Milly Mathis Movies
- 1959
John Carradine and Michael Landon guest star in this early episode of The Rifleman. The only one in town to own a shotgun, young Billy Mathis (Landon) becomes the obvious suspect when Hallager (Robert Bice) is shot in the back. Especially when Sheriff Torrance (Paul Fix) learns that the victim had refused young Billy to court his daughter Lucy (Sue Randall). But both the sheriff and Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) remain unconvinced and the latter finally agrees to let traveling mind reader James Barrow McBride (Carradine) add his two cents. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carradine
- 1958
The heroine in L'Eau Vive is the unwilling heir to a fortune. Young Hortense (Pascale Audret) has always known that her family was greedy, but until she inherits her father's hidden millions she has no idea how loathsome her relatives could be. Surrounded on all sides by grubby, outstretched hands, Hortense takes some comfort in the fact that her legacy is still missing. When the money is finally recovered, our heroine does the "right thing" with her windfall, leaving her mercenary family empty-handed. Throughout the film, Hortense's dilemma is likened to a government dam project not far from her home; as the bridge grows in size, so too does Hortense's resolve to rise above the nastiness all around her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pascale Audret, Charles Blavette, (more)
- 1958
The hero of Le Desert de Pigalle is Janin (Pierre Trabaud), a two-fisted priest assigned to the lawless district of Pigalle. Janin takes it upon himself to reform the prostitutes in the area, which makes him extremely unpopular with the local "mecs" and white slavers. His toughest reclamation project is jaded whore Josy (Annie Girardot), but once he's won her over, she helps him to realize his goal with the other ladies of the evening. As is usually the case in melodramas of this nature, Josy pays for her change of heart with her life. Le Desert de Pigalle was directed by Leo Joannon, light-years removed from the frivolities of Laurel & Hardy's Atoll K. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Girardot, Pierre Trabaud, (more)
- 1952
French novelist-turned-film director Marcel Pagnol made this black and white feature in 1953, He later wrote a novel based on his original script, which in turn was the source material for two much better known films made by director Claude Berri in 1986 - - Jean de Florette and Berri's own version of Manon des sources. Released uncut for the first time in 1988, Pagnol' s feature has a hefty running time of over four and a half hours. The story concerns the efforts of the beautiful shepherdess Manon Cadoret (played by the director's wife Jacqueline Pagnol) to avenge the death of her father Jean de Florette. The chief culprit in that death is a hapless peasant (played by veteran Marseilles comic Rellys), who, sadly, is desperately in love with Manon. Manon's revenge involves cutting off the town's water supply, drawing the wrath of the villagers. Her only ally is the town's somewhat haughty schoolteacher (Raymond Pellegrin), who she eventually marries. The action of this film corresponds roughly to Berri's version of Manon des sources. His Jean de Florette focused on events surrounding the father's death, which is here covered mostly in dialogue. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacqueline Pagnol, Raymond Pellegrin, (more)
- 1951
Relying on sexual encounters to maintain interest yet trying for a literary veneer, this is another semi-erotic drama by director Luis Saslavsky. Lina (Belinda Lee) is a prostitute who has attracted the romantic ardor of two half-brothers. She eventually decides to marry one of them but soon their relationship deteriorates. Underneath it all, Lina is not yet convinced that she is loved for herself -- and her days as a prostitute come back to haunt her relationship. As time goes on, however, she comes to realize that one of the brothers is honestly in love with her. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Tissier, Armand Bernard, (more)
- 1941
The Well-Digger's Daughter served to reunite star Raimu and writer/director Marcel Pagnol, who'd earlier scored an international hit with the "Marseilles trilogy" (Fanny, Marius, Cesar). The title character played by Josette Day, is impregnated by aviator George Gray. Her father, Raimu, orders Josette out of the house so that her younger sisters won't be likewise "corrupted". There's many a moment of pathos and hilarity before Raimu realizes the folly of his behavior. Filmed in 1940, just after France's acquiescence to their Nazi conquerors, The Well-Digger's Daughter didn't make it to the US until 1946. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raimu, Josette Day, (more)
- 1938
Legions D'Honneur begins during the final stages of a military court-martial. The tribunal demands that lieutenant Albert Jacquin explain how he received the gunshot wound which prevented him from returning to his regiment. When he refuses to do so, it is determined that Jacquin shot himself to avoid service, and he is stripped of his rank. Re-enlisting as a private, Jacquin at last decides to tell his story in its entirety to his attorney Pierre Renoir. The hero's reminiscences are filled to overflowing with amorous intrigue involving Marie Bell, the wife of his superior officer Charles Vanel. With a final, characteristically self-sacrificial gesture, Jacquin is able to secure Bell's future happiness at the expense of his own. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Vanel, Marie Bell, (more)
- 1937
Originally Regain, this Marcel Pagnol masterwork was distributed in the US in 1939, two years after its completion; the hold-up was due to complaints from the New York censors, who disapproved of the plotline's harmlessly adulterous undertones. Told in a simple, straightforward fashion, the film deals with the trials and tribulations of peasant farmer Panturie (Gabriel Gabrio) and his lover, apprentice knife-grinder Arsule (Orane Demazis), as they struggle to revitalize their failing wheat farm. Despite one setback after another, Panturie and Arsule refuse to give up, and it is their devotion to their land-and each other-which sparks a revival of optimism and solidarity throughout the countryside. Fernandel provides wistful comedy relief as Gedemus, the itinerant knife-grinder to whom Arsule is married at the outset of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Edouard Delmont, (more)
- 1936
Filmed in 1936, Maurice Tourneur's Avec le Sourire (With a Smile) finally attained an American release in 1939. The film represented the very first French starring vehicle for Gallic musical comedy favorite Maurice Chevalier, here cast as jaunty but penniless boulevardier Victor Larnois. In search of a quick franc, he waylays the doorman of a Parisian theatre and takes over the job himself, eventually working his way up to the theatre manager's job. After falling in love with and marrying a cute chorus girl (Marie Glory), Larnois dedicates himself to transforming his bride into a high-society doyenne. Having behaved rather callously throughout the proceedings, Larnois regains his humanity by helping out his former employer, now reduced to doorman status himself. Though it occasionally crosses over into Ernst Lubitsch territory, Avec le Sourire is distinctively Maurice Tourneur's film all the way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Glory, Milly Mathis, (more)
- 1935
The final film in Marcel Pagnol's Marseilles trilogy (following Marius and Fanny), this drama follows Cesariot (Andre Fouche), an 18-year-old who has recently been led to believe that his father, Honore (Fernand Charpin), is not really his father at all. Honore dies without telling Cesariot about his true parentage, but after the funeral, his mother Fanny (Orane Demazis) breaks the news that Cesar (Raimu), who he had always been told was his godfather, is in fact his grandfather. Cesariot asks Cesar for the truth; the old man tells him that his real dad is Marius (Pierre Fresnay), an auto mechanic, and tells him how to find the garage where Marius works. Cesariot sets out to meet Marius, but when he stops by the garage, Marius isn't in. His boss, Fernand (Doumel), decides to have some fun and tells Cesariot that Marius is a notorious outlaw; the boy buys it hook, line, and sinker and returns home heartbroken. When Marius finds out what happened, he realizes that he must find the boy and see if the damage can still be repaired. While any of the three films in Pagnol's trilogy can be enjoyed separately, Cesar in particular is best appreciated when seen alongside the other two films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, (more)
