Mme. Paquerette Movies
- 1958
Montparnasse 19 is better known as Modigliani, which is also the name of its protagonist. In broad, melodramatic strokes, screenwriter Max Ophuls and director Jacques Becker offer their spin on the tragic, troubled life of Italian abstract painter Amedeo Modigliani. As played by Gerard Philipe, Modigliani is first seen as the derelict he became during his days as a resident of rundown Montparnasse in 1919. His one chance for redemption through the love of the beautiful Jeanne (Anouk Aimee) is thwarted by his hateful family. Another contributing factor to Modigliani's downfall is debauched English novelist Beatrice Hastings (Lili Palmer). The Modigliani depicted in Montparnasse 19 makes Vincent Van Gogh look like Pat Boone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Anouk Aimée, (more)
- 1955
Beautifully photographed, this comedy drama from Jean Renoir chronicles the revival of Paris' most notorious dance as it tells the story of a theater producer who turns a humble washerwoman into a star at the Moulin Rouge. The film is also title Only the French Can. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Maria Felix, (more)
- 1927
Rex Ingram directed this romantic tale of passion about pious Father Adrian (Ivan Petrovich) who has taken a vow of silence, prayer, and chastity in order to gain entrance into the Trappist monastery of Notre Dame d'Afrique in Algeria. But his vows are broken when a young girl accuses him of an illicit embrace. Though Adrian is forced to undergo penance, the thought of the girl in his arms is too much for his fragile libido, so he renounces his vows for a life of debauchery. He takes off into the desert, reverting back to his secular name, Boris Androvsky. When he passes the oasis of Beni-Mora, he saves Domini Enfilden (Alice Terry) from a riot. Domini is devoutly religious, and she takes notice when, at a party at the home of Count Anteoni (Marcel Vibert), Androvsky shies away from the priests and their crucifixes. Nevertheless, Domini and Androvsky fall in love and they decide to marry. As they leave for a desert honeymoon, Androvsky has to decide whether or not to confess his true religious identity to Domini. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Terry, Ivan Petrovich, (more)
- 1926
Having struck box-office gold with his adaptation of the mystical Vincent Blasco-Ibanez novel The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, producer-director Rex Ingram adapted another Ibanez best-seller, Mare Nostrum, as a vehicle for his hauntingly beautiful actress wife Alice Terry. Set during WWI, the film casts Terry as Freya Talberg, a German secret agent. Though she seems to have ice water in her veins (there's even a hint that she prefers the company of women over men), Freya loses her heart to a Spanish sea captain, Ulysses Ferragut (Antonio Moreno). As a result, she is captured and sentenced to be executed, going to her death with a poise and dignity befitting a Joan of Arc. The firing-squad sequence is the film's piece de resistance, brilliantly photographed from the heroine's point of view by ace cinematographer John F. Seitz. Perhaps because virtually all the major characters die at the end, the film was a financial flop, even though its anti-war sentiments were perfectly attuned to the mid-1920s. For many years one of the most highly sought-after "lost" films, Mare Nostrum was restored to a reasonable approximation of its original tinted and toned glory in the late 1970s and has been shown several times over the Turner Classic Movies cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Terry, Uni Apollon, (more)
