in favor of a wealthy marriage, Nicolette (Grazia del Rio) is so despondent that she nearly commits suicide. Instead, she agrees to become the mistress of the much-older Comte de Richbourg (Pierre Magnier). It so happens that the Comte is Andre's father, which should give the modern viewer a good idea of the "do as I say, not as I do" mentality prevalent in the France of the '30s. All ends happily, however, when De Richbourg nobly steps aside so that Nicolette and Andre can be reunited. Petite de Montparnasse was simultaneously filmed in a German-language version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sisif (Severin-Mars) is the kindly railroad engineer who adopts the orphan girl Norma (Ivy Close). He raises her as his own along with his son Elie (Pierre Magnier). When they are grown, Elie and Herson (Gabriele de Gravvone) are compelled to fight to the death on a mountain top over the love of Norma. Elie dies when he falls after losing his grip on a tree branch, and Norma is turned out by Sisif who blames her for the death of his only son. She marries Herson but is left a widow within the year. Sisif becomes a blind recluse and visits the sight of his son's death on the one-year anniversary. He arrives with the help of his guide dog. Norma returns to help Sisif but is again turned away by the bitter father. She secretly helps the old man until he dies in this sentimental melodrama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide