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Louise (1939)
Character: (uncredited)
What was it about opera diva Grace Moore that attracted the attention of filmdom's top directors? Moore's 1937 American movie vehicle When You're in Love had been directed by Josef Von Sternberg; two years later, her French starrer Louise was helmed by no less than Abel Gance, who a decade earlier had revolutionized the "historical epic" genre with the awesome Napoleon. There was, however, little that was revolutionary in this cinemadaption of Gustave Charpentier's opera. Moore plays Louise, a poor seamstress who is led astray by the rakish Julien (Georges Thill). After falling from grace (no pun intended), our heroine is rescued by her understanding father (Andre Pernet), who demonstrates his forgiveness by singing to her (it is, after all, an opera). Though it played to enthusiastic crowds in both London and Paris, Louise turned out to be Grace Moore's final film; conversely, Abel Gance continued to make commercial potboilers well into the 1970s.
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Quai Notre-Dame (1961)
Character: Grandmother
Eloi is a twenty-year-old secondhand goods dealer who does his job without particular enthusiasm. He has a girlfriend, Nénette, but immature as he is, he feels just as happy in the company of Fortunée, his young sister, whose little girl's games he shares as often as he can. The three of them live with Eloi and Fortunée's grandmother, nicknamed by all the "Queen of the Flea Market". In possession of a mirror of Venice, Eloi decides to present it to Dormoy, an antique dealer who keeps up shop in the fashionable districts of Paris. On that occasion Eloi meets and falls in love at first sight with Dormoy's rich mistress. The latter, half-moved, half-consenting, does not discourage him.
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Les rendez-vous en forêt (1972)
Character: Old Woman
The fate of a young girl named Svea, who has always been hunted down, in the depths of an immense forest governed by the monstrous Akos, not far from a mysterious castle inhabited by the noble Adrien, who will become the willing sacrificial victim of an incredible sylvan entity.
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Les Ailes blanches (1943)
Character: (uncredited)
A great disappointed love once encouraged the vocation of Sister Claire, who, however, forgot nothing. She follows in their daily life three young girls beloved and badly brought up by a widower, an artist with measured comicality. Sister Claire will save one of the sisters abandoned by her seducer.
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Le Père Goriot (1972)
Character: Mrs. Vauquer
Jean-Joachim Goriot, a merchant who got rich during the Revolution, is obsessed with the love of his two daughters, whose social promotion he wants. He endows them richly, ruins himself to pay their debts, but Delphine and Anastasie do not return his affection and abandon him at the time of his death to run to a big ball.
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Le Dimanche de la vie (1967)
Character: Victoire
After five years in the army, Valentin Brû marry a haberdasher. They move to Paris, where Valentin sells frames, while his wife becomes fortune teller. One day, Valentin replaces her, and predict a terrible event which will happen.
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Mimi Pinson (1958)
Character: N/A
Dany Robin plays the title character in the French comedy Mimi Pinson. The plot is strictly formula stuff, with Mimi being thwarted on all sides by those who have designs on her money and her virtue. Happily, our heroine triumphs over her foes and predators, finding true romance in the arms of Raymond Pellegrin.
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L'Œuf (1972)
Character: Aunt Picolette
Emile Magis, a modest employee, more or less ostracized by the others, would like only one thing, to be happy. Little by little he realizes that life in society is a matter of convention, lies and deception. When he has understood that cynicism rules the world, he decides to play by its untold rules and to take his revenge.
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L'âge d'or (1942)
Character: (uncredited)
Véra, a vivacious woman, and her alleged brother Boris, are both hired by the Dubelairs as their chambermaid and caretaker. But Dubelair has done bad business while his wife Juliette plays at the races and... loses ! So when it comes to paying their domestics wages, Dubelair gives them lottery tickets. Chance has it that one of them is winning...!
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Le Sabbat du Mont d'Etenclin (1969)
Character: The old woman
In 1668, in the Cotentin region, witchcraft was still widely practiced. To get rid of an overly strict priest, a gathering of heretics took advantage of the night of Saint Martin to organize a sabbath. A young boy found himself involved in this black mass against his will. The religious authorities decided to investigate and punish the miscreants...
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L'éventail de Lady Windermere (1961)
Character: Lady Jedburg
Lord Windermere appears to all – including to his young wife Margaret – as the perfect husband. But their happy marriage is placed at risk when Lord Windermere starts spending his afternoons with an adventuress who is working her way through London’s high society, Mrs. Erlynne.
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Crime et châtiment (1971)
Character: N/A
Former student Raskolnikov is pushed to murder when struggling to pay the rent on his apartment. When the murder is being investigated by the police, Raskolnikov struggles between trying to hide his guilt and the pressure to confess. Part one of this epic adaption of the classic Russian novel.
