Nationality:
Lionel Blythe in Philadelphia, 28 April 1878; brother of the actress
Ethel and the actor John Barrymore.
Education:
Attended Gilmore School, L St. Vincent's Academy, New Y
Seton Hall, New J Arts Students League, New York.
Married 1) Doris Rankin, 1904 (divorced 1922); 2) Irene Fenwick, 1923
(died 1936).
1900—Broadway debut in
Sag Harbor
1904—critical and public attention for performances on Broadway
The Mummy and the Hummingbird
The Other Girl
1906–09—moved to Par
1909—returned to Broadway in
Fines of Fate
employed at Biograph as actor and writer, and worked with D. W.
G 1911—starring roles in Griffith's films, as well
as those of other directors, while continu mid
'teens—began
1920s—began to
play ma 1925—abandoned theater completely for
1926—contract with MGM where he remained for the rest
1928—appeared in talking
1932—in
Rasputin and the Empress
with brother John and sister E 1938—role as Dr. Gillespie,
first in series of 15 Dr. K partially paralyzed by a
combination of arthritis and a leg injury, and confined to a wheelchair,
1942—composed tone poem "In
Memoriam" for brother J performed by the Philadelphia Symphony.
Best Actor Academy Award, for
A Free Soul
, 1930/31.
In Van Nuys, California, 15 November 1954.
Films as Actor:
(in films directed or supervised by D. W. Griffith, unless otherwise
The Battle
Fighting Blood
So Near, Yet So Far
The Chief's Blanket
The One She Loved
Gold and Glitter
The Informer
The New York Hat
The Burglar's Dilemma
A Cry for Help
The God Within
Home Folks
Love in an Apartment Hotel
Three Friends
The Telephone Girl and the Lady
An Adventure in the Autumn Woods
Oil and Water
Near to Earth
The Sheriff's Baby
The Perfidy of Mary
A Misunderstood Boy
The Lady and the Mouse
The Wanderer
House of Darkness
The Yaqui Cur
The Power of the Press
A Timely Interception
Death's Marathon
The Switch Tower
A Girl's Stratagem
Classmates
(Kirkwood);
House of Discord
(Kirkwood);
Death's Marathon
The Rancher's Revenge
Her Father's Silent Partner
The Fatal Wedding
Father's Lesson
His Inspiration
A Welcome Intruder
Mister Jefferson Green
So Runs the Way
The Suffragette Minstrels
The Massacre
Strongheart
(Kirkwood);
Men and Women
(Kirkwood);
Judith of Bethulia
(as extra);
Brute Force
Under the Gaslight
(Middleton);
A Modern Magdalen
The Curious Conduct of Judge Legarde
The Romance of Elaine
(Seitz—serial);
The Flaming Sword
(Middleton);
Dora Thorne
A Yellow Streak
The Exploits of Elaine
(Seitz—serial)
Dorian's Divorce
The Quitter
The Upheaval
The Brand of Cowardice
The End of the Tour
His Father's Son
The Millionaire's Double
(Davenport)
The Valley of Night
The Copperhead
The Mastermind
The Devil's Garden
The Great Adventure
Jim the Penman
Boomerang Bill
(Terriss);
The Face in the Fog
(Crosland) (as Boston Blackie)
Enemies of Women
(Crosland) (as Prince Lubimoff);
Unseeing Eyes
(E. H. Griffith);
The Eternal City
(Fitzmaurice)
Decameron Nights
Love and Sacrifice
) (as Capt. Walter Butler);
Meddling Women
(Abramson);
I Am the Man
(Abramson)
Die Frau mit dem schelechten Ruf
The Iron Road
A Man of Iron
) (Bennett);
Fifty Fifty
(Diamiant);
The Girl Who Wouldn't Work
Children of the Whirlwind
(Bennett);
The Splendid Road
The Wrongdoers
The Barrier
Brooding Eyes
(Le Saint);
Paris at Mid-night
The Lucky Lady
The Temptress
Wife Tamers
(Browning);
Women Love Diamonds
(Goulding);
Body and Soul
The Thirteenth Hour
(Franklin)
Drums of Love
Sadie Thompson
(Walsh) (as Alfred Atkinson);
The Lion and the Mouse
(Lloyd Bacon) (as John "Ready Money" Ryder);
Anna Karenina
) (Goulding);
The River Woman
(Henabery) (as Bill Lefty);
West of Zanzibar
(Browning) (as Crane)
Alias Jimmy Valentine
(Conway) (as Doyle);
The Hollywood Review
(Riesner);
The Mysterious Island
(Hubbard) (as Count Andre Dakkar)
Free and Easy
) (Sedgwick) (as himself, in bedroom scene);
The Love Parade
(Lubitsch) (as Prime Minister)
A Free Soul
(Brown) (as Stephen Ashe);
Guilty Hands
(Van Dyke) (as Richard Grant);
The Yellow Ticket
The Yellow Passport
) (Walsh) (as Baron Igor Andrey);
(Fitzmaurice) (as Gen. Serge Shubin)
Broken Lullaby
The Man I Killed
) (Lubitsch) (as Dr. Holderlin);
Arsène Lupin
(Conway) (as Guerchard);
Grand Hotel
(Goulding) (as Otto Kringelein);
Washington Masquerade
Mad Masquerade
) (Brabin) (as Jeff Keane);
Rasputin and the Empress
Rasputin—The Mad Monk
) (Boleslawski) (as Rasputin)
(Cromwell) (as Daniel Pardway);
Looking Forward
The New Deal
) (Brown) (as Michael Benton);
The Stranger's Return
(King Vidor) (as Grandpa Storr);
Dinner at Eight
(Cukor) (as Oliver Jordan);
One Man's Journey
(Robertson) (as Dr. Eli Watt);
Night Flight
(Brown) (as Rabineau);
Christopher Bean
Her Sweetheart
) (Wood) (as doctor);
Should Ladies Behave?
(Beaumont) (as Augustus Merrick);
Berkeley Square
(Frank Lloyd) (as innkeeper);
La ciudad de carton
Cardboard City
This Side of Heaven
(William K. Howard) (as Martin Turner);
The House of Connelly
) (Henry King) (as Bob
Lionel Barrymore in
Calling Dr. Kildare
Connelly);
The Girl from Missouri
One Hundred Percent Pure
) (Conway) (as T. B. Paige);
Treasure Island
(Fleming) (as Billy Bones)
David Copperfield
(Cukor) (as Dan Peggotty);
Mark of the Vampire
(Browning) (as Prof. Zelen);
The Little Colonel
(David Butler) (as Col. Lloyd);
Public Hero Number One
(Ruben) (as Dr. Josiah Glass);
The Return of Peter Grimm
(Nicholls Jr.) (title role);
Ah, Wilderness
(Brown) (as Nat Miller)
The Voice of Bugle Ann
(Thorpe) (as Springfield Davis);
The Road to Glory
(Hawks) (as Papa LaRoche);
The Devil Doll
(Browning) (as Paul Lavond);
The Gorgeous Hussy
(Brown) (as Andrew Jackson)
(Cukor) (as Monsieur Duval);
Captains Courageous
(Fleming) (as Disko);
A Family Affair
(Seitz) (as Judge Hardy);
(Conway) (as Grandpa Clayton);
Navy Blue and Gold
(Wood) (as Capt. "Skinny" Dawes)
A Yank at Oxford
(Conway) (as Dan Sheridan);
Test Pilot
(Fleming) (as Howard B. Drake);
You Can't Take It with You
(Capra) (as Martin Vanderhof);
Young Dr. Kildare
(Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie)
Let Freedom Ring
(Conway) (as Thomas Logan);
Calling Dr. Kildare
(Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
On Borrowed Time
(Bucquet) (as Julian Northup, "Gramps");
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
(Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie)
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
(Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
(Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
(Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie)
The Penalty
(Bucquet) (as "Grandpop" Logan);
The Bad Man
Two-Gun Cupid
) (Thorpe) (as Uncle Henry Jones);
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
The People vs. Dr. Kildare
My Life Is Yours
) (Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
Lady Be Good
(McLeod) (as Judge Murdock);
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
Mary Names the Day
) (Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
Dr. Kildare's Victory
The Doctor and the Debutante
) (Van Dyke) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie)
Calling Dr. Gillespie
(Bucquet) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant
(Goldbeck) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
Tennessee Johnson
The Man on America's Conscience
) (Dieterle) (as Congressman Thaddeus Stevens)
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
Crazy to Kill
) (Goldbeck) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
The Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith
(Bucquet) (as Gramps);
A Guy Named Joe
(Fleming) (as the General);
Thousands Cheer
(Sidney) (as announcer)
Three Men in White
(Goldbeck) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie);
Dragon Seed
(Conway and Bucquet) (as narrator);
Since You Went Away
(Cromwell) (as clergyman);
Between Two Women
(Goldbeck) (as Dr. Leonard Gillespie)
The Valley of Decision
(Garnett) (as Pat Rafferty)
Three Wise Fools
(Buzzell) (as Dr. Richard Gaunght);
The Secret Heart
(Leonard) (as Dr. Rossiger);
It's a Wonderful
(Capra) (as Mr. Potter);
Duel in the Sun
(King Vidor and Dieterle) (as Sen. McCanles)
Dark Delusion
Cynthia's Secret
) (Goldbeck) (as Dr. Gillespie)
(Huston) (as James Temple)
Some of the Best
(Whitbeck) (as narrator);
Down to the Sea in Ships
(Hathaway) (as Capt. Bering Joy)
East of the Rising Sun
Alien Orders
) (Thorpe) (as John Manchester);
Right Cross
(John Sturges) (as Sean O'Malley)
The M-G-M Story
(as narrator);
Bannerline
(Weis) (as Hugo Trimble)
(Sherman) (as Andrew Jackson)
Main Street to Broadway
(Garnett) (as himself)
Films as Director:
Life's Whirlpool
Confession
His Glorious Night
(+ pr, mus);
The Unholy Night
The Green Ghost
The Rogue Song
Ten Cents a Dance
Films as Scriptwriter:
Fighting Blood
(Griffith)
(Griffith);
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
(Griffith);
The Tender-Hearted Boy
(Griffith)
The Vengeance of Galora
The Battle of Elderbush Gulch
(Griffith); date uncertain:
The Woman in Black
The Span of Life
The Seats of the Mighty
Publications
By BARRYMORE: book—
We Barrymores
, as told to Cameron Shipp, London, 1951.
By BARRYMORE: articles—
"The Present State of the Movies," in
Ladies' Home Journal
(New York), September 1926.
"Introduction," in
A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas
, by Charles Dickens, Philadelphia and Chicago, 1938.
On BARRYMORE: books—
Barrymore, John,
We Three: Ethel—Lionel—John
, Akron, Ohio, 1935.
Alpert, Hollis,
The Barrymores
, New York, 1969.
Kotsilibas-Davis, James,
The Barrymores: The Royal Family in Hollywood
, New York, 1981.
On BARRYMORE: articles—
Mullet, Mary, "Lionel Barrymore Tells How People Show Their
Age," in
American Magazine
, February 1922.
Pringle, Henry F., "Late-Blooming Barrymore," in
Collier's
(New York), 1 October 1932.
Barrymore, John, "Lionel, Ethel, and I," in
American Magazine
, February, March, April, and May 1933.
Current Biography 1943
, New York, 1943.
Crichton, Kyle, "Barrymore, the Lion-hearted," in
Collier's
(New York), March 1949.
Obituary in
New York Times
, 16 November 1954.
"Lionel Barrymore," in
(Rochester, New York), December 1954.
Downing, R., "Lionel Barrymore 1878&#x," in
Films in Review
(New York), January 1955.
Gray, B., "A Lionel Barrymore Index," in
Films in Review
(New York), April 1962.
Classic Images
(Indiana, Pennsylvania), June 1982.
Lionel Barrymore, the oldest of the three Barrymore siblings who comprised
probably the greatest acting family of the American theater and cinema,
began his career in films shortly before 1910. He started out acting in
Biograph shorts, and was soon starring in and occasionally writing and
directing a wide variety of films for various studios. His roles were
characterized by their diversity, from romantic leads and villains to
character parts, in films such as D. W. Griffith's
The New York Hat
In the 1920s Barrymore appeared in dozens of films, among them
, also directed by Griffith,
Sadie Thompson
, in which he played a self-righteous reformer, and
Alias Jimmy Valentine
, as the detective Doyle. The 1920s were a turning point in his career,
for he began more and more to play character parts and older men,
something he was to do for the rest of his life. Although in his younger
days Lionel had resembled his younger brother John in his good looks, his
jowlishness in middle age necessitated a switch to character parts when he
was still relatively young. By the early 1930s Lionel usually appeared as
a father-type or as a heavily made-up character, as in
Rasputin and the Empress
. That film marked the only time that Lionel, John, and Ethel Barrymore
all played together in the same film. Lionel Barrymore won an Oscar in
1931 as Best Actor (tying with Wallace Beery for
A Free Soul
, in which he played Norma Shearer's drunken father. His
performance stands up well, as do many of his others of the period, such
Grand Hotel
(in which he is memorably cast as the dying accountant attempting to
squeeze every last drop of life). Barrymore is equally remembered,
however, for his role as Dr. Leonard Gillespie in the long-running MGM
series of Dr. Kildare films produced in the 1930s and 1940s. Barrymore
appeared in all 15 of the films, more than anyone else connected with the
series. His first Dr. Kildare film,
Young Dr. Kildare
, opened in late 1938 and seemed ideally suited to Barrymore because he
was by then afflicted with severe arthritis and could act only on crutches
or while sitting down. The series accommodated his illness by allowing him
to remain in a wheelchair yet be vital in his characterization. Dr.
Gillespie was the definitive Barrymore combination of exaggerated moves,
intensity, and emotional vacillation. He could be calm and tender with
patients yet extremely agitated with everyone else.
A short time before the Dr. Kildare series began, Barrymore had appeared
in the first of MGM's Andy Hardy films as Judge Hardy in
A Family Affair
. Barrymore gave an excellent, calm performance which in retrospect seems
more realistic than the wise and overtly patient characterization given by
Lewis Stone in the subsequent films.
Apart from the Dr. Gillespie role, Barrymore continued to act in dozens of
films throughout the final years of his life, usually in a wheelchair or
deskbound yet still dominating his scenes. His screen persona in the
latter years was often the butt of nightclub impressionists who copied his
unusually pitched and timed voice and grandiose hand gestures. Yet
Barrymore's career was a diverse one with as many calmly serious
roles as flamboyant ones. It is unfortunate that the lasting impression he
left is more that of Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's
It's a Wonderful Life
than the worried businessman in
Dinner at Eight
or the smart detective in
Arsène Lupin
. He was a consummate actor who worked hard and gave almost 300 screen
performances of wide diversity, a great accomplishment by any standard.
—Patricia King Hanson, updated by Audrey E. Kupferberg
Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:Read the following reference index.Choose the best answer to the questions.Quick Reference Index Actors and Actresses 385-399 Maps(color) 517-528Museums 454-469 Medical developments 492Animals 493-496 Holidays 841-873Fmous art 480-481 Plants,river 10_百度作业帮
Read the following reference index.Choose the best answer to the questions.Quick Reference Index Actors and Actresses 385-399 Maps(color) 517-528Museums 454-469 Medical developments 492Animals 493-496 Holidays 841-873Fmous art 480-481 Plants,river 10
Read the following reference index.Choose the best answer to the questions.Quick Reference Index Actors and Actresses 385-399 Maps(color) 517-528Museums 454-469 Medical developments 492Animals 493-496 Holidays 841-873Fmous art 480-481 Plants,river 108-109and114-115Highways 131-141 National Parks 747-749Best sellers,Books 476 Countries 529-615Discouveries and inventions 336-338 Passports 142-144Environment 80-101 Population 619-619Education 384-321 Postal Information Flags of the world 513-516 Sports 884-978（ ）1.One who likes surfing can find the information about how to surf on pages_________.a.142-144 b.847-873 c.884-978 d.517-528（ ）2.You can fid “Thanksgiving Day”on pages________.a.841-873 b.108-109 c.284-321 d.513-516
1.C Sports 884-978 冲浪属于运动2.A Holidays 841-873 感恩节属于节日Nationality:
Neuilly-sur-Seine, 29 February 1920.
Education:
Studied acting under René Simon.
Married 1) William Marshall, 1942 (divorced 1949), 2) Henri
1950 (died 1959).
1936—film debut in bit part in
Mademoiselle Mozart
1937—contract with the director Marc
Allé 1942–46—made several films in the United
States under contract to RKO; 1966—exhibition of her paintings at
Galerie Dina V 1978–80—on stage in
Le Tout pour le tout
Chéri
, 1982–83.
Best Actress, Cannes Festival, for
La Symphonie pastorale
, 1946. Chevalier, Legion of Honor, 1969.
5 rue Jacques Dulud, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
Films as Actress:
Mademoiselle Mozart
(Noé) (bit role);
La Vie parisienne
(Siodmak) (bit role);
Mes tantes et moi
(Noé) (as Michèle);
Forty Little Mothers
) (Moguy) (as student);
Une Fille à papa
(Guissart) (bit role)
(Noé) (bit role);
Gribouille
Heart of Paris
) (Marc Allégret) (as Natalie Roguin);
(Marc Allégret) (as Pascaud)
Quai des brumes
Port of Shadows
) (Carné) (as Nelly);
Le Récif de corail
(Gleize) (as Lilian White)
L'Entraîneuse
(Valentin) (as Suzy);
Les Musiciens du ciel
(Lacombe) (as Lte. Saulnier)
Stormy Waters
) (Grémillon) (as Catherine)
La Loi du nord
(Feyder) (as Jacqueline Bert);
Joan of Paris
(Stevenson) (title role)
Untel Père et Fils
The Heart of a Nation
) (Duvivier—produced in 1939) (as Marie
Froment-Léonard);
Two Tickets to London
(Marin) (as Jeanne);
Higher and Higher
(Whelan) (as Millie)
Passage to Marseilles
(Curtiz) (as Paula)
La Symphonie pastorale
(Delannoy) (as Gertrude);
(Ripley) (as Lorna Roman)
The Fallen Idol
The Lost Illusion
) (Reed) (as Julie);
(Blasetti) (title role);
Aux yeux du souvenir
) (Delannoy) (as Claire Magny)
Maria Chapdelaine
The Naked Heart
) (Marc Allégret—released in U.S. in 1955) (title role);
La Belle que voilà
(Le Chanois) (as Jeanne Morel);
Le Château de verre
(Clément) (as Evelyne Bertal)
L'Etrange Madame X
(Grémillon) (as Irène)
"L'Orgueil" ("Pride") ep. of
Les Sept Péchés Capitaux
The Seven Deadly Sins
) (Autant-Lara) (as Anne-Marie de Pallières);
La Minute de vérité
The Moment of Truth
) (Delannoy) (as Madeleine Richard)
Les Orgueilleux
The Proud and the Beautiful
) (Yves Allégret) (as Nellie)
"Jeanne" ep. of
Destinées
Daughters of Destiny
Love, Soldiers and Women
Lysistrata
) (Yves Allégret) (as Jeanne d'Arc);
(Delannoy) (as Helene Giovanni)
Napoléon
(Guitry) (as Joséphine);
(Yves Allégret) (as Francoise Lignières);
Les Grandes Manoeuvres
The Grand Maneuver
Summer Manoeuvres
) (Clair) (as Marie-Louise Rivière);
Si Paris nous était conté
If Paris Were Told to Us
) (Guitry) (as Gabrielle d'Estrées)
Marguerite de la nuit
(Autant-Lara) (as Marguerite);
Marie-Antoinette
(Delannoy) (title role)
The Vintage
(Hayden) (as Léonne Morel);
Retour de Manivelle
There's Always a Price Tag
) (de la Patellière) (as Hélène Freminger)
Le Miroir à deux faces
The Mirror Has Two Faces
) (Cayatte) (as Marie-José);
(Verneuil) (as Jacqueline Monneron);
Racconti d'estate
Love on the Riviera
Summer Tales
Femmes d'un été
) (Francolini) (as Micheline)
Pourquoi viens-tu si tard?
