Gérard Philipe Movies
If it is true that Gerard Philipe entertained thoughts of becoming a physician, he'd purged himself of such notions before his teen years were over. After studying acting in his native Cannes with Jean Wall and Jean Huet, Philipe was discovered for the stage by veteran performer Claude Dauphin. Philipe's first theatrical success, at age 20, was the title role in Camus' Caligula. In 1947, after a few negligible movie roles, he exploded upon the European film scene in Autant-Lara's Le Diable a Corps, playing Francois Jaubert, a callow youth in love with much-older and very married Micheline Presle. Superstardom followed almost immediately: female filmgoers doted upon Philipe's sensitive, handsome features and strapping physique, while men identified with his soulfulness and introspection. Far more versatile than your average romantic lead ("Whenever you thought he had reached his limit, there was still more," enthused director Rene Clair), Philipe contributed a wealth of highly varied film characterizations: Faust in Beauty and the Devil (1950), the tongue-in-cheek titular swashbuckler in Fanfan the Tulip (1952), the artist Modigliani in Montparnasse 19 (1957), and so on. And let us not overlook Philipe's inspired performances as the hedonistically ambitious antiheroes in the Stendhal adaptations La Chartreuse de Parme (1947) and The Red and the Black (1954). In 1956, Phillipe both directed and starred in a filmization of the old folk tale Till Eulenspiegel. While working on Bunuel's Le Fievre Monte a El Pao (1959), Philipe either succumbed to cancer or was stricken by a fatal heart attack; he was one week shy of his 37th birthday. Like Rudolph Valentino, Jean Harlow and James Dean before him, Phillipe passed from the scene at the peak of his popularity and with his legend intact. In 1961, his image was used on a French commemorative stamp--an honor hitherto bestowed upon only one other actor, the immortal Raimu. Gerard Philipe's widow Anne has written two memoirs of her husband's life: Souvenirs (1960), No Longer Than a Sigh (1964). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1945
Having been forced to put his directorial career on hold during WWII, Georges Lacombe returned to the screen with Le Pays Sans Etoilles (Land Without Stars). Based on a novel by Pierre Vary, the film utilizes the old gimmick of featuring the same cast of characters in two different parallel-development stories. The protagonists weather a crisis in contemporary times, then undergo much the same experiences as different characters a hundred years earlier. The flashback-within-flashback structure would seem to be inspired by such American films as Citizen Kane and Passage to Marseilles, though neither film was in general distribution in France during the war years. Le Pays Sans Etoilles was released at the same time as Etoile Sans Lumiere (Star without Light), leading some critics to confuse the two films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jany Holt, Pierre Brasseur, (more)
- 1946
This is just a casual observation, but it's highly possible that more film adaptations of the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky were made in France than in Russia. In 1946 there appeared a faithful (if by necessity truncated) French version of the Russian novelist's The Idiot. Gerard Philipe plays the title character, Russian prince Myshkin, who returns to St. Petersburg after a stay in a Swiss mental hospital. The Prince is not literally a mental midget; he is considered an idiot because, as an honest and upright person, he cannot keep pace with the evil in the world. He busies himself with the petty problems of his aristocratic friends, which drive him back into the recesses of insanity. Edwige Feuillere costars as Nastasia, the woman of loose morals who turns out to be the only person who truly cares about Myshkin's welfare, while Lucien Coedel plays the nominal villain of the piece, an iconoclastic flour merchant named Rogozhin, whose passion for Nastasia culminates in tragedy. L'Idiot was remade in Japan by Akira Kurosawa in 1951, and in Russia in 1959. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Edwige Feuillère, (more)
- 1947
Released in France as Le Diable au Corps, The Devil in the Flesh stars Micheline Presle as a nurse at a French military hospital during World War I. Gerard Philipe costars as a high school student who carries a torch for the older Presle. Under pressure from her parents to marry, Presle begins an affair with the boy, but gives up on him when he proves to be far too immature and jealous for her tastes. After a deliberately inconsiderate act on Philipe's part, Presle opts for a loveless marriage with a soldier who is about to head for the front. When Philipe selfishly reenters her life, she resumes the affair, becoming pregnant by the boy. The end result of Philipe's callous behavior is tragedy for all concerned. The Devil in the Flesh is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Raymond Radiguet, who died of typhoid fever at the age of 20. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Micheline Presle, Gérard Philipe, (more)
French filmmaker Christian-Jaque directs the 1948 melodrama La Chartreuse de Parme. Gérard Philipe plays the Marquis Fabrice del Dongo, a member of the clergy who chooses love over the church. Unfortunately, this sets off a lot a problems for both him and his sweetheart, the Dutchess Gina de San Servina (Maria Casarés). The original musical score is by Renzo Rossellini. This black-and-white film won the best cinematography award at the 1948 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Renée Faure, (more)
- 1949
The astoundingly prolific French filmmaker Jean Boyer turned out only one film in 1948. Tous les Chemins Menent a Rome stars Gerard Phillipe as Gabriel, a bookish professor who is convinced he is coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress. Actually, Gabriel has misunderstood the situation: the damsel is actually a Hollywood movie star named Laura (Micheline Presle), rehearsing a scene from her latest picture. Still, Laura is amused by Gabriel's earnestness, and decides to string him along. Thanks to Laura's encouragement, Gabriel actually does become a hero, but not in the way that he expects. The film has a breezy, circus-like atmosphere, much like the later Jerry Lewis films so beloved by French cineasts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Micheline Presle, Marcelle Arnold, (more)
- 1949
Some film historians regard Yves Allegret's Une si Jolie Petite Plage (aka Such a Pretty Little Beach and Riptide) as the French director's finest work. Yet, it was twice ignored by American filmgoers when it was released in the U.S. in February and July of 1949. Perhaps those filmgoers weren't prepared for Allegret's merciless, almost sadistic assault on audience sensibilities. Gerard Phillipe plays Pierre, who escapes to a coastal village in Northern France after accidentally killing a famous singer. Pierre had grown up in the village and had hoped to find inner peace by returning to his roots. Instead, the grotesque pettiness of the local townsfolk, the duplicity of friends and "loved ones," and the relentlessly rotten weather conjoin to drive Pierre to desperation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Madeleine Robinson, (more)
- 1950
It has been said that French filmmaker Christian-Jacque specialized in two types of films: romantic mysteries and the celebration of historical artifacts. Souvenirs Perdus(1951) falls into both categories. The titular "lost souvenirs" are four unclaimed items, left in the Paris lost-and-found department. Each item has a story all its own, as Christian-Jacque entertainingly demonstrates. The first story concerns a pair of elderly lovers; the second is all about a police officer who pines over a beautiful girl; the third is a grim tale of the fateful meeting between a murderer and a potential suicide; and the fourth is the lighthearted saga of a playboy who finally outsmarts himself. Starring in these vignettes are such Gallic favorites as Pierre Brasseur, Bernard Blier, Yves Montand, Gerard Philipe and Suzy Delair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edwige Feuillère, Danièle Delorme, (more)
- 1950
La Beaute du Diable came into being when French filmmaker Rene Clair became fascinated with a structural defect in the "Faust" legend. Clair felt that the beginning and end of the story was perfect, but the middle section, wherein the title character blasphemes the Pope, was "silly." The director also wondered what would happen if, instead of forcing Faust to sign his soul away in exchange for happiness and knowledge, the Devil were to ask for nothing, and simply assume that Faust would sign the contract at a later date. As played by Michel Simon, Clair's devil -- or Mephisto --is actually quite a likeable fellow. In fact, he's more fun to be around than the somewhat ethereal Faust of Gerard Philipe. In establishing the "reality" of his fantasy, Clair utilizes several adroit camera tricks to get the audience to swallow the tale. Nicole Besnard co-stars as Marguerite, the vessel of Faust's ultimate redemption. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Simon, Gérard Philipe, (more)
- 1950
An exercise in style, La Ronde was one of the few films of the 1950s to contain overtly sexual themes. The story is a series of character vignettes, set in Vienna in the early 1900s and held together by a narrator (Anton Walbrook). As the title implies, both the story and the film's visual motifs are circular. Director Max Ophuls uses an old-fashioned merry-go-round to foreshadow the film's events, in which each segment introduces a new character, who has an affair with a character from the previous scene. The film demands that the audience pay attention to the structure, to the interplay among the characters, and to the opulent visual elements; and the effect is synergistic delight, in which the viewer is engaged both visually and intellectually. Because it was filmed in black-and-white, La Ronde does not have the garish look of some of Ophuls' other films, notably Lola Montès. La Ronde is among the few foreign language films to receive multiple Oscar nominations, for Black & White Art Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anton Walbrook, Simone Signoret, (more)
- 1951
