Michèle Morgan Movies

Pierre Clementi plays the title role in the French-filmed Benjamin. A callow teenager of the 18th century, Benjamin spends a summer with his worldly relatives on their summer estate. An orphan girl (Catherine Deneuve) living on a neighboring estate, inaugurates an affair with Benjamin. In true La Ronde fashion, the girl then sleeps with a landed-gentry (Michel Piccoli), who sleeps with a countess (Michelle Morgan), who ends up in the sack with her nephew Benjamin. Benjamin has also been released under the faintly misleading title The Diary of an Innocent Boy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film is comprised of three vignettes focusing upon women and war. The first episode, set in WW II, chronicles the sad journey of an American woman who goes to Italy to bring her husband's body home. In Italy she makes a heart-wrenching discovery: he had been living with an Italian family and had impregnated their daughter and sees the child. The second story chronicles the abandonment of Joan of Arc, by her king and her soldiers. The third episode is a humorous adaptation of "Lysistrata," the Greek play where Athenian wives refused to sleep with their husbands until they stopped making war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Children who want to use an old hotel room for a clubhouse stumble across evidence of a sunken Nazi treasure in this watered-down adventure. Michele Morgan and Paul Hubschmidt co-star and provide the more memorable performances in this tepid thriller. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this sentimental, tragicomic drama, Matteo Scuro (Marcello Mastroianni) is an old widower living in Sicily. His five grown children have scattered all over Italy, and he has heard nothing but glowing reports from them about their lives and careers. One day he takes it into his head to visit these paragons who have fulfilled every one of his ambitions for them. Eventually he discovers that all his children have been lying to him for a very long time because they were afraid to disappoint their papa; their lives are shabby and very much on the edge, and one of them has long-since committed suicide (unbeknownst to him). This daunting truth provokes a heart attack in the old man, who still has a few lies yet to tell and hear, because he insists (as do his children) that "everything is fine." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This is a routine, somewhat melodramatic wartime tale set in Occupied France and featuring Michele Morgan as Juliette, a woman with two children who is forced to flee the occupied zone for the French free zone after her partisan husband is captured by the Germans. Juliette cannot manage this escape with her family on her own and so Fortunat (Bourvil) agrees to escort her across the checkpoints, posing as her husband. That is not an easy bluff because he is a simple peasant while she is from the upper echelons of the social hierarchy. Matters become complicated when they cross paths with a deported Jewish family, and even more complicated when Fortunat and Juliette start to fall in love. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Higher and Higher was advertised by RKO Radio as "The Sinatra Show", and small wonder: In his first major film role, Frank Sinatra was easily the film's biggest box-office draw. Actually, Frankie was a last minute addition to the film, which began as a traditional adaptation of a popular Broadway musical. Repeating his original stage role, Jack Haley plays Mike, the head servant in the household of millionaire Mr. Drake (Leon Errol). When Drake faces bankruptcy, Mike rallies the servants together and cooks up a moneymaking scheme: they'll pass off pretty scullery maid Millie (Michele Morgan) as Drake's daughter, and marry her off to a wealthy bachelor. Complicating matters is Sir Bictor Fitzroy Victor (Victor Borge), an impoverished nobleman who is himself looking for a rich wife. Mike saves the day with a last-minute discovery in the wine cellar, but not before a series of hilarious and tuneful plot twists involving Millie, heiress Katherine (Barbara Hale), and hired help Mickey (Marcy McGuire) and Marty (Mel Torme). Hastily written into the proceedings as Drake's next door neighbor, Sinatra croons several standards-to-be, including "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" and "This is a Lovely Way to Spend an Evening"; he also is arbitrarily permitted the film's closing shot, emerging from heavenly clouds like the Second Coming of Music. Thanks to the film's enormous box-office take, everybody was happy with Higher and Higher--except Jack Haley, understandably miffed that his onetime starring role was whittled down to a supporting part to allow more screen time for the estimable Mr. Sinatra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The English-language title of L'Entraineuse is Nightclub Hostess, the profession held down by leading lady Michele Morgan. Tired of her job and its tawdry trappings, Morgan jumps at the chance to enjoy a 15-day vacation on the Riviera. So as to avoid being ostracized, our heroine keeps her nightclub background a secret, passing herself off as a respectable young lady to her new circle of friends. This leads to a blissful romance with handsome, upright young college student Gilbert Gil. Alas, when Morgan's gangster acquaintance Andrex and his moll Giselle Preville arrive on the scene, the girl's dreams for a rosy future are irreparably shattered. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

La Bella Que Volla is based on The Career of Doris Hart, a glossy, soap opera-ish novel by Vicki Baum. Michele Morgan plays a young ballerina named Jeanine, who falls in love with dangerously impulsive artist Pierre (Henri Vidal). When Pierre finds Jeanine in the arms of another, he shoots her. Jeanine survives, but just barely. Though her heart has been irreparably damaged, her ardor for Pierre does not cool. She returns to the ballet, in order to raise enough money to spring Pierre from prison. There won't be a dry eye in the house during the film's final ten minutes. La Bella Que Volla affords the viewer the rare opportunity to see prima ballerina Ludmila Tcherina in action. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

La Minute de Verite (The Moment of Truth) stars Jean Gabin as happily married French physician Pierre. Upon treating a would-be suicide, Pierre finds out that his patient was once the lover of the doctor's wife Madeleine (Michele Morgan). Confronting his wife with this information, Pierre is compelled to trace back the history of his 10-year marriage to find out what went wrong. Director Jean Delannoy combines some very perceptive views of the human condition with moments of unexpected shock and sensationalism. Otherwise, La Minute de Verite is more straightforward and less laden with symbolism than earlier Delannoy works. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This black comedy is based on the dastardly deeds of French serial killer Henri-Desire Landru, who wined, dined, scammed, and dismembered over 10 women during WW I. He obtained his victims by placing ads in the Personals section of the paper. He then chose wealthy dowagers in their fifties. First he would woo them to his villa. Then he would con them into forking over their fortunes. Finally he would kill them, chop them up, and immolate the pieces. He is finally captured after he is recognized by the sister of one of the victims. Landru swears that he is not a psychotic killer, that he only did it so he could continue to support his family in the bourgeoisie style that they were accustomed to. During his trial, Landru refused to plead for himself one way or the other; he showed no remorse at all. He was guillotined on February 25, 1922. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Somewhere between his more celebrated Walls of Malapaga and Forbidden Games, French filmmaker Rene Clement squeezed in the romantic drama Le Chateau de Verre. The film is based on a novel by Vicki Baum, of Grand Hotel fame. Michele Morgan stars as Evelyn, a married woman taking a vacation without her husband. Evelyn enjoys a brief but intense romance with Remy (Jean Marais), another vacationer. Later on, Remy suffers the taunts of his much-older mistress Marie (Elina Labourdette) who feels that he is an inadequate lover. Hoping to prove something to himself, he visits Evelyn once more. By now, however, she is suffering the pangs of guilt and remorse over her infidelity. Eventually she does return to Remy, but the consequences are disastrous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With Mirror Has Two Faces (Miroir a Deux Faces), French director Andre Cayatte takes a respite from his usual broadsides against the iniquities of the French judicial system. Michele Morgan stars as a plain, middle-aged woman, miserably unhappy with her go-nowhere existence. She submits to plastic surgery, and as the years are cosmetically removed she vows to alter her life. The first major change is in her relationship with her self-involved schoolmaster husband (Bourvil). Where once he'd taken Morgan for granted, the husband now reacts with lunatic jealousy whenever anyone comes near her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide