''Threats'' (French: ''Menaces'') is a 1940 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Edmond T. Gréville Edmond T. Gréville (born Edmond Gréville Thonger; 20 June 1906 – 26 May 1966) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was married to the actress Vanda Gréville. Career Gréville began his career as a film journalist and critic. ...

and starring Mireille Balin, John Loder,

Ginette Leclerc Ginette Leclerc (born Geneviève Lucie Menut; February 9, 1912 – January 2, 1992) was a French film actress. She appeared in nearly 90 films between 1932 and 1978. Her last TV appearance was in 1981. She was born in Ile-de-France, France ...

and

Erich von Stroheim Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. H ...

. Gréville began production on the film shortly after the

Munich Agreement The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...

of September 1938.Neupert p.278 It was shot at the François 1er Studios in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Lucien Jaquelux Lucien Jaquelux (1894–1946) was a French set designer and film director.Rège p.529 He also worked as a painter and illustrator. He began his filmmaking career in the silent era. Selected filmography * ''The Nude Woman'' (1926) * '' Celle qui d ...

Synopsis

In the late 1930s, a number of

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

from various European countries are living in the same

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

in the Latin Quarter of

. The caring Denise is sympathetic to their plight, particularly that of

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Hoffman who is in exile from his family and homeland. The more frivolous Ginette, meanwhile, uses the hotel for rendezvous with her lover, Dick Stone, an Englishman living abroad to avoid potential military service. The prospect of the impending

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

plays an increasing role on the various characters.

Cast

* Mireille Balin as Denise * John Loder as Dick Stone *

as Ginette *

as Le professeur Hoffman *

Vanda Gréville Vanda Gréville (born Wanda MacEwan; 10 January 190826 December 1997) was a British film actress who mainly appeared in French productions.Driskell p.84 She was the wife of the Anglo-French director Edmond T. Gréville. Selected filmography * ' ...

as L'américaine *

Maurice Maillot Maurice Maillot (18 September 1906 – 8 February 1968) was a French film and theater actor. He was born in Rethel, Ardennes, and died in Paris. Selected filmography * '' The Indictment'' (1931) * '' The Wandering Beast'' (1932) *'' Odette'' (193 ...

as Mouret * Paul Demange as Le domestique *

Jacques Henley Jacques Henley (born Jacques Dhote) was a French actor. Selected filmography * ''Our Masters, the Servants'' (1930) * ''The Mystery of the Villa Rose'' (1930) * ''The Threepenny Opera'' (1931) * '' The Yellow Dog'' (1932) * ''The Regiment's Champ ...

as Le Hollandais *

René Charles René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminine ...

as Un journaliste *

Robert Moor Robert Moor (17 July 1889 – 23 December 1972) was a French actor. Selected filmography * ''Une jeune fille et un million'' (1932) - Pimpant * ''Riri et Nono en vacances'' (1932) * ''Le soir des rois'' (1933) - Ferdinand Albaret * '' The A ...

as Le philatéliste *

Nicolas Rimsky Nicolas Rimsky (russian: Николай Алекса́ндрович Римский; born Nikolai Alexandrovich Kurmashov; 18 February 1886 – 5 September 1941) was a Russian-French film actor, director and writer. He was born in Moscow, Russia. ...

as Wladimir * Elisabeth Donnathas Marischka * Nina Sinclair as La première * Albert Malbert as Le chauffeur de taxi *

Marcelle Monthil Marcelle Monthil (8 June 1892 – 8 November 1950) was a French film actress. Born Marcelle Madeleine Montalenti in the Principality of Monaco, she died in Paris. Selected filmography * ''Love Songs'' (1930) * '' When Love Is Over'' (1931) * ...

as La directrice de la maison de couture *

Henri Bosc Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

as Carbonero *

Madeleine Lambert Madeleine Lambert (1892–1977) was a French stage, television and film actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in moder ...

as La patronne de l'hôtel * Jean Galland as Louis *

Jane Pierson Jane Pierson was a French film actress.Goble p.130 She appeared in fifty five films between 1924 and 1952. Selected filmography * ''The Imaginary Voyage'' (1926) * '' Captain Rascasse'' (1927) * '' The Marriage of Mademoiselle Beulemans'' (1927) ...

as L'essayeuse

References

Bibliography

* Bessy, Maurice & Chirat, Raymond. ''Histoire du cinéma français: 1935-1939''. Pygmalion, 1986. * Crisp, Colin. ''Genre, Myth and Convention in the French Cinema, 1929-1939''. Indiana University Press, 2002. * Lennig, Arthur. ''Stroheim''. University Press of Kentucky, 2004. * Neupert, Richard. ''French Film History, 1895–1946''. University of Wisconsin Pres, 2022. * Rège, Philippe. ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors, Volume 1''. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

External links

* 1940 films French drama films 1940 drama films 1940s French-language films French black-and-white films 1940s French films Films directed by Edmond T. Gréville Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris {{1940s-France-film-stub