Pierre Renoir Movies
The son of impressionist artist Auguste Renoir, actor Pierre Renoir was also the older brother of director Jean Renoir and the father of cinematographer Claude Renoir. He made his stage debut in the first decade of the 20th century and his first film in 1911. In 1932 he became the first actor to portray Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret in La Nuit de Carrefour. His subsequent screen assignments included Charles Bovary in Madame Bovary (1933) and Louis XVI in La Marseillaise (1935), both directed by his brother Jean Renoir. During the war years he appeared in only a handful of films, most memorably as Jericho in Marcel Carne's Children of Paradise (1945). Pierre Renoir's final film was Dr. Knock, completed the year before his death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1951
Jules Romain's satirical theatre piece Dr. Knock was brought to the screen by director Guy Lefranc in 1950. Louis Jouvet plays the title character, a medical charlatan who banks upon the hypochondria of others. He convinces every resident in a small French village that they're suffering from some malady or other, and soon he's doing a land-office business. Dramatic irony is achieved when Dr. Knock ultimately becomes a victim of his own success. Though Dr. Knock would probably work better on stage than on film, the end result is for the most part quite satisfying. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Jouvet, Pierre Renoir, (more)
- 1948
Set during the Napoleonic era, La Ferme des Sept Peches begins with an actual incident: the murder of obscure French pamphleteer Paul-Louis Courier. Through a complicated series of flashbacks and flashforwards (a la Citizen Kane), Courier's life story unfolds before the audience's eyes. The Courier character is played by Jacques Dumesnil, whose awesome task it is to bring dozens of contrary personality traits together into one creditable performance. The maiden effort of filmmaker Jean Devaivre, La Ferme des Sept Peches won first prize at the Locarno Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Dumesnil, Pierre Renoir, (more)
- 1945
The title of this French wartime melodrama translates to Firing Squad. In as realistic a manner as possible, the film dramatizes the appalling treatment afforded French prisoners of war by their Nazi captors. Lucien Cordel heads the cast as Haus, an Alsatian forced to serve in the German army. Posing as a member of the Gestapo, Haus is in a position to rescue the Frenchmen -- but will he? Yvonne Gaudeau is the archetypal French resistance fighter, lacking only the beret and neckerchief. Though filmed on a modest budget, Peloton D'Execution manages to look both expensive and expansive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvonne Gaudeau, Pierre Renoir, (more)
- 1945
Director Robert Vernay adapted the screenplay of Le Capitan from a novel by Michael Zevaco. Set during the reign of Louis XIII, this opulent costume drama concerns a devil-may-care nobleman (Jean Paqui) who endeavors to foil a plot against the life of the king. Intended as a two-parter, with each chapter running approximately 100 minutes, the film was premiered in Paris in its full 200-minute form. Audiences were enthralled, complaining not at all about the excessive length (though critics were less politely inclined). For its American release, Le Capitan was trimmed by nearly 90 minutes and extensively redubbed to compensate for the many continuity gaps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Genia, Lise Delamare, (more)
- 1945
Mission Speciale was the second entry in a two-part French "underground" drama of 1946. Like its predecessor L'Espionne, the film was directed by Maurice de Canoge and stars Jany Holt and Pierre Renoir. Set during WWII, the story details the activities of a small band of resistance fighters, headed by Intelligence agent Pierre Renoir. The unabashed patriotism of the effort tends to gloss over its many technical flaws and gaps in logic. In reissue, L'Espionne and Mission Speciale were both severely trimmed and released in tandem as a single feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jany Holt, Pierre Renoir, (more)
Even in 1945, Marcel Carné's Children of Paradise was regarded as an old-fashioned film. Set in the Parisian theatrical world of the 1840s, Jacques Prévert's screenplay concerns four men in love with the mysterious Garance (Arletty). Each loves Garance in his own fashion, but only the intentions of sensitive mime-actor Deburau (Jean-Louis Barrault) are entirely honorable; as a result, it is he who suffers most, hurdling one obstacle after another in pursuit of an evidently unattainable goal. In the stylized fashion of 19th-century French drama, many grand passions are spent during the film's totally absorbing 195 minutes. Amazingly, the film was produced over a two-year period in virtual secrecy, without the knowledge of the Nazis then occupying France, who would surely have arrested several of the cast and production staff members (including Prévert) for their activities in the Resistance. Children of Paradise has gone on to become one of the great romantic classics of international cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, (more)
- 1944
Le Mystere de Saint-Val stars Fernandel as a mousy insurance-office clerk who dreams of being a great detective. The clerk's uncle, who also happens to be his boss, tries to cure his nephew of his delusions by sending him off on a wild-goose chase. As things turn out, Fernandel gets mixed up in a murder case, culminating in a spooky night in a forbidding old castle. All the standard "scare" jokes are in attendance, with Fernandel grimacing and mugging to his heart's content. Filmed in the late 1930s, this frantic comedy-mystery was released in the U.S. in 1945. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Germaine Kerjean, (more)
- 1943
Directed and adapted from his own 1936 play by Jean Anouilh, Le Voyageur Sans Bagages centers around a man who lost his memory over a decade earlier due to a war injury. Called Gaston (although no one knows his real name), he has spent the interval in a mental institution, where he has been quite happily tending to plants. An amiable, well-liked man, he seems content with no memory, but his doctor insists on discovering his identity. To this end, the doctor has located a family who, upon inspecting Gaston, feels quite certain that he is their Jacques, long since believed lost in the war. Rather than providing joy to Gaston, however, this possibility disturbs him, as it is revealed that the family itself is highly dysfunctional. Worse, Jacques seems to have been a horrid man, a person who thinks nothing of sleeping with his brother's wife and thoughtlessly killing animals. As the evidence piles up that he may indeed be the appalling Jacques, Gaston must decide what he will do with this information and how he will live his future life. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blanchette Brunoy, Marguerite Deval, (more)
- 1941
Released in France in 1941 as Histoire de Rire, Foolish Husbands made its American debut in 1948. It all begins when Adelaide (Micheline Presle), wife of Gerard (Fernand Gravet), enters into a weekend affair with young Achille (Gilbert Gil). This she does because her best friend Helene (Marie Dea) is conducting her own affair, and seems to be having a good time. Sadder, wiser, and a bit out of breath, Adelaide eventually returns to Gerard on Monday. Foolish Husbands was based on a stage play by Armand Salacrou, which from all reports was better than the movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Micheline Presle, Marie Déa, (more)
