90% (2)  Children of Paradise  189 min,  Not Rated,  [Drama, Romance]  [Marcel Carné]  [15 Nov 1946]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 83%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 97%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins.
Actors:  Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Pierre Renoir
Writer:  Jacques Prévert (scenario and dialogue)
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  French    Country:  France
Plot:  This tale centers around the love between Baptiste, a theater mime, and Claire Reine, an actress and otherwise woman-about-town who calls herself Garance. Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: Frederick, a pretentious actor; Lacenaire, a conniving thief; and Count Edouard of Montray. The story is further complicated by Nathalie, an actress who is in love with Baptiste. Garance and Baptiste meet when Garance is falsely accused of stealing a man's watch. Garance is forced to enter the protection of Count Edouard when she is innocently implicated in a crime committed by Lacenaire. In the intervening years of separation, both Garance and Baptiste become involved in loveless relationships with the Count and Nathalie, respectively. Baptiste is the father of a son. Returning to Paris, Garance finds that Baptiste has become a famous mime actor. Nathalie sends her child to foil their meeting, but Baptiste and Garance manage one night together. Lacenaire murders Edouard. In the last scenes, Garance is returning to Edouard's hotel and disaster as Baptiste struggles after her through crowds of merrymakers, many dressed as his famous character.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Even in 1945, Marcel Carnà (C)'s Children of Paradise was regarded as an old-fashioned film. Set in the Parisian theatrical world of the 1840s, Jacques Prà (C)vert'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. The film was produced under overwhelmingly difficult circumstances during the Nazi occupation of France, and many of the participants/creators were members of the Maquis, so the movie's existence itself is somewhat miraculous. Children of Paradise has gone on to become one of the great romantic classics of international cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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87% (2)  Les Visiteurs du Soir  115 min,  [Drama, Fantasy, Romance]  [Marcel Carné]  [29 Aug 1947]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 74%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 100%,   External Reviews
Actors:  Alain Cuny, Arletty, Fernand Ledoux, Marie Déa
Writer:  Jacques Prévert, Pierre Laroche
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  French    Country:  France
Plot:  At the end of the 15th century, two minstrels Gilles and Dominique come from nowhere into the castle of Baron Hugues. Gilles charms Anne, Hughes' daughter, while Dominique charms both Hugues and Ann's fiance. Gilles and Dominique are not really in love : they are sent by the Devil to desperate people. But Ann is so pure that Gilles is caught to his own trap... How will they fight against the Devil ?
Rotten Tomatoes:   Supposedly a metaphor for Hitler's occupation of France, on the surface this is a fairy tale about Satan's determined interference between two lovers in fifteenth century France. Of course, like all fairytales, true love will always find a way. If Hitler had realized that this was meant to signify his inability to blunt the spirit of the French, he undoubtedly would have squelched its release, which happened after the Nazis occupied France.
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85% (2)  Le Jour Se Leve  93 min,  [Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller]  [Marcel Carné]  [29 Jul 1940]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 78%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 92%,   External Reviews
Awards:  1 nomination.
Actors:  Arletty, Jacqueline Laurent, Jean Gabin, Jules Berry, Mady Berry
Writer:  Jacques Viot (original scenario), Jacques Prévert (dialogue)
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  French    Country:  France
Plot:  Francois, a sympathetic factory worker, kills Valentin with a gun. He locked himself in his furnished room and starts remembering how he was led to murder. He met once Francoise, a young fleurist, and they fell in love. But Francoise was gotten round by Valentin, a dog trainer, a machiavellian guy...
Rotten Tomatoes:   Told largely in flashbacks, Marcel Carne's dark melodrama stars Jean Gabin as a factory worker who kills the rival of his lover's affections, leading to a standoff with the authorities.
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84% (2)  The Longest Day  178 min,  G,  [Action, Drama, History, War]  [Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, Gerd Oswald, Darryl F. Zanuck]  [04 Oct 1962]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 78%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 91%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 6 nominations.
Actors:  Arletty, Eddie Albert, Jean-Louis Barrault, John Wayne, Paul Anka, Richard Burton, Robert Ryan
Writer:  Cornelius Ryan (screenplay), Cornelius Ryan (book), Romain Gary (additional episodes written by), James Jones (additional episodes written by), David Pursall (additional episodes written by), Jack Seddon (additional episodes written by)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  English, German, French    Country:  USA
Plot:  Tells the story of the D-Day invasion of Normandy in WWII. There are dozens of characters, some seen only briefly, who together weave the story of five separate invasion points that made up the operation.
Rotten Tomatoes:   The Longest Day is a mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, personally orchestrated by Darryl F. Zanuck. Whenever possible, the original locations were utilized, and an all-star international cast impersonates the people involved, from high-ranking officials to ordinary GIs. Each actor speaks in his or her native language with subtitles translating for the benefit of the audience (alternate "takes" were made of each scene with the foreign actors speaking English, but these were seen only during the first network telecast of the film in 1972). The stars are listed alphabetically, with the exception of John Wayne, who as Lt. Colonel Vandervoort gets separate billing. Others in the huge cast include Eddie Albert, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Gert Frobe, Curt Jurgens, Peter Lawford, Robert Mitchum, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Jean Servais, Rod Steiger and Robert Wagner. Paul Anka, who wrote the film's title song, shows up as an Army private. Scenes include the Allies parachuting into Ste. Mere Englise, where the paratroopers were mowed down by German bullets; a real-life sequence wherein the German and Allied troops unwittingly march side by side in the dark of night; and a spectacular three-minute overhead shot of the troops fighting and dying in the streets of Quistreham. The last major black-and-white road-show attraction, The Longest Day made millions, enough to recoup some of the cost of 20th Century Fox's concurrently produced Cleopatra. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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79% (1)  Hotel du Nord  83 min,  [Drama, Romance]  [Marcel Carné]  [25 Mar 1939]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 79%,   External Reviews
Awards:  1 nomination.
Actors:  Annabella, Arletty, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Louis Jouvet
Writer:  Eugène Dabit (novel), Henri Jeanson (dialogue), Henri Jeanson (adaptation), Jean Aurenche (adaptation)
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb     Language:  French    Country:  France
Plot:  A young couple, Renee and Pierre, take one night a room at the Hotel du Nord, in Paris, near the canal Saint-Martin. They want to die together, but after having shooted at Renee, Pierre lacks of courage and ran away. Another customer, Monsieur Edmond, a procurer, rescues her. When Renee goes out of the hospital, she is hired as a waitress at the hotel. Monsieur Edmond falls in love with her, but Renee is still thinking of Pierre ...
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