(Decoin) (as Catherine Ferrer);
Vacanze d'inverno
(Mastrocinque) (as Steffa Tardier)
Menschen im Hotel
Grand Hotel
) (Reinhardt) (as La Grusinskaya);
Les Scélérats
(Hossein) (as Thelma Roland);
(Joffé) (as Juliette Valecourt)
Le Puits aux trois vérités
Three Faces of Sin
) (Villiers) (as Renée Plèges);
Les Lions sont lachés
(Verneuil) (as Cecile)
Un Coeur gros comme ça
(Reichenbach) (as herself);
Rencontres
(Agostini) (as Bella Krasner); "The Hugues Case" ep. of
Le Crime ne paie pas
Crime Does Not Pay
The Gentle Art of Murder
) (Oury) (as Jeanne Hugues 2)
) (Chabrol) (as Célestine Buisson);
Méfiezvous mesdames
(Hunebelle) (as Gisèle Duparc)
Il fornaretto di Venezia
(Tessari) (as Comtesse Sofia Zeno);
Constance aux enfers
Web of Fear
) (Villiers) (as Constance Brunel);
Les Pas perdus
(Robin) (as Yolande Simonnet);
Les Yeux cernés
(Hossein) (as Florence Vollmer)
Dis-moi qui tuer
(Périer) (as Geneviève Monthannet)
Lost Command
Not for Honor and Glory
) (Robson) (as Comtesse Nathalie de Clairefons)
La Bien-aimée
(Doniol-Valcroze—for TV) (as Fanny)
Benjamin ou Les mémoires d'un puceau
The Diary of an Innocent Boy
) (Deville) (as Comtesse Gabrielle de Valandry)
Le Chat et la souris
Cat and Mouse
) (Lelouch) (as Mme. Richard)
Robert et Robert
(Lelouch) (as herself)
Chéri
(Hubert—for TV)
Un Homme et une femme: vingt ans déjà
A Man and a Woman: 20 Years Later
) (Lelouch);
Le Tiroir secret
(Molinaro—for TV)
Stanno tutti bene
Everybody's Fine
) (Tornatore) (as woman on train)
La Veuve de l'architecte
(Monnier—for TV) (as Helena Kramp)
Des gens si bien élevés
(Nahum) (as Geneviéve)
(Nahum) (as Judith)
Publications
By MORGAN: books—
Avec ces yeux
, with Marcelle Routier, Paris, 1977, as
With Those Eyes
, London, 1978.
Le fil bleu: le roman de ma famille
, Paris, 1993.
On MORGAN: book—
Bouniq-Mercier, Claude,
Michèle Morgan
, Paris, 1983.
On MORGAN: articles—
(Paris), February 1979.
Ciné Revue
(Paris), 7 January 1982.
(Mariembourg, Belgium), December 1989, June 1990, December 1990, and June
Baker, B., "Michèle Morgan," in
(Nottingham, England), September 1990.
After a successful debut in the 1930s as an affecting, ill-fated heroine,
Michèle Morgan survived a disappointing wartime period in Hollywood
to become France's most acclaimed actress of the 1950s. With her
honest expression, serene open face, and fine features, she possessed an
almost unworldly beauty which seemed the outward manifestation of
untainted virtue and intrinsic moral strength. In the bleak mood of
pre-war Europe she came to represent the contemporary romantic heroine
doomed through implacable adversity to unhappiness.
Morgan's first triumph came in
Gribouille
as the fetchingly innocent Natalie, unjustly accused of murdering her
lover. Pathetic, self-sacrificing roles followed. In
an impossible aff in
L'Entraîneuse
, revelation of her dubious past destroys her happiness, while in
La Loi du nord
Les Musiciens du ciel
a martyr's death is her reward for loyalty and devotion. It was
with Jean Gabin as a romantic partner, however, that she achieved
distinction. If in
La Récif de corail
misfortune is conquered, in
Quai des brumes
their chance encounter secures only fleeting happiness. As the hapless
heroine, Morgan gave outstanding performances, particularly for
Carné as Nelly, the precociously mature young woman trapped in a
corrupt society and experiencing love with the fugitive Gabin. Her
assorted and indifferent Hollywood performances included that of a servant
masquerading as a debutante in Whelan's comedy-musical
Higher and Higher
, a romanticized Resistance heroine in
Joan of Paris
Two Tickets to London
a widow romantically involved with a serviceman.
Critical acclaim marked Morgan's return to French cinema in a
sensitive and restrained performance as the blind girl Gertrude in
La Symphonie pastorale
. Reestablishing herself as the romantic heroine, she now assumed
professional roles as an air hostess dogged by memories in
Aux yeux du souvenir
and as a terminally ill ballerina in
La Belle que voilà
. The postwar era brought co-productions and historical roles, notably as
a haughty aristocrat in
, a spirited Joan of Arc in
Destinées
, as Joséphine de Beauharnais in
Napoléon
, the beautiful leading lady in
Marie-Antoinette
Si Paris nous était conté
as mistress to Henri IV. European directors cast her successively as the
tearful mistress of
The Fallen Idol
, the fading, suicidal ballerina of
Menschen im Hotel
, and as a seductive thief in
Racconti d'estate
Invariably elegant and wealthy, in her 1950s roles she remained the
victim, now bored and frustrated in her stifling ease. Escape is sought in
adultery, as in
Le Château de verre
L'Etrange Madame X
, with a proletarian lover, and with an artist in
La Minute de vérité
. An alternative solution to personal unhappiness is found in alcohol in
Les Scélérats
, and, most powerfully, as the unhappily married hard-drinking lawyer of
Pourquoi viens-tu si tard?
Distinguishing this era were roles as Gérard Philipe's
courageous medical helper in
Les Orgueilleux
and, particularly, as the sincere, sophisticated, and suffering
divorcée he seeks to seduce in
Les Grandes Manoeuvres
Rarely convincing as a wicked woman, Morgan was nevertheless cast as a
defrauding vamp in
Retour de Manivelle
, a murderess in
Les Yeux cernés
Le Puits aux trois vérités
as a negligent, jealous mother. Lighter roles saw her as a witty partner
to Bourvil in
, a would-be murderess in
Méfiez-vous mesdames
, an adventuress in
Dis-moi qui tuer
, and a murder suspect in
Le Chat et la souris
As a traditional star closely identified with established directors such
as Yves Allégret and Delannoy, Michèle Morgan was all but
ignored by the New Wave iconoclasts. Extending over five decades, her
largely distinguished, if uneven, film career survived indifferent roles
in nonindigenous productions. Eight years after her last screen
appearance, as herself in
Robert et Robert
, she made a triumphant return to the stage in Colette's
Chéri
. More recently, she has enjoyed a popular following in the television
Le Tiroir secret
as a psychologist delving into her dead husband's past. She will
be remembered for her exceptional beauty, her discreet, composed acting as
the desirable young heroine, and her intelligent, sensitive performances
as the sophisticated lady of later years.
—R. F. Cousins
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