Les Merveilles du Cinéma
This is a List of the films referenced in the book Les Merveilles du Cinéma (The Wonders of Cinema) by French journalist Georges Sadoul, published in 1957. I have added a brief comment according to the book, which I hope, will be helpful for those interested in filmmaking.
Sadoul was a member of the surrealist group and later became a communist. He died in 1967. The Prix Georges Sadoul is named after him.
Please, feel free to comment and discuss.
Missing from IMDB:
Dong Cunrui (China, 1955)
Si Pincang (Indonesia, 1952)
Sadoul was a member of the surrealist group and later became a communist. He died in 1967. The Prix Georges Sadoul is named after him.
Please, feel free to comment and discuss.
Missing from IMDB:
Dong Cunrui (China, 1955)
Si Pincang (Indonesia, 1952)
List activity
2.4K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
155 titles
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsGérard PhilipeMaría FélixJean ServaisAroused citizens assassinate an unpopular Caribbean despot, then two men vie for his gorgeous widow Ines. Ojeda is a steamy, isolated island, the penal colony for an oppressive dictatorship. A reactionary seizes the murdered governor's post, and rushes to eliminate his romantic rival, an idealistic underling. The bureaucrat Vazquez hopes to marshal the angry residents of the capitol, El Pao, plus the many political prisoners, to oust Governor Gual.Last film made by actor Gérard Philipe, to whom the book is dedicated. Directed by his friend and fellow surrealist Luis Buñuel.
- DirectorGérard PhilipeJoris IvensStarsGérard PhilipeJean VilarFernand LedouxTyll Ulenspiegel's adventures fighting the Spanish lead by the duke of Alba.The book is largely based around the making of this film. Thus is used to explain basic notions of lightening, set design, shooting, cutting, edition, costume design, make up, etc.
- DirectorRex IngramStarsRudolph ValentinoAlice TerryPomeroy CannonAn extended family split up in France and Germany find themselves on opposing sides of the battlefield during World War I.As a reference to director Rex Ingram, founder of Victorine Studios.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMarcel DalioNora GregorPaulette DubostA bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.One of the films whose production he witnessed.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsMaurice ChevalierFrançois PérierMarcelle Derrien1910. A friend leaves his daughter, Madeleine, with Emile a French film producer. Emile falls in love with her. Problems starts when his young friend Jacques returns from military service complaining his misfortune with women. Once he follows Emile's advice to have an affair, he meets Lucette and falls in love with her instead.One of the films whose production he witnessed.
- DirectorVsevolod PudovkinDmitriy VasilevStarsYuri YurovskyIlya SudakovVladimir BelokurovBiopic on Nikolay Zhukovsky, a scientist, mathematician and engineer who is considered the father of Russian aviation.One of the films whose production he witnessed.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsFrançois LeterrierCharles Le ClaincheMaurice BeerblockA captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.One of the films whose production he witnessed.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsDramatized re-enactments of the events of the Dreyfus-affair from 1894 to 1899.Example of early films, whose production values were more similar to those of theatre.
- DirectorJean VigoStarsDita ParloJean DastéGilles MargaritisNewly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.It points a continuity error due to Jean Vigo's lack of economic resources. He (apparently) could not afford a script supervisor (or "script girl") and he wasn't able to re-shoot the scene.
- DirectorLouis LumièreStarsFrançois ClercBenoît DuvalAn impudent child plays a prank on a gardener innocently watering his plants.Noted as one of the first narrative films, it points the importance of props (the hose) and sets (the garden).
- DirectorGiovanni PastroneStarsItalia Almirante-ManziniLidia QuarantaBartolomeo PaganoCabiria is a Roman child when her home is destroyed by a volcano. Sold in Carthage to be sacrificed in a temple, she is saved by Fulvio, a Roman spy. But danger lurks, and hatred between Rome and Carthage can only lead to war.Early use of tridimensional (not painting) sets. To enhance the feeling of depth, Pastrone introduced the travelling shot.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsAnthony QuinnGiulietta MasinaRichard BasehartA care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.In the spirit of realism; actress Giuletta Massina and her husband, director Federico Fellini acquired used clothes at the flea market in Porta Portese.
- DirectorGiuseppe De SantisStarsVittorio GassmanDoris DowlingSilvana ManganoTwo criminals on the run end up working in a rice field and decide to recruit other workers for their next robbery.Reference to symbolism in the dress worn by Silvana Mangano.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJean GabinDita ParloPierre FresnayDuring WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.Film shoted by cinematographer Christian Matras. He also shot "Les aventures de Till".
- DirectorChristian-JaqueStarsGérard PhilipeGina LollobrigidaMarcel HerrandSwashbuckling adventures of young army recruit Fanfan la Tulipe during the reign of King Louis XV in 18th Century France.Same as above.
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsGina LollobrigidaAnthony QuinnJean DanetThe timeless tale of the seductive gypsy Esmeralda and the tortured hunchback Quasimodo.Jean Delannoy recreated the famous cathedral's porch in the studio to avoid lightening difficulties (this is obvious nowadays).
Book Ilustration: A production shot showing the visual effect of a 6m cathedral behind some 4m houses giving the impression of a real 70m cathedral. - DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsCary GrantIngrid BergmanClaude RainsThe daughter of a convicted German spy is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of German scientists in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?Description of a complex crane shot. Panning the camera in a long shot, then descending to an extreme close up.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsAlbert PréjeanPola IlléryEdmond T. GrévilleAlbert is smitten for Pola but ends up wrongly committed in jail, in the meantime her affections are sought after by his friend, and on his release both love and friendship must be tested.Example of sound production. In the film's first scene, the camera slowly approaches a group of street singers. As we get near them, the sound gradually increases.
- DirectorChristian-JaqueStarsRenée FaureLucien CoëdelLouis SalouFabrice del Dongo, a young archbishop, gives his all to romance rather than to the Church, creating complications for everyone around. The Countess of San Severina, is but one of the women who love him a la folie, spurring jealous retribution in high places from those who in turn want her. From his prison window, Fabrice falls in love with the jailer's daughter who takes a vow to the Virgin Mary to never see him again if his escape succeeds.An instance of star value. According to Sadoul, people often referred to this film as a "Gérard Philipe movie" rather than a "Christian-Jaque movie" or a "Stendhal film"
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsDanny KayeVirginia MayoBoris KarloffA clumsy daydreamer gets caught up in a sinister conspiracy.A comparisson betwen the audience and Danny Kaye's character, who likes to imagine he is a Hollywood hero.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.Another instance of star value. This time is the famous urban legend about the sales of undershirts declining, because of Clark Gable not wearing any.
- DirectorAndré CalmettesLouis MercantonHenri PouctalStarsSarah BernhardtLou TellegenPaul CapellaniMarguerite is a courtesan in Paris. She falls deeply in love with a young man of promise, Armand Duval. When Armand's father begs her not to ruin his hope of a career and position by marrying Armand, she acquiesces and leaves her lover. However, when poverty and terminal illness overwhelm her, Marguerite discovers that Armand has not lost his love for her.Actress Sarah Bernhardt, was a stage performer. When she repeated the same gestures and acting style in film, she looked (in Sadoul words) ridiculous.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsYves MontandCharles VanelPeter van EyckIn a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.Actor Yves Montand, before being a screen actor was a jazz singer. He was successful in getting rid of the singer persona and acquiring on-screen presence.
- DirectorYves AllégretStarsDanièle DelormeHenri VidalJean Debucourt1922:Irish Revolution.Catherine, a servant in a convent ,goes to Dublin to meet up with her young brother in danger.Book illustration. A comparison between a sketch and the finished set.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsPaul MuniGale SondergaardJoseph SchildkrautThe biopic of the famous French muckraking writer and his involvement in fighting the injustice of the Dreyfus Affair.Outstanding use of makeup (grimage) on actor Paul Muni.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsNikolay CherkasovLyudmila TselikovskayaSerafima BirmanDuring the early part of his reign, Ivan the Terrible faces betrayal from the aristocracy and even his closest friends as he seeks to unite the Russian people.Outstanding use of makeup (grimage) on actor Nikolai Cherkasov.
- DirectorGrigoriy RoshalStarsAleksandr BorisovNina AlisovaNikolai PlotnikovBiography of Russian scientist and teacher Ivan Pavlov (1846-1936) famed for his theory of conditioned reflexes.Stresses that he was no yes man but instead a true non conformist.Outstanding use of makeup (grimage) on actor Aleksandr Borisov, who interpreted the main character trough his teens to old age.
- DirectorJean CocteauRené ClémentStarsJean MaraisJosette DayMila ParélyA beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.An impressive achievement in makeup by Hagop Arakelian and ill-fated painter, Christian Bérard.
