Michèle Morgan Movies

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

Heart of a Nation was filmed in 1940, just after the Nazi occupation of Paris. The film traces the fortunes of the Froment family of Montmartre, from the Franco-Prussian war of 1871 to World War II. Comedy and tragedy are deftly blended throughout; Raimu's visit to the Moulin Rouge is as hilarious as Michele Morgan's loss of an arm during World War I is heartbreaking. When the Nazis became privy to the existence of Heart of a Nation, they ordered its director (Julien Duvivier) arrested and the negative destroyed. Both director and negative managed to escape to the U.S., where a dubbed version of Heart of a Nation was finally made available in 1943. Intriguingly enough, the man responsible for the salvation of the film was a German officer who happened to be a fan of Duvivier's work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally filmed and released in 1941 as Remorques, this heavy-breathing French melodrama was distributed stateside in 1946 as Stormy Waters. The film was a typical Jean Gabin vehicle, replete with two-fisted action, star-crossed romance and intense emotional turbulence. Gabin plays Laurent, a salvage-boat captain who rescues a merchant vessel from a storm-tossed sea. The vessel's far-from-grateful captain (Jean Marchat) manages to skip without paying Laurent his salvage money, leaving behind his wife Catherine (Michele Morgan). Tending to Catherine's injuries until they reach port, Laurent falls in love with the woman, despite the fact that he is already married to the seriously ill Yvonne (Madeleine Renaud). It takes a lot of doing, but Laurent eventually ends his affair and allows his own wife to expire believing that he's been 100% faithful. An enormous success in France, Stormy Waters was picked up for American distribution by MGM, which surprisingly buried the film in its second-string houses. ~ 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

This French-German co-production stars Jean Gabin in his standard screen role of a fugitive from justice. Unable to return to his own country, Trott Lennart (Gabin) takes a job with a gun-running operation in Mexico. Even though it is proven that Lennart is innocent of the charges against him, his current illegal activities arouse the attentions of diligent detective Abboy (Pierre Renoir), who harbors a long-standing grudge against the hero. Escaping to the woods, Lennart links up with Lillian White (Michele Morgan), likewise escaping from the Law. Not quite as fatalistic as many French productions of the era, the film permits hero and heroine to escape scot free, though with a few unusual conditions. Written by the prolific Charles Spaak, Recif de Corail was released in the U.S. as Coral Reefs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide