Florence Marly Movies
Czechoslovakian actress Florence Marly played leading roles in the films of her own country, France, and even the occasional Hollywood film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1975
Growing up in a carnival can bring out the worst in a person already inclined to con-games and power trips; certainly Alexander (Craig Denney) is not improved by the experience. Aiding and abetting his development as a most unpleasant fellow is his growing psychic ability. He rises through a number of incredible schemes to a position of power over others, but cannot surmount his own towering ego. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Denney, Rocky Barbanica, (more)
- 1972
- R
John Considine does a cut-rate Vincent Price impersonation as the flamboyant Dr. Death, a thousand-year-old magician who has mastered he art of transferring souls from one body to another and thereby manages to perpetuate himself by jumping from one body to the next (which actually makes him more of a "Seeker of Bodies"). Apparently the Doc is a kindred spirit to the Alien, since his blood is a highly-corrosive acid that can strip flesh from bone, thus ensuring his personal safety. This is "Z"-grade fare that plays somewhat like a Herschell Gordon Lewis film, but without enough silliness to keep things amusing. The only point of interest keeping this film in circulation (mainly via late-night-cable) is the presence of sad-looking former Stooge Moe Howard in his last role as a perverted old man. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In this psychological thriller, Paul (James Caan) and Jennifer (Katherine Ross) are a pair of wealthy but blasé socialites with a sadistic streak. Lisa (Simone Signoret), an older woman from France, arrives at their door one day selling cosmetics; the couple invite her in, and when the conversation reveals that Lisa is believed to have psychic abilities, Paul and Jennifer ask her to arrange some "games" for their amusement. Lisa proceeds to set up several situations of simulated domestic discord that the couple can react to. The arrival of Norman (Don Stroud), a delivery boy, is Jennifer's cue to seduce him, just in time for Paul to arrive and shoot him in a fit of jealousy. Norman is then coated with plaster and placed in the corner, disguised as a work of art; however, Paul soon leaves on a business trip, and Jennifer discovers that Norman isn't dead after all. She panics and shoots Norman dead, only to discover that the previous murder was merely a "game" staged by Lisa. Jennifer, however, is having a very real nervous breakdown, which seems to be what Paul had in mind all along. But once Jennifer is committed to a mental hospital, Paul discovers that Lisa is not necessarily his ally in this increasingly dangerous game. Games was directed by Curtis Harrington, a one-time experimental filmmaker who previously helmed such horror cult movies as Queen of Blood and Night Tide. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Signoret, James Caan, (more)
- 1966
Shot on a miniscule $50,000 budget, and including footage from a 1959 Russian film that was later purchased by Roger Corman, this science fiction feature finds a tiny planet slowly dying. With the inhabitants in danger of perishing, some kind-hearted astronauts bring a green-blooded female alien back to Earth. The extraterrestrial shows her gratitude by going wild for human blood in the fashion of a blood-sucking vampire. John Saxon, Basil Rathbone and Dennis Hopper are some of the actors sentenced by their vindictive agents to appear in this 1966 film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, (more)
- 1962
Written by Charles Beaumont with the uncredited assistance of OCee Ritch), this compact little Twilight Zone offering gets under way as a pair of gangsters dump a corpse into a Bowery alley. Emerging from the shadows, shabby derelict Nate Bledsoe (Warren Stevens) steals the dead man's custom-made shoes -- and suddenly acquires the dead man's custom-made personality, arrogant swagger and all. "Dead Man's Shoes" made its CBS network premiere on January 19, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Stevens, Ben Wright, (more)
- 1960
Paladin (Richard Boone) is summoned by the US Army to seek out Col. Nunez (Shepperd Strudwick), who had made a name for himself (and not a good one!) during the Civil War. Rumor has it that Nunez and his Native American wife Serafina (Lorna Thayer) have become renegades, aligning themselves with the hostile Apaches. Tracking down Nunez, Paladin finds out that the deranged colonel is arming and training the Indian for an all-out war against the whites--but the gunslinger may not live long enough to relay this information to the authorities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) investigate when a moderately wealthy woman named Dorothy Wagner commits suicide. It turns out that the 42-year-old woman had been robbed and jilted by con artist Carlton Reynolds (Myron Cook), who specializes in preying upon lonely, gullible women with money. The detectives are assisted in tracking down Reynolds by another chiseler (Julie Bennett) who turns the tables on the "serial jilter." This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of February 7, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Mara Corday stars in Undersea Girl as skin-diving journalist Val Hudson. While swimming in Yokohama Bay, Val comes across the body of a murdered fisherman, who carries nearly $2000 on his person. The money is part of a $2 million cache which was being transported by a naval vessel during WW II; the ship was sunk by the Japanese and considered irretrievably lost -- at least until now. Joining Val in her search for the rest of the money are her boyfriend, Navy lieutenant Brad Chase (Pat Conway); police lieutenant Mike Travis (Dan Seymour); and mystery man Sam Marvin (Ralph Clanton). A hint to the outcome: one of the treasure-seekers is a low-down, dirty crook. Originally produced by Nacirema Productions, Undersea Girl was distributed by Allied Artists on a double bill with the low-budget western The Persuader. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mara Corday, Patrick Conway, (more)
- 1954
One of the first Chilean films to receive a North American release, Confession at Dawn was originally shipped out as Confesion al Amanecer. French director Pierre Chenal deftly binds together three Chilean legends into a smooth narrative. The titular confessor, a hospitalized paralytic, relates the individual stories of his three daughters and their unhappy fates. This done, the paralytic's housekeepers unfolds the story of a mining engineer who embarks on a fruitless pursuit of riches. Finally, the priest attending the confessor has a story to tell about a ghost ship and an ethereal young blonde. The final segment is basically a showcase for Chenal's wife, actress Florence Marly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florence Marly
- 1952
The fraternal comedy team of George and Bert Bernard gained fame in the 1950s with their "record act," wherein they pantomimed to the popular recordings of the day (other aspiring comics who labored in this peculiar brand of humor included Jerry Lewis and Dick Van Dyke). Republic Pictures decided that the time was ripe to turn the Bernard Brothers into movie stars, and so it came to pass that Gobs and Gals were born. George and Bert play a couple of sailors stationed at a remote South Sea weather station. To keep themselves well stocked with cookies, candy and the like, the boys send out love letters to various stateside girls, enclosing photographs of their much handsomer commanding officer (Robert Hutton). Somehow this harmless subterfuge gets the Bernard boys mixed up with a nest of Soviet spies, headed by modern-day Mata Hari Sonya Dubois (Florence Marly). Some of the jokes at the expense of Stalinist communism are amusing, as is the film's zany slapstick finale. Otherwise, Gobs and Gals was proof positive that George and Bert Bernard posed no threat to Martin and Lewis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Bernard, Bert Bernard, (more)
Famed attorney Melvin Belli served as executive producer of the heady spy melodrama Tokyo File 212. Filmed in its entirety in Japan, the story concerns a communist conspiracy to undermine American soldiers in Korea by plying them with such creature comforts as girls and alcohol. G-2 agent Jim Carter (Robert Peyton) does his best to thwart the Reds, despite the formidable opposition of femme fatale Steffi Novac (Florence Marly). Eventually, Novac is won over by the Good Guys, but not soon enough to emerge unscathed. Tokyo File 212 was co-produced and directed by Dorrell and Stuart McGowan, the sibling screenwriting team who later collaborated on TV's Death Valley Days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florence Marly, Robert Peyton, (more)
One of the less famous Humphrey Bogart films is this 1949 drama about post-war guilt and remembrance. Bogart plays U.S. airman and war hero Joe Barrett. During the war, he believes, his wife Trina (Florence Marly) died in a Japanese concentration camp. But when Barrett returns to Tokyo and the bar named Tokyo Joe that he used to own, he discovers that Trina is not only alive, but she has married Mark Landis (Alexander Knox), an attorney, and they have a seven-year-old daughter Anya (Lora Lee Michel), whom he suspects is really his child. Baron Kimura (Sessue Hayakawa) forces Barrett into running an airborne smuggling operation by threatening to reveal publicly that Trina made wartime radio propaganda broadcasts. The shipment Barrett must fly includes three Japanese war criminals being brought back into the country, and Kimura insures that Barrett will comply by kidnapping Anya and holding her hostage. But the war criminals hijack the plane and are arrested. Barrett then tracks down Kimura and both die in a shoot-out which saves the life of Anya. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Florence Marly, (more)
- 1948
In this wartime drama, an American officer is accused of secretly working as an SS man. Though all evidence is against the officer, one Army prosecutor is not convinced of the man's guilt and begins working to prove his innocence. He is assisted by a beautiful woman who knows the defendant is innocent. Along the way the lawyer and the woman must endure constant assaults and accusations of treachery, but in the end they prevail. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Florence Marly, (more)
- 1948
Czech filmmaker Otakar Vavra, whose career weathered four decades and innumerable political upheavals, was the guiding force behind 1948's Krakatit. Based on a novel by Karel Capek (of RUR fame), the film is a cautionary fable about atomic energy. The "good guys" include Prokop (Karek Hoger) and Wilhelmina (Florence Marly); the villains are all suspiciously Germanic in speech and behavior. The plot proper gets under way when atomic scientist Prokop vows that his secrets will never fall into the Wrong Hands--of which there are quite a few. The climax finds an evil scientist arranging a radio-controlled nuclear holocaust. Krakatit was not released in the U.S. until three years after its completion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florence Marly, Frantisek Smolik, (more)
- 1947
This psychological drama is set aboard a submarine carrying Nazi officials fleeing their country just before the end of World War II. They are trying to get to South America, but along the way they meet with many obstacles including a bout with a destroyer where they are depth-charged. When the count's wife, Marly, (she is also the on-board general's mistress) is wounded the sub lands in France where the Germans snatch a doctor. The doctor knows his life is in danger. To combat the self-exiles he begins manipulating their emotions, getting them to feel despair, defeat, and helping them realize that all their actions are hopeless. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Henri Vidal, (more)
- 1944
El Fin de la Noche (End of the Night) is a WWII rarity: An anti-Nazi film from neutral Argentina. Musical favorite Libertad Lamarque stars as a French nightclub singer who intends to escape her homeland when the Germans take over. She is aided in her flight by a wounded Resistance fighter, with whom she falls in love. The plot requires Lamarque to later become the "singing sweetheart" of the occupying German troops. In order to save her daughter from reprisals, she is forced to lure her Resistance-fighter sweetheart into a Nazi trap. Though it's clear who the villains are in El Fin de la Noche, no Swastikas are shown at any point in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Libertad Lamarque, Alberto Bello, (more)
- 1943
Asses' Skin, a story by Honore de Balzac, was the basis of the Argentine film La Piel de Zapa. The story concerns a suicide-prone gentleman who happens upon an enchanted asses' skin at a curiosity shop. The skin will grant him his every wish, but there's a catch: each time a wish is granted, the skin's owner's life grows shorter. Our hero finds that he'd like to prolong his life upon falling in love, but it may be a shade too late. Though filmed in its entirety in Argentina, La Piel de Zapa has an appropriate French ambience, thanks in no small part to the presence of Gallic leading lady Florence Marly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugo del Carril, Florence Marly, (more)
- 1939
In The Alibi, clever, ruthless nightclub mind-reader Prof. Winckler (Erich von Stroheim) murders an old enemy and bribes the nightclub hostess Helene (Jany Holt) into saying that they were together for the entire night. However, police investigator Calas (Louis Jouvet) doesn't believe the alibi and pursues the investigation. The Alibi is well-directed by Pierre Chenal who makes the most of his interesting cast. Louis Jouvet is outstanding as the very intelligent and cunning police inspector. Erick von Stroheim, at the end of his career, gives a showing, scene-stealing and quite menacing performance as Wincler. This fine French production, shown with subtitles, has a well-conceived and executed premise and an excellent score, partially composed by the innovative Georges Auric. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erich Von Stroheim, Louis Jouvet, (more)
- 1939
Long before James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice was filmed by MGM, there were two intriguing foreign versions, one (unauthorized) from Italy and the other from France. The French version, directed by Pierre Chenal, was titled Le Dernier Tournant and released in English-speaking countries as The Last Turning. Fernand Gravet fills the role of anti-hero Frank, who goes to work for crude but likeable garage mechanic Nick Marino (Michel Simon). Whipped into an erotic frenzy by Nick's sexy young wife Cora (Corinne Luchaire), Frank cooks up a scheme with her to bump off Nick for the insurance money. Once the dirty deed is done, Frank and Cora are arrested for murder but manage to beat the rap. Fate, however, has other things in store for the conscience-stricken couple. One of the highlights of Le Dernier Tournant, a cross-examination in a hospital room, was supervised by real-life French jurist Henry Torres. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernand Gravey, Corinne Luchaire, (more)
- 1938
This murder mystery is set in a Parisian cafe and examines the mysterious murder of a famed journalist and extortionist who is killed at his table in the cafe. Though the prime suspects are gathered together( including his wife and her lover, the gun-runner, the creditor, and a playboy) and all of them have motives, none of them did it. So whodunit? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jules Berry, Vera Korene, (more)