- DirectorJacques FeyderStarsFrançoise RosayAndré BruléMarie GloryDue to an accident at the Barlay Circus, animal trainer Flora finds Fernand, a former prison escapee, and refers him to manager, Edouard Barlay.To play the part of a lion tamer, actress Françoise Rosay frequented real female lion tamers.
- DirectorSergey VasilevGeorgi VasilyevStarsBoris BabochkinBoris BlinovVarvara MyasnikovaThis film is based on the book about Vasili Ivanovich Chapaev (1887 - 1919) who was in real life the Commander of the 25th Division of the Red Army. Chapaev is an uneducated peasant and a decorated hero in the World War I and later in the Russian Civil War, that followed the Russian revolution. This man of action is fighting on the side of the poor people. His troops consist of peasants, just like him. Unable to write, he can brilliantly demonstrate various battle tactics by moving potatoes on the table. He is street smart. He never lost a battle against the experienced Generals of the Tzar's Army.As part of the Stanislavski's system, Boris Babochkin frequented soldiers who served under the orders of the real-life Vasily Chapayev.
- DirectorGrigoriy KozintsevLeonid TraubergStarsBoris ChirkovValentina KibardinaMikhail TarkhanovA 1935 USA trade-paper reviewer called it... "an impressive and technically outstanding historical drama dealing with czarist terrorism and revolutionary boiling in the days of 1907. Picture is one of the Soviet prize winners and has particular merits in realistic performance, photography and movement, plus some musical touches in way of folk songs."First film of a trilogy featuring Boris Chirkov as working-class hero, Maksim. In preparation, Chrirkov lived for weeks as a common worker, interviewing people who lived in the film's period.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsEdna PurvianceClarence GeldertCarl MillerA kept woman runs into her former fiancé and finds herself torn between love and comfort.Director Charles Chaplin helped his actors to get into character by building detailed, four-walls sets. Also, in the feast scene, he served real champagne instead of colored soda, as was the custom.
- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsGibson GowlandZasu PittsJean HersholtThe sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.In the same line, Erich von Stroheim filmed in an abandoned house, with roofed sets of real dimensions.
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsLuchino ViscontiAntonio PietrangeliAntonio ArcidiaconoIn rural Sicily, the fishermen live at the mercy of the greedy wholesalers. One family risks everything to buy their own boat and operate independently.Neorealist director Luchino Visconti shot this film in a sicilian fisherman's house with nonprofessional actors.
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsLamberto MaggioraniEnzo StaiolaLianella CarellIn post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.A famous anecdote. The protagonist, Lamberto Maggiorani was a worker without acting experience. Shortly after being back at work, the factory closed, forcing him to full-time acting.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsJean GabinMichel SimonMichèle MorganA military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a foggy, French port city.In one scene, Jean Gabin must give a slap to Pierre Brasseur. For better results, director Marcel Carné asks Gabin to "take it easy" during rehearsals, but on the first take, "hit really hard". Brasseur was taken by surprise giving a great performance.
- DirectorVladimir PetrovStarsNikolai SimonovNikolay CherkasovAlla TarasovaA historical film about the life and state activities of Tsar Peter I, the reformer of Russia of the XVIII century, starting from the Battle of Narva in 1700 and ending with the adoption of the title of emperor by Peter the Great in 1721.After eight takes of a fist fight scene, the actors are wornout, however Vladimir Petrov asks for a ninth take which leaves Nikolai Cherkasov with a broken tooth. The take that made it into the final cut was the sixth. This example and the one before, are instances of risk scenes filmed without stunt doubles.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsErnest BorgnineBetsy BlairEsther MinciottiA middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.Example of a film with a relative low budget ($350,000 says the book), that turn out to be highly successful due to argument and performances.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.Example of a best-seller made into a high-grossing movie.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsDana AndrewsGene TierneyJune HavocThe story of Soviet cypher-clerk Igor Gouzenko who was posted to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa,Canada in 1943 and defected in 1945 to reveal the extent of Soviet espionage activities directed against Canada.Sadoul deemed this movie as the "first anti-communist film", very controversial with no artistic values or commercial success.
- DirectorYves AllégretClaude Autant-LaraEduardo De FilippoStarsMichèle MorganFrançoise RosayJean DebucourtA French/Italian co-production with two episodes from Italy and five from France covering the seven deadly sins---actually eight as two of the sins are covered in one episode while a new "eighth unknown sin" has an episode of its own. Gerald Philipe is a wry, flip carnival barker who introduces each episode and then narrates the last episode dealing with the "eighth unknown sin" which is the sin of thinking evil where none exists. The first Italian contribution is "Avarice and Anger" concerning a well-to-do real estate agent and his frowzy wife, both uncompromisingly selfish in love and economics; the second Italian entry, "Envy", directed by Roberto Rossellini, from a story by Colette, is a glimpse into the newly-married life of an aging artist and his young wife, whom he treats as a chattel and she, consumed by the envy of his talent, friends and even his cat, tries to do away with the cat; "Pride" is about a couple of down-at-the-heels aristocrats trying to keep up pretenses in the face of utter poverty; "Lust" shows the devastating effects of careless adult behavior on an impressionable child; "Sloth" shows the powers above deciding that life on earth is moving at a too-fast pace and they send an emissary to slow things down, while "Gluttony" is a burlesque piece that the reviewers of the day called in bad taste.Due to a little anti-capitalist piece of dialogue, the financing banks threaten to retire their investment if the dialogue is not retired. An example of censorship at a time when the french films had to undergo an official censure.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsAleksandr AntonovVladimir BarskiyGrigoriy AleksandrovIn the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.After the Russian revolution, the film industry was nationalized, unfortunely many filmakers and actors emigrated abroad, so the restoration was slow. In 1919 they founded th first film school (today Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography).
- DirectorVsevolod PudovkinStarsVera BaranovskayaNikolay BatalovAleksandr ChistyakovA story about a family torn apart by a worker's strike. At first, the mother wants to protect her family from the troublemakers, but eventually she realizes that her son is right and the workers should strike.This and the one before are examples of the socialist films boom around 1925.
- DirectorWanda JakubowskaStarsWanda BartównaHuguette FagetTatyana GuretskayaFemale prisoners of various ethnic background struggle to survive the hardships of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.From Poland, BAFTA Award.
The following films were produced by (at the time) socialist countries. They achieved critical acclaim, thanks to film festivals. - DirectorAleksander FordStarsAleksandra SlaskaTadeusz JanczarAndrzej KozakIn war-ravaged Warsaw, five juvenile delinquents are given probation for stealing, to rehabilitate themselves, but remain under the influence of their profiteer-boss.Poland, International Prize at Cannes
- DirectorZahari ZhandovStarsStefan SavovNadya StanislavovaGancho GanchevThe action takes place in the last years of the Second World War, immediately before the socialist revolution in Bulgaria. It centers on the life of the middle-class family of Lazarov, which is torn by the sharp political contradictions taking place against the background of the popular struggle against fascism. The father Vitan goes through terrible mental traumas, which are the price, he has to pay for his illusions that in such clashes one can remain neutral and free from politics. The partisans execute the son Boris - a fascist officer, a sadist and a murderer. The daughter Lily is forced to search for her place in the conflict between the representatives of two hostile worlds - that of fascist brother and her husband - a communist and a revolutionary.Bulgaria.
- DirectorSergey VasilevStarsIvan PereverzevViktor AvdyushkoGeorgiy YumatovEpic historical drama. The Russo - Turkish War of Liberation of 1878 and the role of the Bulgarian Volunteer Gorps.Bulgaria/URSS. Best Director at Cannes.
- DirectorGéza von RadványiStarsArtúr SomlayMiklós GáborZsuzsa BánkiA band of runaways and orphans of the war scour the countryside in search of food and shelter. They invade and then taken in by a musician and former concert pianist who's hiding out in a ruined castle. After the initial altercation between them the gang accepts his guidance and he wins their respect by protecting them from the elements. However, disgruntled townsfolk want to chase away the gang who has been - in their search for survival - laying waste to their crops. A battle ensues ending in the death of a little boy - and resolution.Hungary.
- DirectorFrigyes BánStarsÁgi MészárosÁdám SzirtesViola OrbánA young peasant girl wants to marry her love, but due to the pressure of her parents she ends up with a wealthier man. Their real hardships begin when they escape together from her wedding.Hungary.
- DirectorZoltán FábriStarsMari TörőcsikImre SoósÁdám SzirtesIn a rural scenery in the throes of difficult changes lives a humble but promising young farmer girl called Mari Pataki. Her father forbids her from seeing the man she loves. The father, above all preoccupied by work on the fields and prospective wealth, decides to give his daughter in marriage to an old but rich man with whom he does business. Land marries land, he says. This seems to be the unyielding rule of the Hungarian peasantry. But the young lover is ready to stand up to any challenge to keep Maris love.Huungary.
- DirectorVictor IliuMarieta SadovaStarsToma DimitriuConstantin RamadanCornel Rusu-Social drama, a film made according to all the propaganda schemes of the time, put under the literary authority of M. Sadoveanu (the novel of the same name), with the action set in the period immediately before the Second World War, during the war and immediately after its end: the former aristocratic aristocrat Mitrea Cocor returns, after the experience of war and imprisonment in the USSR, in his native village Malul Surpat, leading the community that carries out the agrarian reform of 1945.Romania.
- DirectorBranko BauerStarsBert SotlarLila AndresZlatko LukmanA partisan comes secretly to town to find about what happened to his little son who barely remembers him. He is horrified when he finds out that his son is raised in a colaborators' orphanage, brought up to hate communists and partisans. He decides to take his son to the freed territory with him, but will he manage to escape the police checkings?Yugoslavia.
- DirectorSergei YutkevichStarsAkaki KhoravaBesa ImamiAdivie AlibaliThis is the true story of the National Hero of Albanians, George Kastrioti Scanderbeg, from his birth to his death. 1405-1468. Based mainly upon the monk writer Marin Barleti, the movie starts off with how the boy Scanderbeg was taken hostage by the ottoman turks and trained from them until he became one of the most outstanding warriors of the Ottoman Empire, then later returned home to his country to organized the oppressed Albanians into a fierce and heroic resistance for over 30 years. After converting from Islam to Christianity (the religion of ancestors) he managed to keep the greatest empire on earth at the time from invading Albania. His story is an inspiration to generations of Albanians, wherever they lived.Albania/URSS. International Prize at Cannes.
- DirectorWolfgang StaudteStarsHildegard KnefElly BurgmerErna SellmerAfter returning from a concentration camp, Susanne finds an ex-soldier living in her apartment. Together the two try to move past their experiences during World War II.East Germany.
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsGünther SimonHans-Peter MinettiErich FranzThis historical-biographical film begins in the first days of November 1918 on the western front. News comes to the soldiers of a revolutionary uprising in Kiel. Young Thälmann, a soldier against his will, would like to join the expanding conflict on the side of his comrades in Hamburg. As the revolution becomes threatened by the betrayal of the right-wing Social Democrats and the splintering of the working class, he nevertheless tries unremittingly to unite the workers. The reactionaries grow ever stronger and the neediness of ordinary people multiplies. In this dire situation, the Hamburg police commissioner would like to block the unloading of a ship full of provisions that were sent from Petrograd as a message of solidarity. But Thälmann prevails in unloading it. The high point and conclusion of the first part of the Thälmann films is established at the Hamburg Uprising in October 1923.East Germany.
- DirectorSlatan DudowStarsWilhelm Koch-HoogeHelga GöringKurt OligmüllerThe story of a resistance fighter in the Nazi era: Communist Hans Löning was arrested in 1933, imprisoned in the concentration camp and tortured. The Gestapo plans to smash the resistance group around Löning so they make him disappear.East Germany.
- DirectorKarel SteklýStarsMarie VásováLadislav BohácOleg ReifAfter a strike by underpaid, poorly housed metal workers in a Prague suburb is suppressed by the police, an angry mob attacks the luxurious home of the industrialist.Czechoslovakia. Golden Lion at Venice Festival.
- DirectorAugusto GeninaStarsLia AmandaIsa PolaBruno VecchiWhile recuperating from their injuries in a hospital, three young women flash back to the events leading up to the catastrophe.This film and the next, are based on the same real life accident. 200 applicants were waiting to be interviewed for a position as secretary. The weight made the stairs collapse. Genina's Version of the story "imagines" the reasons for the women to be there. Childhood trauma, an unhappy marriage and drug addiction. The film's depiction of the situation seems to go for the shock value rather than the social critique.