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Carré de dames pour un as (1966)
Character: Pension Landlady (uncredited)
Hakim Gregory escapes from prison by killing a number of guards, and returns to his hide-out abroad, to lead again his gang of drug trafficking and contract murders. Layton of the Secret Service must discover, and arrest him. The difficult mission almost becomes impossible with the rivalry of Layton's partner, Petula, the jealousy of his bride, Marion, the possible treachery of a Spanish woman, Dolores Arrabal, and yet a mysterious and sexy informant, Rosario... Too many women for Layton.
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La Rue sans loi (1950)
Character: (uncredited)
The eccentric characters of a street from the comic designs of Andre Dubout are brought to life with human performers instead of drawings.
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Cette sacrée gamine (1956)
Character: Jérôme's Mother (uncredited)
Nightclub entertainer Jean Clery has just become engaged to Lili, his attractive psychoanalyst. Meanwhile, the nightclub where he works is being used by a counterfeit ring, and Paris police suspect owner Paul Latour of being the ringleader. Finding it expedient to leave town, Paul leaves his "baby" daughter with Jean...who discovers too late that she's a wild, carefree, shapely sex-kitten with a talent for getting Jean into amusing scrapes.
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Le Mouton à cinq pattes (1954)
Character: Une concierge
A publicity-minded French mayor reunites quintuplets and their earthy father, all six played by Fernandel.
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Quelque part, quelqu'un (1972)
Character: Old drunkard
People in Paris struggle with loneliness and urban isolation. In the center is Raphaële, a successful architect navigating her fragile relationship with her lover Vincent, a journalist grappling with alcoholism.
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L'Or du duc (1965)
Character: Ticket seller
A young duke marries a girl, also penniless, and moves into a bus left him by an uncle, with their ten children. At last he finds the bus is made of solid gold.
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Le Puits aux trois vérités (1961)
Character: Gertrude
Laurent is an artist and sometimes con-man. He wanders into the life of Renee one day in her antique shop and tries to seduce her. Before they can leave town on a weekend getaway together, Renee's teenage daughter Daniele quits school and unexpectedly shows up. Laurent and Daniele fall for each other immediately and end up getting married. The film follows the disastrous situation created by the jealous mother and her daughter's immature husband.
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Rue de l'estrapade (1953)
Character: la locataire grossière
While Henri Laurent speeds along on the racing circuits, his pretty wife Françoise goes from luxury boutique to luxury boutique with her best friend Denise. One day, Denise lets her know that Henri has a lover. Outraged, Françoise moves out of marital home and rents a maids' room in Rue de l'Estrapade. Henri tries to get his wife back but Françoise does not listen. She even looks for a job in a prêt-à-porter shop and lets herself be courted by Robert, her neighbor across the landing...
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Le Grand Amour (1969)
Character: N/A
Pierre married Florence, the only daughter of a small industrialist. 15 years later, he is the boss, but his middle-class life worries him a lot. When a new young and lovely secretary comes, he starts dreaming.
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La rafle est pour ce soir (1954)
Character: N/A
Three sketches that all start in the police station, where Léa, La Pintade and the brigadier himself tell their little stories. The story of Danielle, who bamboozled the impresario Mortimer so well that he made her his wife; the story of the sad little Simon, deprived of a father and unable to stand the mockery of his friends; and the story of the daughter of an ex-convict who - by golly - steals a statue on the day of her First Communion.
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La Grande Lessive (!) (1968)
Character: Delaroques' maid
Sickened to see his students always sleeping in class, a teacher with a colleague and an anarchist start a war against the television. They climbed on Paris roofs to coat the T.V. antennas with a special product cutting the signal reception.
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Justice est faite (1950)
Character: (uncredited)
Elsa Lundenstein is accused of having murdered her lover. The jury discusses the case vividly. All members are somehow prejudiced because of personal life experience and subsequently each member reads something different into the presented facts.
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Nous sommes tous des assassins (1952)
Character: La mère Le Guen
Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We Are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.
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Remontons les Champs-Elysées (1938)
Character: Une Tricoteuse (uncredited)
The history of one of France's most famous streets is retold, featuring multiple performances from Guitry himself.
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Une parisienne (1957)
Character: Juliette (uncredited)
The spoiled daughter of the French Ambassador tricks one of his aides into marrying her.
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Les Mystères de Paris (1962)
Character: 'La Chouette'
The Marquis Rodolphe de Sombrueil accidentally runs over a working man with his carriage and helps his widow -- unjustly accused of robbery -- to find her missing daughter.
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