Paul Meurisse Movies
Usually described as a "French general purpose actor," Paul Meurisse left clerical work for a music-hall career. He began making films in 1941, but was relatively unknown until his engagement to famed French songstress Edith Piaf, through whose sponsorship he attained better movie roles. Like most of Piaf's impulsive romances, Meurisse was soon discarded, but he managed to do quite well for himself in semi-serious character roles. Paul Meurisse's most famous screen role was as the apparently murdered husband in Henri-Georges Clouzot's labyrinthine thriller Diabolique (1954). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1945
Marie la Misere (Destitute Mary) was based on the stage play by Jean Felise. Pierre Renoir plays a business executive who supports impecunious heroine Madeline Sologne's musical aspirations. When he gets too busy to pay attention to the girl, Renoir allows her to live with impoverished musician Raymond Pellegrin. By and by, Sologne and Pellegrin fall in love, which results in profound emotional complications when Renoir sends the girl a huge cash amount to subsidize her career. It develops that Sologne is only truly happy when she's poor -- something that Renoir never learns, much to his regret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Sologne, Paul Meurisse, (more)
- 1945
The title of this French action comedy translates as The Uncatchable Frederic. The Frederic of the title is a character created by novelist Renee St. Cyr. Determined to secure an interview, reporter Paul Meurisse pretends to be Frederic in the flesh, confounding and fascinating St. Cyr. Naturally, she falls in love with her come-to-life "hero," even after ascertaining Meurisse's true identity. The Pirandellian aspects of the film are a bit confusing, but the slapstick and farcical content of the story delighted French filmgoers in 1946. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renée Saint-Cyr, Denise Grey, (more)
- 1946
Generally forgotten today, Macadam opened to good reviews and excellent business when it first came out in 1946. The film takes place in the "demimonde" of Paris' Montmartre district. The incomparable Francoise Rosay heads the cast in this atmospheric, melodramatic yarn about French gangsters, their mistresses, and various and assorted "ladies of the evening." Much of the critical attention was centered around Simone Signoret, in her first major screen role. In America, Macadam was released (in a heavily expurgated version!) as Back Streets of Paris. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Françoise Rosay, Paul Meurisse, (more)
- 1946
Paul Meurisse, who made an excellent impression on international audiences with such previous films as Macadam, heads the cast of L'Inspecteur Sergil. Meurisse is cast as the titular police inspector, hot on the trail of a mysterious murderer. As it turns out, the star has to carry virtually the entire picture on his own shoulders; the supporting cast is unusually inadequate, with one or two of the actors downright inept. Even undiscriminating film fans tended to chuckle at the film's shortcomings. For the record, L'Inspecteur Sergil was based on a novel by Jacques Rey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liliane Bert
- 1947
Danielle Darrieux stars as Arabella Delvaire in this baroque adaptation of Pierre Benoit's novel Bethshabee. Arabella is a woman of the world who arrives at a remote Foreign Legion outpost for a rendezvous with her current lover, Captain Duveuil. It so happens that one of Arabella's previous amours, Captain Somerville (Paul Meurisse), is also serving at the same post. So much for joining the Foreign Legion to forget. A climactic knife duel "solves" the film's various plot complications. Despite its Foreign Legion background, Bethsabee has next to no action, which must have made things difficult when the film was distributed to the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Georges Marchal, (more)
- 1948
The Red Angel is the name of a fancy French nightclub where most of this film's action transpires. The story concentrates on three individuals. Berval plays Tonio Beretta, who after a life of crime has decided to reform and go into the nightclub business. Paul Meurisse plays Pierre Mavignac, an escaped criminal who won't let Beretta forget his past. Tilda Thamar plays sexy chanteuse Rita Tyndar, who ungratefully dumps her benefactor Beretta in favor of the more exciting (and more dangerous) Pierre. It is giving nothing away to note that at least one of these three characters will be shot full of holes by film's end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tilda Thamar, Paul Meurisse, (more)
- 1950
The English-language title of this French romantic drama is Maria of End of World. The title character, played by Denise Cardy, is the wife of self-styled naturalist Mathius (Paul Meurisse). Alas, Maria's husband spends more time with his beloved woodland creatures than with her. Yearning for a visit to the Big City, Maria leaves herself wide open for disillusionment and heartbreak. Maria du Bout du Monde was regarded as a potboiler when originally released in France; it was hardly regarded at all when released in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Meurisse, Jacques Berthier, (more)
The greatest film that Alfred Hitchcock never made, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Diabolique is set in a provincial boarding school run by headmaster Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse). A ruthless lothario, he becomes the target of a murder plot concocted by his long-suffering invalid wife Christina (Vera Clouzot, the director's own spouse) and his latest mistress, an icy teacher played by Simone Signoret. A dark, dank thriller with a much-imitated "shock" ending, Diabolique is a masterpiece of Grand Guignol suspense. The simple murder plot goes haywire, and Michel's corpse disappears, prompting strange rumors of his reappearance which grow more and more substantial as the film careens wildly towards its breathless conclusion. Later remade as a greatly inferior 1996 Hollywood feature with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, (more)
