Maurice Tourneur

Marseilles in the 1930s. A respected gangster, Justin, finds himself in a deadly feud with his rival, the unscrupulous Esposito. The latter plans to steal a cargo of opium bound for China and to have Justin killed. The scheme backfires, and Justin and his cohorts flee with the stolen drugs. Later, Justin saves a young woman, Totone, from drowning, and she is easily seduced by his charms. Her jealous lover, Sylvio, tries to kill Justin, but again the murder attempt is thwarted. Justin decides it is time for a final showdown with Esposito…Read More »

Synopsis
Set during the mid-19th century, the film dwells upon the foredoomed romance between Russian princess Katia (Danielle Darrieux) and the married Czar Alexander II (John Loder). Impressed by her forthrightness and courage, Alexander finds Katia a breath of fresh air when compared with the usual obsequious noblemen who nip at his heels. When their love affair becomes public during a state ball, the ensuing scandal forces Katia to flee to Paris…Read More »

In CÉCILE IS DEAD! (1944) Santa Relli (Jour de Fête) plays a young woman named Cécile, who keeps coming to Quai des Orfèvres to see Inspector Maigret about disturbing events in her household. The esteemed detective and his colleagues are annoyed…until Cécile winds up dead. Maigret must crack the mystery in this stylish film noir from director Maurice Tourneur (Lorna Doone).Read More »

On the eve of the French Revolution, two orphan girls, Henriette and Louise, make their way to Paris…

There are so many unforgettable scenes:
– Louise singing in the streets, Henriette and the Countess trying to reach her.
The police and the Count stopping them. Countess’ silent despair and Henriette’s screams.
– All the sequences with Pierre and Louise.
– The Marquis’ costume orgy, masterfully filmed.
– And, above all, Yvette Guilbert cradling her son with a song… an immense moment of cinema.
Paul Vecchiali – L’encinéclopédie – cinéastes français des années 1930 et leur oeuvreRead More »

Quote:
Gwen’s family is rich, but her parents ignore her and most of the servants push her around, so she is lonely and unhappy. Her father is concerned only with making money, and her mother cares only about her social position. But one day a servant’s irresponsibility creates a crisis that causes everyone to rethink what is important to them.Read More »

Quote:
Wildly inventive and effortlessly enchanting, Maurice Tourneur’s legendary 1918 fantasy The Blue Bird combines spectacular costumes, lavish sets, ingenious camera effects and disarmingly naturalistic performances in a wholly original American silent film masterpiece. Tourneur’s extravagant vision anticipates the spellbinding German Expressionism of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, made the following year, while affectionately evoking the whimsical theatricality of Georges Méliès’s pioneering cinematic genius.Read More »

AMG wrote:
According to film historian William K. Everson, to offer a fully detailed synopsis of Maurice Tourneur’s delightful period piece The Wishing Ring “would do a disservice to its charm.” Suffice to say that the film’s wide-eyed heroine Vivian Martin comes into possession of a ring which she believes to have magical powers. Armed with this belief alone, the girl is able to change the course of her entire life.Read More »

A man arrives at an isolated mountain inn clutching a small box. The man is panic-struck when, during a sudden blackout, the box disappears. To the assembled guests at the inn he tells his tragic story. The man, Roland Brissot, was once a penniless artist who, one day, bought a talisman from the owner of a restaurant for one franc. The talisman, a severed hand in a box, immediately transformed Brissot’s life and he became a hugely successful artist. Then, one day, he receives a visit from a small man in a suit who tells him that in buying the talisman, he has sold his soul to the Devil…Read More »