- DirectorGiuseppe De SantisStarsLucia BosèCarla Del PoggioMaria Grazia FranciaBased on an actual incident, this is the story of five girls (told in a slow beginning) who are among the 200 women who answer a want ad for a modest secretarial position one rainy morning in Rome in 1951. They crowd and push their way into the old building and fight their way up the stairs to await an interview, only to be told there is not enough time to interview all. A scuffle breaks out and the stairway collapses sending many of them hurtling down in a mass of bodies amid brick and mortar. Among them are the well-born wife of a poor artist;, a streetwalker making an attempt to change her life; an unhappy servant girl; and the desperate wife of an unemployed factory worker. How the event changes or fails to change their lives is told.Screenwriter Cesare Zavattini set an ad in the newspapers similar to the one that caused the accident. Sixty ladies attended, and Elio Petri asked their reasons for looking a job. He also inquired among the real affected women. They hired two secretaries to work at the production. As a result, this version is a realistic portrayal of unemployment in Italy among different social classes.
Tre storie is considered a forgotten banal, commercial film; while Roma ore 11 marks a notable period in italian cinema. This is an example of film development based on the same idea with very different results. - DirectorChristian-JaqueStarsAndré ValmyJean GavenMarc CassotCrew members of a French fishing ship in the North Sea fall ill one by one, poisoned by rotten meat. They can only survive by getting serum within the following hours. Joint actions of rescuers from different countries commence.A description of the film's development that began with two news articles about the collaboration between radio amateurs to help an ill man obtain a rare medication, and to help the Pakistan minister to contact his doctor in London. The original plot by Jacques Rémy involved a help call from a French boat. The SOS was retransmitted trough an african colony to Israel to Paris, that got in touch with West Germany, to send help to the boat, there was a collaboration between American and Soviet authorities.
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsMarcel DalioHenri VidalFlorence MarlyIn the last days of World War II, a group of Nazis and their sympathizers try to escape from reckoning using a submarine.The adaptation was made by Jacques Rémy. (see above)
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSerge ReggianiMichel AuclairCécile AubryA classic tale about bitter relationships between a frivolous girl and a soldier is adapted for the post-World War II time.Director Henri-Georges Clouzot, began working in this film only after having a precise vision of the scene in which the main character desperately looks for his wife trough a crowded train.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishRobert HarronMae MarshThe story of a poor young woman separated by prejudice from her husband and baby is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.D.W. Griffith makes an extensive use of (pretty much) all the editing techniques. Particularly, parallel action.
- DirectorAuguste LumièreLouis LumièreStarsMadeleine KoehlerMarcel KoehlerMrs. Auguste LumiereA train arrives at La Ciotat station.Sadoul explains that in this short film we can appreciate a "long shot" (The landscape before the arrival), a "full shot" or "medium long shot" (Passangers descending from the train), an "american shot" (A lady that walks by the camera) and a "close-up" (A man who gets too near the operator). All this without any use of editing.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsEmil JanningsMaly DelschaftMax HillerAn aging doorman is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbors and society after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel.German expresionist F.W. Murnau, makes an extensive use of "tracking shots". This contrasts with contemporaries Eisenstein and Pudovkin, and their theory of editing, where the characters were always at the same distance of the camera on each angle.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartJohn DallFarley GrangerTwo men try to convince themselves they've committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party after strangling a former classmate to death.Famously, Alfred Hitchcock composed this film of only 9 takes (actually 10). Leaving in second term editing techniques without losing any "artistic quality".
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsPierre BlancharMichèle MorganLine NoroA minister falls in love with a blind young woman he sheltered, but so does his son.Example of the use of inserts. When the film's edition was almost complete, Jean Delannoy, introduced a close-up shot of Michèle Morgan on a death-like position, laid over fake snow.This little shot, unplanned and with minimal resources, helped to give strenght to the scene.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyStarsJoseph BoudreauxLionel Le BlancE. BienvenuThe idyllic life of a young Cajun boy and his pet raccoon is disrupted when the tranquility of the bayou is broken by an oil well drilling near his home.Book illustrations: Two still frames showing a "long shot" and an "american shot."
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsAlfonso MejíaRoberto CoboEstela IndaA group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City, as the morals of young Pedro are gradually corrupted and destroyed by the others.Book Illustration: Still frame of a "medium shot".
- DirectorSidney MeyersStarsGary MerrillDonald ThompsonClarence CooperA documentary account of the rehabilitation at the Wiltwyck School of an emotionally disturbed Black boy who is unwanted, misunderstood, and inwardly tortured.Book Illustration: Still frame of a "medium close-up".
