6.3
A self-serving journalist uses influential women in late-1800s Paris and denies the one who truly loves him.
George Sanders
Georges Duroy
Angela Lansbury
Clotilde de Marelle
Ann Dvorak
Madeleine Forestier
John Carradine
Charles Forestier
Susan Douglas
Suzanne Walter
Hugo Haas
Monsieur Walter
Warren William
Laroche-Mathieu
Frances Dee
Marie de Varenne
Albert Bassermann
Jacques Rival
Marie Wilson
Rachel Michot
Katherine Emery
Madame Walter
Richard Fraser
Philippe de Cantel
John Good
Paul de Cazolles
David Bond
Leonard Mudie
Karolyn Grimes
Jean Del Val
Olaf Hytten
Lumsden Hare
Betty Fairfax
C. Montague Shaw
Larry Steers
Gloria Grafton
Wyndham Standing
Jack Deery
John George
Rudy Germane
Georges' Butler (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes
William H. O'Brien
Alexander Pollard
Jeffrey Sayre
Philip Sleeman
Count Stefenelli
Charles Trowbridge
Director, Screenplay
Albert Lewin
Novel
Guy de Maupassant
June 3, 2024
7
George Sanders was always great as the cad, and rarely better than here. He is the seriously ambitious "Duroy" who decides that he can use woman as stepping stones to social acceptability. He's broke and jobless, but luckily encounters his war-time buddy "Forestiere" (John Carradine) who gets him job at a newspaper. Networking opportunities beckon. Initially, it's bar-fly "Rachel" (Rachel Wilson) who keeps him entertained, then he alights on the slightly more sophisticated "Clotilde" (Angela Lansbury) whom he has a genuine soft spot for, but she isn't going to get him anywhere near far enough up the greasy pole. For that he needs "Madeleine" (Ann Dvorak) and she not only opens an whole new social world, one that gets his mind set on a bit of malevolent manipulation and you just know that sooner or later his chickens are going to come home to roost. His unstinting ability too think only of himself is really quite entertainingly nauseous and somehow Sanders manages to encapsulate that selfishness and venality really quite smug and chillingly. There's the odd splash of colour in here, too, and with the ladies delivering strongly throughout - especially Lansbury but also Wilson too, this is a smartly written observation of dastardly deeds.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00