Simone Simon Movies
Born in Bethune, France, Simone Simon grew up in Marseille and went to Paris in 1930. She worked for a time as a designer and model before making her screen debut in 1931 in a comedy by Marc Allegret, who made his own debut as a feature filmmaker that same year. Simon displayed an innocent, girl/woman sensuality that anticipated Brigitte Bardot (ironically, also a discovery of Allegret) by several decades, and it wasn't long before she was discovered by the American movie industry. In 1935 she was signed by Fox studios in Hollywood. However, soon after arriving things began to go wrong for her with an abortive attempt to cast her in Message To Garcia with Wallace Beery, during the filming of which she was hospitalized. Girls' Dormitory (1936) became her first American film, but despite the fact that she enjoyed working on it, she didn't get along with her director. After making a handful of subsequent movies, she returned to France in 1938 -- but not before she found herself caught in a minor scandal involving her friend, the late composer George Gershwin. It was Jean Renoir who rescued Simon's career, casting her as the beautiful but predatory female lead in La Bete humaine (1938). That film brought her an invitation from director/producer William Dieterle for the role of Belle in The Devil and Daniel Webster. That movie brought her to the attention of producer Val Lewton, who offered her the leading role in the horror B-movie Cat People (1942). The role of the tormented Irena in Cat People proved to be the high point of Simon's film career, embedding her in the memory of millions of viewers, and she briefly reprised the role in Curse of the Cat People. However, none of her other Hollywood roles took, and she soon found herself confined to B-movies. She returned to Europe after World War II and continued making movies, of which the most notable was Max Ophuls' La Ronde (1952). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide- 1942
Handed the exploitive title Cat People, RKO producer Val Lewton opted for a thinking man's thriller--a psychological mood piece, more reliant on suspense and suggestion than overt "scare stuff". Simone Simon plays an enigmatic young fashion artist who is curiously affected by the panther cage at the central park zoo. She falls in love with handsome Kent Smith, but loses him to Jane Randolph. After a chance confrontation with a bizarre stranger at a restaurant, Simon becomes obsessed with the notion that she's a Cat Woman--a member of an ancient Serbian tribe that metamorphoses into panthers whenever aroused by jealousy. She begins stalking her rival Randolph, terrifying the latter in the film's most memorable scene, set in an indoor swimming pool at midnight. Psychiatrist Tom Conway scoffs at the Cat Woman legend--until he recoils in horror after kissing Simon. If the film's main set looks familiar, it is because it was built for Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (Lewton later used the same set for his The Seventh Victim). Cat People was remade by director Paul Schrader in 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Simon, Kent Smith, (more)
- 1939
Cavalcade D'Amour is divided into three sections, each depicting a romance occurring within the walls of the Chateau de Champs. Legend has it that whoever marries in the Chateau is doomed to an unhappy life. This proves to be the case in 1639 and 1839, but the heroine of the 1939 segment, Corinne Luchaire, is determined to break the jinx. She is convinced that she will prove an unsuitable bride for Claude Dauphin, and he is likewise convinced that he will turn out to be an inadequate groom. But the couple's respective families will not be dissuaded, and the marriage takes place as scheduled? with unexpectedly happy results! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janine Darcey, Simone Simon, (more)
- 1954
Das Zweite Leben (Double Destiny) is based on Siegfried, a short story and play by Jean Girardoux. Michel Auclair stars as a young French xpert ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Auclair, Simone Simon, (more)
- 1949
Femmes sans Nom is the second film in a proposed trilogy conceived by Hungarian director Geza Radvanyi (the first was Somewhere in Europe). In each of these three films, Radvanyi hoped to dramatically convey the plight of those left homeless and destitute by WW II. Femmes sans Nom is set in a relocation camp in Trieste, where hundreds of disenfranchised European women are huddled together. Prominent among these unfortunate souls is a former aristocrat, played by Francoise Rosay; a woman of loose morals, portrayed by Simone Simon; and an expectant mother, essayed by Valentine Cortese. After the lukewarm response to Femmes sans Nom, Geza Radvanyi dropped his plans for the third film in his "displaced persons" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Simon, Françoise Rosay, (more)
- 1936
French actress Simone Simon made her American film debut in Girls' Dormitory. Simon portrays a twentyish student in a Swiss private school, harboring a secret passion for headmaster Herbert Marshall. For her own amusement, Simon writes an intense love letter to an imaginary beau; the letter falls in the hands of two snoopy teachers, who suspect the worst. Running away from her accusers, Simone has a chance meeting with Marshall, who reveals that he is in love with her. The official studio synopsis for Girl's Dormitory states that Simone nobly steps aside to allow a middle-aged teacher (Ruth Chatterton) to marry Marshall, but in the film itself Simon ends up with Marshall after all. The synopsis barely mentions Tyrone Power, appearing in his first film for 20th Century-Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Herbert Marshall, Ruth Chatterton, (more)
- 1944
The sparkling screwball comedy And So They Were Married was originally released as Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More. French-Canadian girl Simone Simon leases a Washington DC apartment from Marine William Terry. Since the Nation's Capital is overcrowded (wartime, don't you know), Simon must put up with a steady parade of Terry's old cronies and girlfriends, all of whom have keys to the apartment. She also becomes the romantic bone of contention between Terry and his sailor pal James Ellison. The last half of the film is dominated by Robert Mitchum as a Chief Petty Officer, who wants to rent the apartment for himself and his wife. A whimsical touch is added by the presence of midget Jerry Maren as a Cupid-like gremlin, who takes great delight in complicating Simon's life. Blessed with a great cast, an above-average production values (especially for a Monogram release), this King Bros. production proved to be the last directorial effort of German expatriate Joe May. Watch for fleeting appearances by horror-film perennial Rondo Hatton as a well-dressed gentleman entering Simon's cab, and Our Gang's Mickey "Froggy" Laughlin as a ratchet-voiced kid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Simon, James Ellison, (more)
- 1938
In this musical comedy of errors, David Brassard, Sr. (William Collier, Sr.) has his heart stolen from him by a conniving, gold-digging nightclub singer named Josette (Tala Birell). Brassard's two sons, Pierre (Robert Young) and David Junior (Don Ameche) are both horrified and vow to lure the temptress away from their dad. However, they somehow become convinced that the woman in question is Renee LaBlanc (Simone Simon), who is merely posing as a chanteuse in order to help out her friend Barney Barnaby (Bert Lahr), whose nightspot is in trouble. In time, Pierre and David Junior both realize that they've been chasing the wrong woman -- but they also realize that they've both fallen in love with her. The supporting cast includes William Demarest and Lon Chaney, Jr., the latter only a year before One Million B.C. would reshape his career and make him a star of horror and science fiction films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Simone Simon, (more)
Based on a novel by Emile Zola, La Bete Humaine weaves a mesmerizing tale of a tragic triangle. Train engineer Jean Gabin lusts after Simone Simon, the wife of his co-worker Fernand Ledoux. When Ledoux is in danger of losing his job, Simon offers herself to her husband's boss. In jealous pique, Ledoux kills the man. Gabin is witness to this, so Simon promises to reward him sexually if he'll keep quiet. As this romance intensifies, Simon tries to finagle Gabin into killing Ledoux. Sick of the whole sordid affair, Gabin murders Simon and then kills himself. When Fritz Lang remade La Bete Humaine as Human Desire in 1953, he carefully copied several of the best visual selections made by Jean Renoir in the original film; what he was not permitted to copy was the story itself, which had to be heavily laundered to accommodate Hollywood's censorship limitations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Simone Simon, (more)
- 1932
La Petite Chocolatiere (The Chocolate Girl) was based on a popular play by Paul Gavault. Jacqueline Francell plays the title character, the daughter of wealthy candy manufacturer Andre Dubosc. When her car breaks down in front of the home of government clerk Pierre Bertin, Francell is forced by circumstances to spend the night with Bertin's blue-collar family. Initially resistant at first, our heroine falls in love with Bertin, with a little assistance from the hero's best friend, eccentric artist Raimu. The film represents one of the earliest screen appearances by movie "bombshell" Simone Simon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raimu, Simone Simon, (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)
- 1933
Marc Allegret's Lac Aux Dames (Ladies' Lake) boasts an impressive pedigree, having been adapted by novelist Collette from a book by Vicki Baum. A very young and dazzlingly handsome Jean-Pierre Aumont plays an unemployed engineer who lands a job as a lifeguard at a Tyrolean resort. Boasting a most impressive physique, Aumont finds himself besieged by willing females and not complaining about it one tiny bit. Despite the plethora of female pulchritude, Aumont has eyes only for the beauteous Illa Meary, but he ends up neglecting her, with unfortunate consequences. Lac Aux Dames was financed in part by a member of the Rothschild banking family, who made back his investment many times over. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Aumont, Vladimir Sokoloff, (more)
- 1936
Ladies in Love transplants 20th Century-Fox's favorite film plot--three girls on the prowl for rich husbands--into the Budapest of the mid-1930s. Janet Gaynor, Loretta Young and Constance Bennett combine their earnings to rent a luxurious apartment, in hopes of attracting wealthy potential husbands. Young falls for a nobleman (Tyrone Power), who is engaged to another woman. She contemplates taking poison, but the lethal dose is accidentally ingested by Gaynor, whose plight results in a house call from Dr. Don Ameche, whom Gaynor has worshipped from afar. It is Bennett who snags the wealthy husband, middle-aged businessman Wilfred Lawson. Though Tyrone Power's part was small, he clicked immediately with the audiences, prompting the studio to give Power the big buildup. Ladies in Love would be reworked several times in the future, most obviously as How to Marry a Millionaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Gaynor, Loretta Young, (more)
- 1931
After a few projects in Germany and France, Russian filmmaker Victor Tourjansky returned to his adopted country of France to direct Le Chanteur Inconnu (The Unknown Singer). While touring Siberia, a Parisian operatic impresario discovers a young man with a beautiful singing voice. The impresario is amazed that his discovery speaks perfect French, but the audience knows why: The hero is actually a Frenchman, who after losing his memory wandered aimlessly into the snowy Siberian wastes. More revelations are in store when the producer builds up the amnesiac tenor as "The Unknown Singer." It turns out that the singer had been the victim of a murder plot, hatched by his faithless wife, who along with her treacherous paramour is thoroughly punished by film's end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucien Muratore, Simone Simon, (more)
- 1952
The works of Guy de Maupassant have likely been adapted by more French filmmakers than those of any other author (with the possible exception of Georges Simenon). Max Ophuls harnesses three Maupassant short stories to suit his artistic purposes in Le Plaisir (House of Pleasure). In "The Mask," an aging lothario (Jean Galland) learns more about himself than he cares to when he dons a mask to cover his wrinkles. In "The House of Madame Tellier," the proprietress of a brothel (Madeline Renaud) closes up shop one day for an unusual (for her) personal mission. And in "The Model," both the title character (Simone Simon) and her artist-lover (Daniel Gelin) pay the price for her romantic impulsiveness. Each of the playlets in Le Plaisir explore conflicting sides of human nature -- a theme common to both the works of Maupassant and the films of Ophuls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Dauphin, Jean Galland, (more)
- 1932
The French-language title of this Hungarian-made comedy is a bit misleading, unless one understands its irony. The "palaces" referred to are actually hotels, and the "prince of hotels" is hall porter Claude (Jules Berry). Despite his apparently lowly position, Claude genially reigns over the rest of the domestics, and occasionally offers romantic advice to the more confused hotel guests. As far as his own love life is concerned, Claude is "that way" about an American heiress (Betty Stockfield), though she prefers the company of the rakish King of Poldavia (Albert Dranem). Meanwhile, chambermaid Victoire (Simone Simon), harboring a seemingly hopeless love for Claude, takes up with the heiress's ex-beau, golf champion Teddy Smith (Alexander D'Arcy). It takes a heap of plot twists before Claude and Victoire end up in each other's arms at "The End" time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Stockfeld, Simone Simon, (more)
- 1935
Released in the U.S. as Happy Days, Les Beaux Jours was Simone Simon's last French vehicle before she launched the Hollywood phase of her career. The story revolves around the lives and loves of a group of attractive young Parisian students. The most attractive, of course, is our girl Simon, who is wooed by such eligible males as Raymond Rouleau and Jean-Pierre Aumont. The unexpected star of the proceedings, however, is the brilliant pantomimist Jean-Louis Barrault, whose first film this was. Barrault of course was later the star of the wartime classic Les Enfants du Paradis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Barrault, Simone Simon, (more)
- 1935
From 1931 to 1934, Russian director Victor Tourjansky made Paris his headquarters. The last of his French productions was 1934's Les Yeux Noirs, released in the U.S. the following year as Dark Eyes. The alluring Simone Simon stars as Tania, the daughter of Moscow headwaiter Ivan Ivanovitch (Harry Baur). Ashamed of his profession -- especially when he's expected to "pimp" for his more lecherous customers -- Ivan hides the truth from his daughter. Imagine his shock and dismay when he inadvertently arranges an assignation between the innocent Tania and the not-so-innocent Rudin (Jean Max). How can Ivan rescue his daughter from a Fate Worse Than Death without revealing his complicity in that fate? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Simon, Harry Baur, (more)
- 1937
Before sitting down to watch Love and Hisses, it's important to know that columnist Walter Winchell and bandleader Ben Bernie were engaged in a phony but highly publicized feud in the late 1930s. For the purposes of this film, the source of the Winchell-Bernie contretemps is pretty nightclub singer Simone Simon. Secretly signing the girl to a contract, Bernie spreads rumors that the girl has no talent, knowing full well that his "friendly enemy" Winchell will then give her a huge build-up in his newspaper column. Upon finding out that he's been hoodwinked, Winchell gets even by having Bernie kidnapped by a gang of phony hoodlums. With all this going on, it's easy to forget that legendary Broadway clown Bert Lahr is also in Love and Hisses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Winchell, Ben Bernie, (more)
- 1944
One of the few failures for RKO Radio's resident "prestige programmer" producer Val Lewton, Mademoiselle Fifi is based on two Guy De Maupassant tales, with emphasis on Boule de Suif. The story takes place during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, though it is clearly an allegorical representation of the German mindset of WW2. "Mademoiselle Fifi" is the derisive nickname of a brutal Prussian officer (Kurt Krueger) who rules the roost in a tiny French village. When a stagecoach rides into the village, the passengers are detained by the Prussian tyrant, who threatens to kill them all at any given moment. Desperately, the passengers demand that one of their own, a laundress of dubious morals named Elizabeth (Simone Simon), surrender herself sexually to the Prussian to secure their freedom. Previously the object of scorn and ridicule from her fellow passengers, Elizabeth is bitterly amused by their change of heart, but she's too loyal to France to refuse their request. How she completes her "mission" and eliminates "Mademoiselle Fifi" in the process is the film's dramatic core. Though superbly directed by Robert Wise, Mademoiselle Fifi is laid low by its pretentiousness-not to mention the uneveness of the performances, none more uneven than Jason Robards Sr., who at one point declaims in his flat midwestern tones "We must not forget that we're all Frenchmen!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Simon, John Emery, (more)
- 1931
Set in provincial France sometime in the 1870s, Mam'zelle Nitouche is put in motion by Celestin-Floridor (Raimu), the music master of a convent who secretly doubles as the composer of popular operettas. When our hero sneaks off to the city to witness the premiere of his latest effort, he is followed by convent-bred Nitouche (Janie Marese). Conveniently, the star of the show walks out in a temperamental huff, whereupon Nitouche is pressed into service to sing for the crowd, scoring an enormous hit. The trick now is to sneak back into the convent without alerting the authorities -- a trick that must be pulled off not only by Nitouche but by the sheepish Celestin-Floridor. Tragically, Janie Marese, who so charmingly played the title role in Mam'zelle Nitouche, was killed in an auto accident not long before the film's premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raimu
- 1951
Olivia was directed by Jacqueline Audry, who burst onto the worldwide cinema scene with 1949's Gigi. The title character, played by Claire Olivia, is a naïve new student in a fashionable finishing school. Denied affection in her own home, Olivia latches onto her headmistress Julie (Edwige Feuillere). The relationship between the older and younger woman is observed with white-hot jealousy by Cara (Simone Simon), Julie's business partner and would-be lover. Nothing good can come of this, and nothing does. Though the material lends itself to sensationalism, director Audry handles Olivia with discretion and taste. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edwige Feuillère, Simone Simon, (more)
- 1946
Petrus is a tailor-made vehicle for lantern-jawed French farceur Fernandel. The star plays a naïve photographer who falls in love with nightclub dancer Simone Simon. Though she travels in a more sophisticated crowd, Fernandel never gives up his dream that someday the girl will be his. And sure enough, thanks to a series of plot convolutions that would be ridiculous anywhere else but on the Silver Screen, Simon is finally won over by the stumbling shutterbug. Petrus was co-adapted by director Marc Allegret from the play by Marcel Achard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Pierre Brasseur, (more)
- 1943
In this romantic musical, a pianist is left stranded in Tahiti. He decides to augment his band by hiring on a new singer. The other band members are skeptical of her, but they head to San Francisco to play. They bomb and the pianist must convince the band to play a new kind of music. Things begin to improve as the inevitable romance between the band leader and the singer heats up. Unfortunately, the woman is already engaged to a sailor. Later another sailor vies for affection, but in the end, she is with the right man and happiness for all involved ensues. Songs include: "Tahiti Honey" (Jule Styne, George H. Brown, Sol Meyer), "You Could Hear a Pin Drop," "Any Old Port in a Storm," "This Gets Better Every Minute," "Koni Plenty Hu-Hu," "Of Course I'm a Cossack" (Charles Newman, Lew Pollack). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Simon, Dennis O'Keefe, (more)
- 1947
In this British crime drama, an honest railroad signalman finds himself sorely tempted when he witnesses a murder and later finds $20,000 floating in the harbor. The trouble begins when he decides to take the money and leave town with his daughter and a gold digger. The killer is in hot pursuit when the railroadman kills him. In the end, the signalman's conscience erupts and he returns the stolen loot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Barton, Kathleen Boutall, (more)