- DirectorAndré CauvinStarsJeff CoreyIris JasinskiLouis-Philippe KammansBook illustration: Still frame of a "close-up".
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJoel McCreaMaureen O'HaraLinda DarnellThe story of William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, legendary westerner, from his days as an army scout to his later activities as owner of a Wild West show.An example of "post-synchronization". In one scene, a character says that, after the battle, only 8 men survived. However, when the battle scene was filmed, the script was changed, so now 18 men survived. Instead of re-shooting the first scene, a sound technician must do a lip sync with the correct dialogue.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsLoretta YoungHenry WilcoxonIan KeithKing Richard and the Third Crusade (1190-1192) are given the DeMille treatment with more spectacle than history.Film editor Anne Bauchens uses this film to explain her labour. When the main action scene was filmed, only the dialogue and minor sound effects were recorded. Bauchens had to add the sounds of: firing cannons, cannonballs hitting its target, crackings from the war machines, screaming, neighing, boiling oil, whistling arrows, trampling, etc. Impressively (for that time), eight tracks were needed.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTeresa WrightJoseph CottenMacdonald CareyA teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.Part of Dimitri Tiomkin's filmography. "One of the giants of Hollywood movie music."
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.Same as bove.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsGabriel de GravonePierre MagnierGeorges TérofA railway engineer adopts a young girl orphaned by a train crash. Years later when she starts getting suitors, he grapples with whether or not to tell her the truth about her parentage.Composer Arthur Honegger, developed the theme of his famous composition, "Pacific 231"; out of the music he composed for this Abel Gance's film.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinDmitriy VasilevStarsNikolay CherkasovNikolai OkhlopkovAndrei AbrikosovThe story of how a great Russian prince led a ragtag army to battle an invading force of Teutonic Knights.Composer Sergei Prokofiev created the score for this film by Sergei Eisenstein. He later rearranged the music to create his famous "Cantata for Alexander Nevsky".
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.An important moment in film history. The movies didn't have to represent reality anymore. In this instance, a film "shot" on the moon.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsMlle BarralBleuette BernonCarmelliA fairy godmother magically turns Cinderella's rags to a beautiful dress, and a pumpkin into a coach. Cinderella goes to the ball, where she meets the Prince - but will she remember to leave before the magic runs out?Example of a "stop trick". To turn a pumpkin into a carriage, Georges Méliès stoped the camera and replaced the props, while the actors retained their positions.
- DirectorLouis LumièreA large pool in Milan has diving boards set at different heights. As some people watch from along the pool's edge, others enjoy themselves by diving into the pool, using a variety of different styles.According to Sadoul, during a screening, operator Alexandre Promio set the film backwards on the reel. He was amused to see the swimmers coming out of the water, feet-first.
- DirectorJean CocteauStarsEnrique RiveroElizabeth Lee MillerPauline CartonTold in four episodes - an unnamed artist is transported through a mirror into another dimension, where he travels through various bizarre scenarios.Jean Cocteau used several "tricks" on this film. In a sequence, the main character walks awkwardly trough a corridor after having "falling" into a mirror. Actually, the actor was rolling over a horizontal set, with the camera filming from "above".
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA band-leader assembles an orchestra by mystifying means.An example of multiple exposure. By covering certain parts of the lens, Méliès can avoid exposition on the film, and can "reuse" this film to shot again. In this way, an actor can appear several times in the same place at the same time.
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsFernandelFrançoise ArnoulAndrexA small town seeking publicity tries to bring together the quintuplet grandsons of the town's oldest inhabitant.With the technique described above, comedian Fernandel can play a father and his five sons.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsGulliver washes ashore on Lilliput, the inhabitants of which are no more than six inches tall. He later travels to Brobdingnag, a country populated by giants.Another example of the same technique, this time however, Méliès uses proportions to create "giants" and lilliputians.
- DirectorErnest B. SchoedsackStarsAlbert DekkerThomas ColeyJanice LoganA mad scientist working in the South American jungle miniaturizes his colleagues when he feels his megalomania is threatened.Another use of proportions. A mad scientist that miniaturize a group of scientists.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA chemist carries out a bizarre experiment with his own head.In this film, a man inflates a human head, making it grow on size. To achieve this effect, Méliès combines the multiple exposure technique with a tracking shot . He films the head and gets closer to it, making it look bigger.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsCharlton HestonYul BrynnerAnne BaxterMoses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.With a creative use of multiple exposure and other techniques, including reverse motion, Cecil B. DeMille show us the sequence when Moses parts the Red Sea.