The English-language title of this Marcel Carne cinematic exercise is Juliette or Key of Dreams. The central character is not Juliette (Susan Clouthier), however, but a young incipient thief named Michel (Gerard Phillipe). Smitten by Juliette's charms, Michel steals for her sake, and ends up in prison. He "escapes" durance vile through his many daydreams, most of these staged symbolically, with Juliette as the "ideal" lover. Though Juliette ou le Clef des Songes, like most of Carne's later works, was considered unfashionable by New Wave critics of the 1950s, the film holds up pretty well when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Suzanne Cloutier, (more)
Pauline Kael once characterized the French adventure film Fanfan the Tulip as a "Louis XV western". This is a pretty broad interpretation, though it is true that the film never stops moving--an excellent method of sustaining audience attention and plugging up the plot holes. Gerard Philipe plays Fanfan, a handsome, athletic and self-impressed young peasant soldier. Fanfan is as adept in the boudoir as on the battlefield; it has been prophesied that he will wed the king's daughter, thus he wants to get as much practice as possible. Fanfan's many conquests include Gina Lollobridgida and Genevieve Page, which may be why this film did so well in the States. Fanfan the Tulip is available in several shorter versions, one of which has been redubbed Soldier in Love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Gina Lollobrigida, (more)
- 1952
The Seven Deadly Sins is a portmanteau film (a la Quartet and O. Henry's Full House) assembled by some of the biggest talents in the Italian and French film industry. The film's six sections (one containing two sins) are designed by separate titles, which should be self-explanatory. "Avarice and Anger" stars its director, Eduardo DeFilippo, as a miser who comes to grief. "Lust," directed by Yves Allegret, contrasts minor flirtation with major sexual passion. "Pride," directed by Claude Autant-Lara, details the fall from grace of a snooty mother and daughter. The other episodes include "Sloth," directed by Jean Dreville; "Envy," directed by Roberto Rosselini; and "Gluttony," directed by Carlo Rim. An eighth sin, directed by Georges Lacombe and starring Gerard Philipe, is thrown in as a comic bonus. Seven Deadly Sins is a lot of fun, though each of the individual episodes could use a little work in the continuity department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Viviane Romance, (more)
- 1952
Director René Clair insisted that his 1952 production Beauties of the Night (Les Belles du Nuit) was intended as a comic variation on Griffith's multipart Intolerance (1916). The Clair film deals with a disillusioned music teacher (Gérard Philipe) who dreams of the beautiful women of history, envisioning himself as the central male figure in each dream. The imaginary ladies (including such internationally famous lovelies as Martine Carol and Gina Lollobrigida) begin converging on the hero all at once, much to the delight of both Philipe and the audience. At several junctures, Clair revives a technique from his earliest talkies by having the characters sing their lines and thoughts rather than speaking them. These treasured musical moments are somewhat dissipated when Beauties of the Night is seen in an edited, redubbed American print -- which also "fudges" the film's notorious Gina Lollobrigida nude scene. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Martine Carol, (more)
- 1954
Villa Borghese is Grand Hotel with trees and shrubbery. Set in the famed Roman city park of Villa Borghese, the film offers pithy character vignettes of the various people from various walks of life who stroll through the park in the course of a day. The all-star cast includes Vittorio De Sica as an aging playboy, Eduardo de Fillipo as a father arranging a wealthy marriage for his crippled daughter, Michele Presle and Gerard Philipe as a pair of illicit lovers, and Anna Maria Ferrero as a good-hearted prostitute. Six top Italian writers collaborated on the screenplay of this entertaining mosaic. TV prints of Villa Borghese retain the photographic slickness of the original, though the dubbing is rather crude. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio De Sica, Eduardo de Filippo, (more)
- 1954
Rene Clement's Monsieur Ripois was released in English-speaking countries as The Knave of Hearts and Lovers, Happy Lovers. Relying heavily on voiceover narration and subjective camerawork, the film has Gerard Phillipe in the title role. Believing himself to be love with his wife's best friend (Natasha Parry), Ripois pours out his heart to her by recounting his past amours. Though he has known many women, he has never truly loved any of them. This has proved more troublesome for Ripois than for the ladies in his life, but somehow he never learns his lesson--not even during the film's final scene. British actresses Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood are well cast as Ripois' wife and former girlfriend, respectively, while Germaine Montero has an effective cameo as a warm-hearted prostitute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Germaine Montero, (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)
- 1954
Stendhal's brilliant but difficult novel Le Rouge et le Noir all but defies transfer to film, but adaptor/director Claude Autant-Lara comes within shouting distance of full success. Stripped to essentials, the plot concerns Julien Sorel (Gerard Philipe), a carpenter's son who becomes a tutor. While his duties do not include the seduction of his employer's wife (Danielle Darrieux), Sorel offers this service free of charge. After this episode, Sorel becomes a priest...and the story isn't over yet. Though the director is too doggedly literal in his adaptation at times, and despite the fact that Gerard Philipe was about ten years too old for the part of Jean Sorel, Le Rouge et le Noir manages to hold the audience in its thrall for 2 hours and 50 minutes (most American prints, retitled The Red and the Black, run only 140 minutes). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1955
Rene Clair's Grand Maneuver was originally titled Les Grandes Manoeuvres, which should surprise no one. Gerard Phillipe plays a dashing dragoons officer, vintage 1913, who wagers his friends that he can make the next woman who enters the room fall in love with him. In strides drop-dead gorgeous Michele Morgan, and the rest writes itself. Phillipe plans a slow seduction and a quick goodbye; Morgan, need we say, is no "goodbye girl." For all its lavish sets and meticulously detailed period costumers, Grand Maneuver is at base the old American farce Sailor Beware with a French accent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Gérard Philipe, (more)
- 1956
Producer/director Sacha Guitry's contribution to the 1956 film season was the free-flowing historical pageant Si Paris Nous Etait Conte (If Paris Were Told to Us). Guitry himself appears as the ghost of King Louis XI, who relates the story of Paris to a group of fascinated modern-day students. As usual, Guitry manages to "humanize" history by depicting the great men and women of France in amusing warts-and-all fashion. Symbolizing the indomitable spirit of Paris is Robert Lamoureaux as Latude, a prisoner of the Bastille who repeatedly tries to escape, and just as repeatedly is captured and thrown back in jail. A note of pathos is provided by Jacques de Feraudy as the dying Voltaire. Though Sacha Guitry suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair throughout much of the filming of Si Paris Nous Etait Conte, he still had two more films left in him before his death in 1957--just 10 days after Bastille Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sacha Guitry, Jean Marais, (more)
- 1956
The Spanish Inquisition has targeted a helpless group of Belgians as heretics and is tracking them down. Suddenly, an unknown young man sweeps into the picture and saves them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
That merry prankster Till Eulenspiegel is at it again in this lively Franco-German production. Director Gerard Phillipe does double duty as Till, a fun-loving youth who turns freedom fighter after his father is burned as a heretic during the Spanish Inquisition. In public, Till is a carefree buffoon; but under cover of night, he fights the good fight on behalf of the Flemmish cause. The fact that the film is not to be taken seriously is underlined by the scene wherein the Spanish soldiers are routed by a gang of ice-skating rebels! Les Aventures de Till L'Espiegle was partially financed by East German business concerns, a rarety for an international release of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Jean Vilar, (more)
- 1956
Gerard Philipe stars in the lavishly appointed adventure film Le Meilleure Part. Philipe is cast as a dedicated constructive engineer, presently working on a huge dam project. Faced with a deadline, he must complete his project despite such obstacles as strikes, accidents, and illness. But there's another reason for his haste: the engineer is suffering from a heart ailment and may not have all that much time left on Earth, much less on the job. Le Meilleure Part was directed by Yves Allegret, whose usual preoccupation with nastiness and hypocrisy are put on the back burner this time out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Michèle Cordoue, (more)
- 1957
The second of director Julien Duvivier's two cinematic contributions of 1957 was Pot-Bouille (Boiling
Pot). Based on a novel by Emile Zola, the film stars Gerard Philipe as Octave, an opportunistic Parisian youth who hops from bed to bed -- and from bedmate to bedmate. Young or old, plain or beautiful, Octave loves and leaves 'em all. His romantic rovings come to a halt when he meets pragmatic businesswoman Mme. Hedouin (Danielle Darrieux). Apparently impervious to Octave's charms, Mme. Hedouin nonetheless marries the boy and transforms him into a useful (and least to her) member of society. Director Duvivier never misses an opportunity to contrast the respectable facade of Civilization with the unvarnished, often depraved truth beneath the surface. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Pot). Based on a novel by Emile Zola, the film stars Gerard Philipe as Octave, an opportunistic Parisian youth who hops from bed to bed -- and from bedmate to bedmate. Young or old, plain or beautiful, Octave loves and leaves 'em all. His romantic rovings come to a halt when he meets pragmatic businesswoman Mme. Hedouin (Danielle Darrieux). Apparently impervious to Octave's charms, Mme. Hedouin nonetheless marries the boy and transforms him into a useful (and least to her) member of society. Director Duvivier never misses an opportunity to contrast the respectable facade of Civilization with the unvarnished, often depraved truth beneath the surface. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
