The Amazing Mrs. Holliday 1943  N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Bruce Manning, Jean Renoir
Cast: Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, Barry Fitzgerald, Arthur Treacher, Harry Davenport, Grant Mitchell, Frieda Inescort, Elisabeth Risdon, Jonathan Hale, Esther Dale
This World War II comedy/drama/musical features Deanna Durbin as a missionary involved with Chinese orphans. A weak plot, but Deanna's singing helps.
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Elena and Her Men 1956  N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: Paris Does Strange Things
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, Mel Ferrer, Jean Richard, Magali Noel, Juliette Greco, Pierre Bertin, Elina Labourdette, Juliette Greco, Leon Larive
Nineteenth-century Polish Princess Elena (Ingrid Bergman) is romanced by three very different suitors, and she must choose between them.
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 French Cancan 1955  N/R, 102 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
aka: Only the French Can
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Jean Gabin, Maria Felix, Francoise Arnoul, Jean-Roger Caussimon, Giani Esposito, Anna Amendola, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Clay, Jean Paredes, Lydia Johnson, Max Dalban, Jacques Jouanneau
An 1890's theater producer turns Nini (Francoise Arnoul) into a star when he revives the French dance, the Cancan, at the opening of the Moulin Rouge. Overnight, the dance, dancers, and the Moulin Rouge become sensations.
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The Golden Coach 1952  N/R, 105 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Anna Magnani, Odoardo Spadaro, Nada Fiorelli, Dante, Duncan Lamont, George Higgins, Ralph Truman, Gisella Mathews, Riccardo Rioli, Paul Campbell
Set in 18th-century Peru, this story revolves around an actress, Camilla (Anna Magnani), and her contemplated decision about three suitors who have offered her very different lifestyles. A young officer, Filipe (Paul Campbell), will give her the chance to live among the Indians; proud bullfighter Ramon (Riccardo Rioli) will share his glory; and the Viceroy Ferdinand (Duncan Lamont) will make a present of his beautiful golden coach. An excellent film.
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The Grand Illusion 1937  N/R, 111 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Jean Gabin, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Dita Parlo, Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette, Gaston Modot, Jean Daste, Jacques Becker, Georges Peclet, Werner Florian, Sylvain Itkine, Albert Brouett, Claude Sainval, Michel Salina
Written while Hitler was beginning to make his move in Europe, this film examines the mindset of men involved in World War I and shows how the aristocratic backgrounds of French prisoner de Boldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and the German commandant of the prison camp, von Rauffenstein (Eric von Stroheim), contribute to them forming a bond that will have deadly consequences when they allow two French soldiers (Jean Gabin and Marcel Dalio) to escape. The negatives of the film survived, and the restored movie was released in 1999, complete with a new translation.
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 La Bete Humaine 1938 N/R, 99 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: The Human Beast
Judas Was a Woman
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Jean Gabin, Simone Simon, Julien Carette, Fernand Ledoux, Blanchette Brunoy, Gerard Landry, Jean Renoir, Jenny Helia, Colette Regis, Claire Gerard, Charlotte Clasis, Jacques Berlioz
Emile Zola's novel is adapted into this excellent film about an unfaithful wife (Simone Simon) who plots her husband's (Fernand Ledoux) demise. Fritz Lang remade this story as "Human Desire."
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La Chienne 1931 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Foreign / Thriller
aka: The Bitch
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Michel Simon, Janie Mareze, Georges Flamant, Magdeleine Berubet, Roger Gaillard, Jean Gehret, Alexandre Rignault, Lucien Mancini, Romain Bouquet, Max Dalban, Courme, Pierre Destys, Henri Guisol, Sylvain Itkine, Jane Pierson
Painfully shy Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon) paints pictures as an escape from his miserable home life with his nagging wife, Adele (Magdeleine Berubet). One night, he meets Lulu (Janie Mareze) and becomes her lover, but Lulu is really a manipulative prostitute working for her pimp, Dede (Georges Flamant). Together, Lulu and Dede contrive to sell Maurice's paintings for their own financial benefit. Finally, Maurice lashes out and kills Lulu. Police question him but believe he does not fit the pattern of a murderer. In an intriguing twist, it is Dede who is charged with, and convicted of, Lulu's murder.
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Madame Bovary 1933 N/R, 102 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Valentine Tessier, Pierre Renoir, Max Dearly, Daniel Lecourtois, Fernand Fabre, Helena Manson, Robert Le Vigan, Alice Tissot, Pierre Larquey, Monette Dinay, Louis Florencie, Romain Bouquet, Christiane Dor, Georges Cahuzac, Helena Manson
This early film adaptation of Flaubert's classic novel is set in 19th-century France and tells the story of Emma Bovary's (Valentine Tessier) scandalous romantic liaisons. Emma is a country girl who marries Charles Bovary (Pierre Renoir) hoping for romance and excitement in her life. But, the marriage proves tiresome to Emma, and she begins an affair with wealthy Rodolphe Boulanger (Fernand Fabre). After he abandons her, Emma finds another lover (Daniel Lecourtois) to fill her life, and despair takes over.
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The River 1951 N/R, 99 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight, Arthur Shields, Radha, Suprova Mukerjee, Thomas E. Breen, Patricia Walters, Adrienne Corri, Richard Foster, June Hillman
This film is based on Rumer Godden's novel about English children growing up in Bengali, India, near the Ganges River. Teens Harriet and Valerie (Patricia Walters and Adrienne Corri) fall for handsome American Capt. John (Thomas E. Breen) who, in turn, is attracted to another teen, half-Indian Melanie (Radha). Tragedy strikes, and the teens strive to cope with this cycle of life.
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The Rules of the Game 1939 N/R, 113 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Roland Toutain, Jean Renoir, Paulette Dubost, Gaston Modot, Julien Carette, Mila Parely, Odette Talazac, Claire Gerard, Anne Mayen, Lise Elina
The moral vacuum inherent in the upper-class system of pre-World War II France is presented in this comedy about marriages, mistresses, and mayhem. A great film.
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The Southerner 1945 N/R, 91 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Zachary Scott, Betty Field, Beulah Bondi, Bunny Sunshine, Percy Kilbride, Jay Gilpin, Charles Kemper, Blanche Yurka, Paul Harvey, J. Carrol Naish
Cotton farmer Sam Tucker (Zachary Scott), despite natural and manmade disasters, struggles to make a subsistence living for his family.
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Swamp Water 1941  N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: The Man Who Came Back
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Walter Brennan, Walter Huston, Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine, Mary Howard, Eugene Pallette, Ward Bond, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams
Tom (Walter Brennan) is wrongfully accused of murder and sentenced to death, but he escapes and hides in the Okefenokee Swamp, determined to clear himself. He is discovered by a hunter (Dana Andrews), who helps in the effort to clear Tom. Brennan played the same role in a 1952 remake, "Lure of the Wilderness," a rarity in casting. 1 User Review
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| | SAW FHE ORIGINAL, STILL REMEMBER IT | RATDAD 06/29/2009 | | |
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Une Partie de Campagne 1936 N/R, 40 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama / Romance
aka: A Day in the Country
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Sylvia Bataille, Georges D'Arnoux, Jacques B. Brunius, Jane Marken, Andre Gabriello, Jean Renoir, Paul Temps, Gabrielle Fontan, Marguerite Renoir, Pierre Lestringuez, Alain Renoir, Georges Bataille, Jacques Becker, Henri Cartier-Bresson
Based on Guy de Maupassant's story, this film is about a family's Sunday excursion in the country. While the family visits a riverside restaurant, two young men, Henri (Georges D'Arnoux and Rodolphe (Jacques B. Brunius), introduce themselves and offer to take the women on a boat ride while their men go fishing. Subsequent seductions of both the mother Madame Dufour (Jane Marken) and daughter Henrietta (Sylvia Bataille) result in different emotions for each. Madame Dufour enjoys an innocent flirtation with Rodolphe, while Henrietta goes for a boat ride with Henri, and the two of them spend an idyllic afternoon and a very brief romance that may never be forgotten. In fact, Henrietta and Henri meet again 14 years later and think about how different their lives could have been if their earlier romance had continued.
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| 1. The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943)
2. Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
3. Diary of a Chambermaid (1946)
4. Elena and Her Men (1956)
aka: Paris Does Strange Things
5. French Cancan (1955)
aka: Only the French Can
6. The Golden Coach (1952)
7. The Grand Illusion (1937)
8. La Bete Humaine (1938)
aka: The Human Beast
aka: Judas Was a Woman
9. La Chienne (1931)
aka: The Bitch
10. Madame Bovary (1933)
11. The River (1951)
12. The Rules of the Game (1939)
13. The Southerner (1945)
14. Swamp Water (1941)
aka: The Man Who Came Back
15. Une Partie de Campagne (1936)
aka: A Day in the Country
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