''Beautiful Star'' (French: ''Belle Étoile'') is a 1938 French
comedy drama film
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
directed by
Jacques de Baroncelli
Jacques de Baroncelli (25 June 1881 – 12 January 1951) was a French film director best known for his silent films from 1915 to the late 1930s. He came from a Florence, Florentine family who had settled in Provence in the 15th century, occupying ...
and starring
Michel Simon
Michel Simon (; 9 April 1895 – 30 May 1975) was a Swiss-French actor. He appeared in many notable French films, including ''La Chienne'' (1931), ''Boudu Saved from Drowning'' (1932), ''L'Atalante'' (1934), ''Port of Shadows'' (1938), '' The He ...
,
Meg Lemonnier
Marguerite Gabrielle Lemonnier (née Clark; 15 May 1905 – 12 June 1988) was a British-born French singer and film actress. Lemonnier played the female lead in the comedy ''George and Georgette'' (1933).Prawer p.193
Selected filmography
* '' M ...
, and
Jean-Pierre Aumont
Jean-Pierre Aumont (born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons; 5 January 1911 – 30 January 2001) was a French actor, and holder of the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre for his World War II military service.
Early life
Aumont was born Jea ...
.
[Crisp p.412] The film's sets were designed by the
art directors
Paul-Louis Boutié
Paul-Louis Boutié (1910-2004) was a French art directorCoates-Smith & McGee p.96 who designed the sets for many film productions in postwar France cinema.
Selected filmography
* '' Beautiful Star'' (1938)
* '' The Acrobat'' (1941)
* '' Gringal ...
and
Georges Wakhévitch.
Synopsis
Meg Lemarchal doesn't want to marry the man her father has picked out for her. She is driven to suicide, but is saved by a young man Jean-Pierre. However she is then kidnapped, leading to Jean-Pierre trying to rescue her.
Cast
*
Michel Simon
Michel Simon (; 9 April 1895 – 30 May 1975) was a Swiss-French actor. He appeared in many notable French films, including ''La Chienne'' (1931), ''Boudu Saved from Drowning'' (1932), ''L'Atalante'' (1934), ''Port of Shadows'' (1938), '' The He ...
as Léon
*
Meg Lemonnier
Marguerite Gabrielle Lemonnier (née Clark; 15 May 1905 – 12 June 1988) was a British-born French singer and film actress. Lemonnier played the female lead in the comedy ''George and Georgette'' (1933).Prawer p.193
Selected filmography
* '' M ...
as Meg Lemarchal
*
Jean-Pierre Aumont
Jean-Pierre Aumont (born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons; 5 January 1911 – 30 January 2001) was a French actor, and holder of the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre for his World War II military service.
Early life
Aumont was born Jea ...
as Jean-Pierre
*
Saturnin Fabre
Saturnin Fabre (4 April 1884 – 4 October 1961) was a French film actor.
Selected filmography
* ''La rafale'' (1920) - comte de Bréchebel
* ''Mademoiselle de La Seiglière'' (1921)
* '' The Road Is Fine'' (1930) - Le professeur Pique
* '' ...
as Lemarchal
*
Georges Lannes
Georges Lannes (27 October 1895 – 8 July 1983) was a French film actor who appeared in more than a hundred films during his career including '' André Cornélis'' (1927).Goble p.50
Selected filmography
* '' The Mysteries of Paris'' (1922)
* '' ...
as Monsieur Albert
*
Jean Aymé
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* J ...
as Le receleur
*
Marcel Vallée
Marcel Vallée (15 January 1880, in Paris – 31 October 1957, in Fontaine-le-Port) was a French actor, primarily of the theater. He began working in films with Max Linder in 1906. He appeared in some American films.
Selected filmography
* '' ...
as Le président
*
André Numès Fils
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...
as Charlot
*
René Blancard
René Blancard (12 March 1897 – 5 November 1965) was a French film actor. He appeared in 80 films between 1922 and 1965.
Selected filmography
* '' The Mysteries of Paris'' (1922) - Bras-Rouge
* ''Montmartre'' (1925) - Frédéric Charanç ...
as Le commissaire
*
Robert Ralphy
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
as Un passant
References
Bibliography
* Crisp, Colin. ''Genre, Myth and Convention in the French Cinema, 1929-1939''. Indiana University Press, 2002.
External links
*
1938 films
French comedy-drama films
1938 comedy-drama films
Films directed by Jacques de Baroncelli
1930s French-language films
French black-and-white films
1930s French films
{{1930s-France-film-stub