Armand Bernard Movies
- 1951
Relying on sexual encounters to maintain interest yet trying for a literary veneer, this is another semi-erotic drama by director Luis Saslavsky. Lina (Belinda Lee) is a prostitute who has attracted the romantic ardor of two half-brothers. She eventually decides to marry one of them but soon their relationship deteriorates. Underneath it all, Lina is not yet convinced that she is loved for herself -- and her days as a prostitute come back to haunt her relationship. As time goes on, however, she comes to realize that one of the brothers is honestly in love with her. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Tissier, Armand Bernard, (more)
- 1945
Les Gueux Au Paradis (Hoboes in Paradise) stars two of Marseilles' favorite sons, Fernandel and Raimu. Set during the reign of Louis XV, the film casts Raimu as an innkeeper and Fernandel as his best friend. Dressed up as saints for a masquerade, the two pals are killed in a carriage mishap. They take a quick trip to Hell, where it is decided that they are inappropriately garbed, then ascend to Heaven, where it is determined that it isn't yet "their time." Our heroes are returned to life just in time to foil an attempt by the undertaker to seduce Raimu's "widow." Ironically, Les Gueux au Paradis was Raimu's next-to-last film; he died in 1946, shortly after the picture's release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gaby Andreu, Fernandel, (more)
- 1939
Based on a novel by Gina Kaus, The Affair Lafont is the tragic tale of two sisters. Claire (Corinne Luchaire) is 20 years old, unmarried and incredibly naïve; Catherine (Annie Ducaux), nearing thirty, is terrified that her husband will leave her because she's never borne him a child. When Claire is rendered pregnant by her casual beau, Catherine adopts the baby, intending to pass it off as her own when her archeologist husband returns from a long expedition. Unfortunately, the father of the child sees this set-up as an ideal opportunity for blackmail; once this problem has been dealt with, Claire begins having second thoughts and demands her baby back. Told in flashback, this series of events is offered as explanation for the burst of gunfire that opens the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corinne Luchaire, Annie Ducaux, (more)
- 1939
In this sci-fi film, a scientist invents a prescient machine that can tell people when they will die. Oddly enough, the people do not want to know and therefore begin to riot, thereby causing the death of the inventor--something that the machine had predicted. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Sologne, Mady Berry, (more)
- 1939
This disturbing melodrama centers upon the relationship between two sisters. One sister is married, but unable to bear children; her husband, who wants kids, is ready to leave her. The other sister is single and pregnant. The baby's father left her. The married sister talks her sister in to giving her the child, so she can save her marriage. The little sister does so, and then falls in love herself and gets engaged. Trouble ensues when the baby's father reappears and blackmails her. Now the sister must decide when and how she is going to tell her fiance the truth. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corinne Luchaire, Annie Ducaux, (more)
- 1938
Les Disparus de Saint-Agil (Missing from St. Agil) would be worth watching if only for the chop-licking performance by Erich von Stroheim. The story takes place at a typical French boys' school, where director Aime Clairond pursues the not-so-typical pastime of turning out counterfeit bank notes. When student Claudio tumbles onto Clairond's printing press, the villain kidnaps the boy and spirits him off to parts unknown. Clairond then murders his partner-in-crime, art teacher Michel Simon, for fear that Simon will spill the beans during one of his drinking binges. Surprisingly, Von Stroheim, cast as the school's language teacher (he converses eloquently in both French and German), turns out to be the hero of the peace, putting an end to Clairond's skullduggery and rescuing poor Claudio. The film was directed in the manner of a Republic serial by the reliable Christian-Jaque. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erich Von Stroheim, Armand Bernard, (more)
