André Nox Movies
- 1937
This 1938 sci-fi and horror-tinged war drama from writer/director Abel Gance is an updated remake of Gance's own 1919 silent feature of the same name. J'accuse stars Victor Francen as Jean Diaz, a scientist who, after witnessing the unspeakable horrors of the battlefield during the First World War, dedicated his life to ensuring that history doesn't repeat itself. Diaz eventually invents a device that promises to bring an end to war forever. However, with WWII on the horizon, the government instead opts to use the machine against its enemies rather than for peace. This drives Diaz to the brink of insanity and leads him to resort to more unexpected measures to get his point across. Line Noro and Marie Lou also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Line Noro, Renee Devillers, (more)
- 1936
This fascinating biography chronicles the years in which the master composer began to lose his hearing. The director's use of sound to represent Beethoven's affliction is notable. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Baur, Annie Ducaux, (more)
Czechoslovakian director Gutav Machaty's experimental romantic idyll, replete with soggy symbolism, was a cause celebre upon its release in 1932 due to a lyrical -- and nude-- midnight swim by a young Hedy Lamarr. Lamarr plays Eva, a child bride whose husband shows a singular lack of interest in physical intimacy on their wedding night. Frustrated and searching for a quick roll in the hay to alleviate her sexual tension, Eva offers herself to a roadway engineer. Taking off her clothes, she engages in a leisurely swim. But when a horse bolts with her duds, she gives chase, running smack into the engineer, who calmly hands her clothes to her. The two plan to run away together, but when her husband commits suicide in despair, she decides not to leave. Some time afterward, Eva is seen with a happy and contented look upon her face, the result of her secret liaison being the little baby in her arms. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hedy Lamarr, André Nox, (more)
- 1933
Keeping one step ahead of the Nazis, German director Kurt (Curtis) Bernhardt fled to Paris to film this French-language adaptation of Bernard Kellerman's novel The Tunnel. Jean Gabin heads the cast as two-fisted engineer Mac Allen, whose sole ambition in life is to build a Transatlantic tunnel from New York to Europe. It takes him 15 years to achieve this goal, thanks to the crooked machinations of his own boss, among many others. His ultimate success is bittersweet, inasmuch as Allen's wife Mary (Madeleine Renaud) dies in an accident just before the tunnel's completion. Threatened with expulsion from the French film industry, director Bernhardt was obliged to film a German version of The Tunnel in Munich, resulting in his arrest by the Gestapo, from which he escaped by the skin of his teeth. An English-language version of the film, directed by Maurice Elvey and retitled Transatlantic Tunnel, was completed in 1935, utilizing a wealth of stock footage from Bernhardt's original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Renaud, Jean Gabin, (more)
- 1932
Ceux du Viking (Those of the Viking) is a filmed account of the Frissel-Ginet expedition to the Arctic circle. Varick Frissel, a world-reknown hunter, was joined in his odyssey to the Arctic by Rene Ginet, a correspondent for a French movie "trade" magazine. Ginet's footage of the expedition was later enhanced by several studio-shot scenes, none of which were remarkably convincing. The "reality" footage concentrates on seal hunting, with several gruesome shots of the animals being clubbed to death. Animal lovers could take some comfort in the fact that the Viking, Frissel's sailing vessel, exploded during the expedition, temporarily marooning its crew. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Monnier, André Nox, (more)
- 1929
S.O.S was the last of six films directed in 1927 by Carmine Gallone. The story gets off to a lively start with a spectacular collision at sea between two enormous ocean liners. As the ship sinks, philandering husband Alfrons Fryland and his new bride Liane Haid are rescued separately, each believing that the other has drowned. Heading to Africa to forget his troubles, Fryland proves easy prey for vampish Gina Manes. Meanwhile, the grief-stricken Haid accepts a job as a female clown with a travelling circus. During a native insurrection, Fryland and Haid are reunited -- but Fryland doesn't recognize his heavily made-up spouse. Wounded in the fray, the husband is rescued by his "lost" wife, at which point everything is explained. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1929
Werner Krauss stars as The Jolly Peasant in this not-always-jolly confection. For the sake of his son, an aspiring priest, Krauss goes heavily into debt to finance the boy's evangelical education. But the son changes his mind and decides to become a doctor, breaking his old dad's heart. Metamorphosing into an impossible snob, the son doesn't even bother to invite his father to his high-society wedding. It is the boy's new bride, of peasant stock herself, who brings the young snot to his senses and arranges a reunion between father and son. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Werner Krauss, Carmen Boni, (more)
- 1925
American leading lady Betty Blythe played the title character in the French-produced Daughter of Israel. The ever-maturing Blythe is cast as the gaminelike granddaughter of a Turkish rabbi, who is taken out of her cozy environs by a music-hall star and transformed into a cabaret dancer. It isn't that she hates the work; it's simply that she feels she has turned her back on her people. Blythe is rescued by an elderly Jewish leader who takes her to a Zionist colony in Palestine. She marries her benefactor, but her heart remains with her true love back in Constantinople. Daughter of Israel was originally released in 1925 under the title Le Puits de Jacob. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Blythe, Annette Benson, (more)
