Jeanne Brindau Movies

Never one to do anything by halves, director Abel Gance delivers just what the title La Fin du Monde promises: The End of the World. As a comet speeds along on a collision course with Planet Earth, the world prays for a miracle. Scientist Victor Francen races against time to avoid the cataclysm, while Francen's religious-fanatic brother (played by director Gance) puts his fate in the hands of God. Meanwhile, the governments of the world adopt near-fascistic methods to keep their panicking minions under control. Once all hope is abandoned, virtually all of civilization degenerates into a drunken orgy, replete with rape and bestiality. The worst is reserved for last, as the ever-approaching comet causes a plethora of natural disasters before the final "Big Bang." For its premiere engagements in 1929, La Fin du Monde was outfitted with a primitive but effective stereophonic-sound system, the aural equivalent to Abel Gance's Cinerama-like "Triptychs" in his 1927 masterpiece Napoleon. With his typical flair for the messianic, Gance originally released his film as Abel Gance's La Fin du Monde. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not long before his emigration to Hollywood, director Victor Tourjansky polished off this French filmization of Jules Verne's Michael Strogoff. The screenplay follows the Verne original to the letter, with diplomatic courier Strogoff (Ivan Mosjoukine) going through hell and back to deliver a vital document to the Czar. Betrayed by the duplicitous Ogareff (Acho Chakatouny), Strogoff is captured by The Grand Khan (Defae), who prepares to shove hot pokers in the hero's eyes while Strogoff's mother looks on helplessly. Despite these and other perils, Strogoff completes his mission and wins the hand of the beautiful Nadia (Nathalie Kovanko). Released in the U.S. by Universal,Michael Strogoff was memorably remade as a multi-lingual production in 1935, with Anton Walbrook in the leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This epic production was the last film that producer and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst produced for Paramount (after that, his production company, Cosmopolitan, went over to Goldwyn, which later merged with MGM). It was based on a novel by Vicenti Blasco Ibanez, who also wrote The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In addition to lavish sets by Joseph Urban, the cast and crew also filmed on-location in Paris and Monte Carlo. Russian Prince Lubimoff (Lionel Barrymore) thinks only of his wealth and his own gratification. After fighting a duel, he has to flee from the ire of the Czar, and Duchess Alicia (Alma Rubens) helps him to get out of the country. While he is staying at his villa in Monte Carlo, World War I breaks out, but neither he nor his associates even consider going to fight. Lubimoff, who won't even acknowledge that he is in love with Alicia, is incensed when he finds her embracing a young man. Without realizing that it is her 16-year-old son, Lubimoff and his friends form a group called "Enemies of Women." Because of the war, the feudal estates are lost, and Alicia's son dies just before he is about to enter into a duel. Lubimoff, who has finally realized that the world does not revolve around him, goes to fight and uses the money he has left to help the downtrodden. On the front lines, he meets Alicia, who has become a Red Cross nurse, and they are united. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide