Jean Murat Movies
After serving in WWI as a news correspondent, Jean Murat began an acting career, making his first movie appearance in 1922. Even in his forties, Murat retained the youthful leading man looks that had vaulted him to stardom. He was particularly well served by his roles in Feyder's La Kermesse Heroique (in 1935 as the Duke) and Delannoy's L'Eternal Retour (in 1943 as Marc). Murat's handful of English-languages appearances include Hollywood's On the Riviera (1951) and Rich, Young and Pretty (1951), neither of which were worthy of his talents. Jean Murat was at one time the husband of French leading lady Annabella, who later was the wife of Tyrone Power. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
This drama, based on a true story, chronicles the exploits of a gorgeous Greek actress who decrees that she will marry the winner of the 26-mile marathon at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens. It will be the first time the race has been run in 2,672 years. The actress does this because she is sure that her true-love will win. The real winner is a poor shepherd. Fortunately, the shepherd would rather marry another. The film contains actual Olympic Games footage. Much of the story was shot on location. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jayne Mansfield, Trax Colton, (more)
- 1962
The seven major sins receive treatment from some of France's greatest directors in this lively portmanteau. "Anger" by Dhomme, chronicles a single horrific day when every bowl of soup in France is found to contain a fly. This causes a devastating nationwide revolt. "Envy" by Molinaro tells the story of a chambermaid whose dream of sleeping with a millionaire comes true. Unfortunately, she goes back to work and finds herself still consumed with jealousy. De Broca's "Gluttony" provides one of the film's most enjoyable episodes as it follows the exploits of a voracious family heading off for a funeral. "Lust" by Demy is set at a Parisian sidewalk cafe and eavesdrops upon the lusty conversation between two young men, one of whom has x-ray eyes that enable him to see through women's clothing. "Laziness" by Godard features real life matinee idol Constantine as a movie star who finds himself too sluggish to respond to the starlet trying so hard to seduce him. "Pride" by Roger Vadim tells the satirical tale of a philandering wife who changes her mind and stays with her husband after learning that her happy home is being threatened by another woman. Finally in Chabrol's "Greed," young men who have pooled their meager resources to buy a prostitute, fight for the chance to be with her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Charrier, Marie-José Nat, (more)
- 1961
Wearing the title garment, a daring night rider sets off to get revenge upon the wicked, avaricious magistrate responsible for murdering his father and keeping his neighbors in poverty. This Italian chronicle of his exciting exploits is set in Pisa during the 1500s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
This conventional, unimaginative drama is about a coterie of "ladies of the evening" who get themselves embroiled in a cover-up that results in murder and suicide. Life seems to be proceeding as normal until one of the hookers has an elderly client die on her. The women rightly deduce that if their already bad reputation is saddled with a distinction of being sexually lethal, business might deteriorate. And so they decide to hide the body, which starts off a set of circumstances that make matters much worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Valerie, Andreina Pagnani, (more)
- 1959
In this drama, a freighter captain's family suffers financial difficulties. To help them, he involves himself in a plot to destroy his ship so they can collect the insurance money. They plan to destroy the vessel by loading it with a time bomb and then sailing it into an active mine field. En route, a crewman becomes trapped in a boiler and burns to death. This forces the captain to dismantle the bomb. He feels better for having done so and returns to Hamburg, where he learns that not all of his family approved of the plan either. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Mylène Demongeot, (more)
- 1957
Der Fuchs von Paris (The Fox of Paris) is set in Paris, not long after the Allied invasion of the continent in 1944. Hardy Kruger stars as Captain Eustenwerth, a German officer who turns his back on the losing Nazi cause and joins the Resistance. In a similar vein, General Quade (Martin Held) struggles to save the lives of the men he has left by tacitly defying orders from the German High Command. Through a series of unfortunate coincidences and misunderstandings, both of these idealistic individuals find themselves on opposite sides of the fence, culminating in impending execution for Eustenwerth. Director Paul May had helmed a similar story, Duel with Death, in 1947. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marianne Koch, Hardy Kruger, (more)
Two of filmdom's finest farceurs--Hollywood's Bob Hope and France's Fernandel--are teamed in the location-filmed Paris Holiday. Since Hope coauthored the script, however, guess which actor has the largest part. Cast more or less as himself, Hope plays an American comedian who comes to Paris to purchase a script. Little does his suspect that the script contains secret messages pertaining to a vicious gang of counterfeiters. With the help of villainess-turned-heroine Anita Ekberg, Hope is committed to an insane asylum to protect him from the bad guys; he then must rely upon Fernandel to spring him from the looney bin. Throughout Paris Holiday, Bob Hope looks too old and too rich to be indulging in such nonsense. Film buffs will enjoy the brief, unbilled appearance by famed producer-director-writer Preston Sturges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
