Harry Baur Movies

The great Harry Baur plays the title character in Cette Vielle Canaille -- which translates as "That Old Bum"! But he's no bum at the beginning of the picture: In fact, he's a retired doctor/chemist who spends his spare time conducting medical experiments on small lab animals. Looking for new specimens, Baur visits a circus, where he falls hopelessly in love with vain performer Alice Field. Inevitably, she leaves him in favor of a younger, handsomer man, whereupon Baur goes into an emotional tailspin. In the incredibly tense finale, Field must undergo a delicate operation -- which only Baur can perform! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Anthony Asquith evokes a vivid impression of Russia in 1916 in I Stand Condemned. The story follows handsome Russian officer Captain Ignatoff (Laurence Olivier), who is carried into a hospital in a delirious condition from severe war wounds. When he comes to his senses, he sees the beautiful Red Cross nurse Natasha (Penelope Dudley-Ward) staring down at him and he is immediately smitten. Although she feels the same way about Ignatoff, she is unhappily engaged to Brioukov (Harry Baur), a middle-aged war profiteer who has paid off the mortgage on her parent's home. Since she owes so much to Brioukov, she is reluctant to leave him and take up with the comely captain. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Greluchon Delicat (Sensitive Lad) is the story of a starry-eyed Parisian student named Henri, played by Paul Bernard. Henri falls hard for the beautiful Simone (Alice Cocea), but she is the "property" of middle-aged Michel (Harry Baur). Though Simone comes to love Henri, she is averse to giving up the pampered lifestyle of a courtesan. It's up to Michel to do the right thing at the right time -- after all, he's rather fond of his feckless young rival as well. So "civilized" that it borders on the genteel, Greluchon Delicat offers a picture-postcard Paree which never really existed, but probably should have. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Le Patriote (The Patriot) was the first of director Maurice Tourneur's two 1938 productions. The incomparable Harry Baur heads the cast as the demented Czar Paul I of Russia. Drunk with power, Paul becomes not only a detriment to his countrymen, but also a clear and present danger. Pahlen (Pierre Renoir), military governor of St. Petersburg, sadly realizes that the only hope for Russia's salvation is Paul's death. Despite his patriotic motives, Pahlen is accused of murdering the Czar for his own political gain, forcing him to take very extremes measure to prove his loyalty and sincerity. A silent version of The Patriot, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Emil Jannings, was filmed in 1927. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Les Cinq Gentlemen Maudits (The Five Accursed Gentlemen), Julien Duvivier's second talkie, was also the second in a series of five box-office hits for the prolific director. The scene is Morocco, where a local soothsayer predicts the death of five men. After three of the "cursed" quintet die under mysterious circumstances, the focus shifts on the fourth, millionaire Harry Baur. It is up to wealthy young Rene Lefevbre, the boyfriend of Baur's niece Rosine Derean, to save his future uncle-in-law from harm -- and to sift out the truth behind the three previous deaths. Like many French films of the era, Les Cinq Gentlemen Maudits is rife with "plugs" for various advertisers, notably a well-known Parisian interior decorating firm. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Les Miserables is perhaps the most frequently filmed novel in screen history. This 1933 French version of the Victor Hugo classic is the most epic in proportion, though the human elements of the story are kept in sharp focus by director Raymond Bernard and star Harry Baur. Baur plays Jean Valjean, an essentially decent man imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread and transformed into a dehumanized outlaw. His faith in humanity restored by the kindliness of a bishop (Henry Krauss), Valjean goes to a small village to start life anew, but is pursued throughout his life for breaking parole by relentless police officer Javert (Charles Vanel). The various stages of Valjean's life--from convict to businessman to elderly martyr--were bounded by the film's original three-part structure. Part one, Tempete sous un Crane, ran two hours; part two, Les Thenardiers, was 90 minutes; and part three, Liberte, Liberté Cherie clocked in at 95. The American version of Les Miserables was spliced down to 165 minutes, with all three parts combined into one, then was withdrawn to avoid competition with 20th Century Pictures' 1935 Les Miserables. Years later, director Bernard himself pared down his film to two parts: Jean Valjean (109 minutes), and Cosette (100 minutes, with Josseline Gael in the title role). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

From 1931 to 1934, Russian director Victor Tourjansky made Paris his headquarters. The last of his French productions was 1934's Les Yeux Noirs, released in the U.S. the following year as Dark Eyes. The alluring Simone Simon stars as Tania, the daughter of Moscow headwaiter Ivan Ivanovitch (Harry Baur). Ashamed of his profession -- especially when he's expected to "pimp" for his more lecherous customers -- Ivan hides the truth from his daughter. Imagine his shock and dismay when he inadvertently arranges an assignation between the innocent Tania and the not-so-innocent Rudin (Jean Max). How can Ivan rescue his daughter from a Fate Worse Than Death without revealing his complicity in that fate? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi