Sandra Milovanoff Movies
- 1929
Silent films that were produced at the end of the silent era tend to be overlooked when praise for outstanding filmmaking is handed out. This premiere production by Charles Vanel is no exception. It was shot in 1929, when "talkies" were already the mainstay of all new productions. Even when it was made, this remarkable film was overlooked, and the director (Vanel) had to make his mark as an actor, instead. He had the longest film career of any French actor: his first film appearance was in 1912, his last in 1988, and he was in over 200 films. His remarkable career was honored in 1970 by the Cannes Film Festival with a lifetime achievement award. Dans la nuit, revived in 1989, (the year Vanel died) was belatedly recognized as a classic of silent filmmaking. The story concerns a newlywed quarry worker, and the strategems he devises to avoid repulsing his wife after an accident which results in his having a horribly mutilated face. Among other things, he wears a veil to hide his deformity. Eventually, his beloved wife takes a new lover (also a quarry worker) and in order to avoid detection he sometimes wears a veil, simply to hide his face. The worker discovers the deception, and a primal struggle between the two men begins. Even now, the outcome of that struggle has the power to surprise. The studio Vanel worked for insisted that he tack on a happy-ending sequence ("it was just a dream"), and reviewers suggest that viewers leave the theatre or stop the video to avoid having that saccharine contrivance spoil the dark moodiness of the original film. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Milovanoff, Charles Vanel, (more)
- 1926
This mammoth French adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables was originally released at 20 reels, running approximately 4 1/2 hours. It is the familiar story of the hapless Jean Valjean (M. Bagriel Gabrio), who after stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family is sentenced to twenty years at hard labor. Even after his release, Valjean is hounded by relentless parole officer Javert (Jean Toulout). Given a new lease on life by a compassionate priest, Valjean adopts an alias and starts life anew, becoming a prosperous provincial businessman -- only to have his livelihood threatened by Javert, who has vowed to pursue Valjean to the ends of the earth for violating his parole. And so it goes, with a colorful and ever-growing cast of supporting characters fleshing out Valjean's tale of woe. Doggedly faithful to the Victor Hugo original (which is more than can be said for most subsequent versions), Les Miserables was distributed in the U.S. by Universal, who released the film in a truncated three-hour version after abandoning plans to divide the picture into two parts, to be run on consecutive evenings. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Milovanoff, Renee Carl, (more)
- 1925
One of actor/director René Clair's earliest successes, the silent Le Fantome du Moulin Rouge follows in the French cinema tradition of moody, atmospheric, morbid fantasies that began with the Les Vampires serials and continued through Jacques Tourneur's Cat People. In Le Fantome, a ghost wreaks havoc on the streets of Paris while policemen and doctors search for the dead man to whom the ghost's spirit once belonged. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandra Milovanoff, Madeleine Rodrigue, (more)
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