It took over thirty years for D. H. Lawrence's "forbidden" novel Lady Chatterly's Lover to make it to the big screen, courtesy of director Marc Allegret. Updated to the 1950s, the film stars Danielle Darrieux as Lady Constance Chatterly, comfortably married to wealthy invalid Lord Clifford Chatterly (Leo Genn). Despite her husband's incapacitation, Lady Constance doesn't feel that anything is lacking in her life--until she meets handsome, earthy caretaker Mellors (Erno Crisa). Her sexual awakening is the nucleus of the story, though the film strives hard to avoid overt eroticism, a surprising creative decision for a French film of the mid-1950s. Even so, the dialogue in Lady Chatterly's Lover was ripe enough to be heavily bowdlerized when the film was translated into English. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Erno Crisa, (more)
- 1954
Sacha Guitry's Si Versailles M'Etait Conte (If Versailles Were Told to Me) is best known by its American title Royal Affairs in Versailles. In addtion to writing and directed the film, Guitry reserves for himself the plum role of Louis XIV. Concentrating on the palace of Versailles over a period of 300 years, the storyline concentrates on the various amorous and political intrigues of three French kings. The plot manages to wend its way through the French revolution, coming to a halt in "the present". The star-studded supporting cast includes Jean Marais as Louis XV, Claudette Colbert as Mme. Montespan, Micheline Presle as Mme. Pompadour, and, best of all, Orson Welles as a gouty Ben Franklin. Most currently available prints of Si Versailles M'Etait Conte are severely edited, and fail to do justice to the rich Eastmancolor hues of the original version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sacha Guitry, Michel Auclair, (more)
- 1953
Though his services as a director were no longer required in the 1950s, Erich Von Stroheim kept busy as an actor, especially in the French film industry. Alerte au Sud (Alert in the South) top-bills Von Stroheim as a demented German general who refuses to concede that WW II is over and who continues to conduct his field-marshal tactics at a remote desert outpost. Here he clashes with young lieutenant Jean (Jean-Claude Pascal), who up until now has been the real star of the picture. Long before Von Stroheim makes his entrance, Pascal has kept busy trying to solve the murder of his best friend, bringing him in contact with all sorts of disreputable types. Also weaving in and out of the story is Giana Maria Canale as a sensuous dancer who isn't quite as dishonest or immoral as she seems. The main distinction of Alerte au Sud is that it represents Erich Von Stroheim's first appearance in color, discounting the brief Technicolor sequence in 1928's The Wedding March. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Pascal, Gianna Maria Canale, (more)
- 1951
Rich, Young and Pretty succinctly describes Jane Powell, the heroine of this frothy MGM musical. Vacationing in Paris with her father, Jim Stauton Rogers (Wendell Corey) -- a cattle baron-turned-politician, Elizabeth Rogers (Powell) falls in love with handsome Andre Milan (Vic Damone, in his film debut). She also learns to her surprise that her Gallic mother, Marie (Danielle Darrieux), is not dead as she's been led to believe, but very much alive and very much involved with suave South American Paul Sarnac (Fernando Lamas). The plot is merely there to provide breathing space for the film's ten -- count 'em, ten -- musical numbers. If Rich, Young and Pretty resembles a Deanna Durbin picture at times, it may because it was produced by Durbin's discoverer, Joseph Pasternak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Powell, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
On the Riviera is a remake of 1941's Weekend in Havana, which in turn was a remake of 1934's Folies Bergere. The plot remains the same in all three incarnations: for business purposes, a nightclub entertainer is coerced into posing as his look-alike, a powerful financier/aviator. This time it's Danny Kaye who essays the dual role of American cabaret comedian Jack Martin and French financial wizard Henri Duran. While impersonating Duran, Martin is forced to make amorous advances towards Duran's neglected wife (Gene Tierney), proving himself the better lover in the process. Meanwhile, Martin must mollify his genuine sweetheart (and nightclub partner) Collette (Corinne Calvet) without revealing his ruse. A little too top-heavy in the plot department, On the Riviera must be regarded as a second-echelon Danny Kaye vehicle, though Sylvia Fine's specialty numbers -- especially the eerily autobiographical "Popo the Puppet" -- are well up to standard. One of the uncredited specialty dancers is future Broadway star Gwen Verdon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney, (more)
- 1948
One suspects that the torrid melodrama The Wench had a somewhat stronger title when it was first released in France. The title character, played by Maria Casares, is a cook/housemaid named Carmelle. Hired by wealthy, unmarried farmer Rabasse (Jean Brochard), Carmelle keeps her employer at arm's length until he promises to name her as sole beneficiary in his will. Upon Rabasse's death, Carmelle takes advantage of her new-found wealth and prestige by sleeping with practically every male in town. This being a French film, Carmelle is not required to pay for her sins, as she would have in a Hollywood production. One subplot involving an implicit incestuous relationship would, of course, have been vetoed from the get-go by the American censors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Casarés, Orane Demazis, (more)
- 1943
Eternal Return (L'Eternel Retour) translates the Tristan and Isolde legend into contemporary (e.g. 1939) terms. The Tristan counterpart, Patrice (Jean Marais), falls in love with the modern-day Isolde, named Nathalie. Actually he has fallen for two Nathalies: when Nathalie I (Madeleine Sologne) spurns his offer of marriage, he turns his attentions to Nathalie II (Junie Astor). Still carrying a torch for Nathalie I, Patrice attempts a nocturnal rendezvous with his true love on the eve of his wedding. Because of a tragic blunder, Patrice and Nathalie I are reunited only in death. The dream-like quality of Eternal Return is due more to the input of screenwriter Jean Cocteau than director Jean Delannoy. The film, with its mystical trappings and ethereal performances, can now be viewed as a precursor to Cocteau's own Beauty and the Beast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Marais, Madeleine Sologne, (more)