- DirectorDave FleischerMax Fleischer's pen drawing of a clown performs tricks with lifelike motion.With a very elaborate combination of rotoscoping (his own invention), pixilation and multiple exposure, Max Fleischer created the adventures of Koko the clown in the series Out of the Inkwell. A combination of animation and Live action.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsClaude RainsGloria StuartWilliam HarriganA scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.Another elaborate example of multiple exposure and travelling matte by John Fulton. To create the scene when the invisible man removes his clothes, an actor was filmed fully covered by a black suit against a black background. Thus, creating a "template" were only the clothes were visible.
- DirectorNorman FergusonClyde GeronimiJack KinneyStarsAurora MirandaCarmen MolinaDora LuzDonald receives his birthday gifts, which include traditional gifts and information about Brazil (hosted by Zé Carioca) and Mexico (by Panchito, a Mexican Charro Rooster).To create this live-action/animation film, the Fleischer's techniques were used, but in color.
- DirectorAleksandr PtushkoStarsSergey StolyarovAlla LarionovaNinel MyshkovaArriving home to find his native land under the yoke of corrupt merchants, an adventurer named Sadko sets sail in search of a mythical bird of happiness.Another use of double multiple exposure to, among other things, create fantastic creatures.
- DirectorVera StroyevaStarsAleksandr PirogovNikandr KhanayevGeorgi NeleppAction happens at the end of the 16th century, on the eve of "time of troubles". The main character of this historical tragedy - the Russian tsar Boris Godunov who has ascended to a throne after Ivan the Terrible after tragic events: death of the eldest son of Grozny Fedor and death of the young tsarevitch Dimitrii.Yet another example of outstanding multiple exposure and matte. This film and the one before, were adaptation of traditional operas from communist countries.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsPaul PanzerWilliam V. RanousOn a dark and stormy night, a traveler takes a room at a spooky hotel in the forest. As soon as the proprietor leaves, the room comes alive with ghosts and poltergeists who torment the man as he tries to unpack, eat, and go to sleep.An early example of a technique then known as "american movement"; nowadays named "stop motion". This "frame by frame" technique, continued to be developed by directors such as Winsor McCay, Segundo de Chomón, Wladyslaw Starewicz and Émile Cohl.
- DirectorÉmile ReynaudOne night, Arlequin come to see his lover Colombine. But then Pierrot knocks at the door and Colombine and Arlequin hide. Pierrot starts singing but Arlequin scares him and the poor man goes away.The first projected animated cartoons were made by Charles-Émile Reynaud, who painted directly over celluloid film. He used perforations to allow the film to move.
- DirectorMerian C. CooperErnest B. SchoedsackStarsFay WrayRobert ArmstrongBruce CabotA film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.An example of "rear projection". The actors and some props (in this case, models of Kong and the Empire State) are filmed in front of a screen were a movie is projected (New York's landscape).
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsRita HayworthOrson WellesEverett SloaneFascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.In the aquarium scene, Orson Welles used the rear projection effect with enlarged shots of aquatic animals to give an unsettling atmosphere.
- DirectorHenri FescourtStarsJean AngeloLil DagoverGaston ModotAfter greedy men have Edmound Dantes unjustly imprisoned for 20 years for innocently delivering a letter entrusted to him, he escapes to get his revenge on themThe Schüfftan process. To create the illusion of an actor on a huge set; only a portion is built real size. A miniature version (or a drawing) of the set is also crafted. The two are filmed as one single shot, trough the use of mirrors and a correct camera angle.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyJean-Louis BarraultPierre BrasseurThe theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.Example of the Schüfftan process, an open sky is placed on a theatre stage.
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsMichèle MorganRichard ToddJacques MorelWhile Louis XV is dying, the Dauphine of France, Marie-Antoinette, seduces a Swedish officer, Axel de Fersen, which pains her husband, the new King Louis XVI, who will know how to be generous when he learns of this deception.The Tuileries Palace (destroyed in 1871), was recreated thanks to the Schüfftan process.
- DirectorHenri MahéStarsGeorges MarchalNicole MaureyMichèle PhilippeHenri Mahé perfected the Simplifilm. A technique similar to the Schüfftan process but quicker and cheaper.