Pierre Blanchar Movies

In this episodic French drama, a widow uncovers a 20-year-old dance card from a ball. Just for fun, she decides to find all of her former partners. Her search becomes the framework for the episodes. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

This French filmization of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment stars Pierre Blanchar as sociopathic student Raskolnikov and Harry Baur as humanist detective Porfiry. Believing himself intellectually above the law, Raskolnikov kills a despicable old shopkeeper. He is certain that he has no conscience to bother him, but he is eventually forced to confront himself by the kindly but diligent Porfiry. The like-vintage Hollywood version of Crime and Punishment ended with Raskolnikov's surrender. The French version (original title: Crime et Chatiment) adheres to the original novel, detailing the student's lifelong search for forgiveness after he is released from prison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

L'Or is the French-language version of the simultaneously filmed German melodrama Gold. Brigitte Helm repeats her leading-lady role of Fronce Wills, but the alchemist Maisslot, originally played by Friedrich Kayssler, is herein portrayed by Jacques Dumesnil, while his assistant Berthier, enacted by Hans Albers in Gold, is essayed by Jean Gabin in the French version. Maisslot and Berthier perfect an atomic reactor (20,000,000 volts of power!) for the purpose of manufacturing gold, which is highly coveted by the villains. When the scientists realize that their invention will ruin the world's economy, they set about to destroy it, setting the stage for a near-apocalyptic climax. The original Gold was directed by Charles Hartl, who served as a consultant when Serge De Poligny occupied the director's chair for L'Or. Stock footage from both versions were later utilized in the 1953 Ivan Tors production Magnetic Monster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Les Croix de Bois (Wooden Crosses) may well be the most powerful anti-war film ever made; certainly it is the grimmest and most uncompromising. Starting with an impressionistic shot of a gloomy hillside studded with white grave markings, the film delineates the hopelessness and horror of war in such explicit terms that at times it's nearly impossible to watch. Set during WWI, the story concentrates on a handful of French draftees, including an idealistic student named Demachy (Pierre Blanchard). Marching off to war with joyful patriotic fervor, the men are quickly disillusioned by the appalling realities of total warfare. When they aren't enduring ten nonstop days of enemy bombardment, the soldiers must sweat out the horrible realization that their trenches are being mined from underground. Nor are they given any relief during those rare lulls in fighting. At one point, the men are yanked away from a much-needed furlough to march in a victory parade for the entertainment of their callous, fat-cat superior officers. One by one, the men are killed off, until only Demachy remains -- but, tragically, not for long. Such was the impact of Les Croix de Bois, that, when it was shown on French television in the 1970s, a WWI survivor who watched the film for the first time was so overwhelmed by despair that he committed suicide. Generous portions of the film's battle sequences were later incorporated in the 1934 John Ford film The World Moves On and the 1936 Howard Hawks production The Road to Glory. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as Die Herrin von Atlantis, this expansive G. W. Pabst production is a remake of the 1921 Jacques Feyder film of the same name. Like the earlier film, the remake was largely shot in the Sahara Desert and cost a fortune to put together. Based on the best-selling novel by Pierre Benoit, the original story of adventure, sacrifice, fantasy and mysticism is largely dispensed with as Pabst focuses on the pivotal character of Anitnea, played by the always fascinating Brigitte Helm. Still, plenty of time is afforded the narrative of a group of French soldiers literally stumbling upon the underground city of Atlantis, their efforts to escape, and the ultimate destruction of the lost metropolis. Though Feyder's film is still the superior of the two versions, there is still much to recommend Pabst's L'Atlantide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide