TCM (Wednesday, 03/29/ '17 ): BASED ON GUY DE MAUPASSANT

[Jeffbert]

I know little of GUY DE MAUPASSANT's works, have seen only the 1st title on this list, & having enjoyed it, read the story from which it was adapted.

Also, not sure the last film has anything to do with GUY DE MAUPASSANT. I intend to record & watch these, at least the leading and trailing comments on the 1st one.

8:00 PM
C - 97 m
TV-14
Widescreen
Closed
Captions
suspense
Diary of a Madman (1963)
Synopsis: The body of a French magistrate is taken over by the soul of a murderer.
Dir: Reginald Le Borg Cast: Vincent Price , Nancy Kovack , Chris Warfield .
Color
97 min
, CC
Diary Of A Madman
Vincent Price, Nancy Kovack. A sculptor, possessed by an evil spirit, hires a model to pose for him-then learns thereafter that she has been brutally murdered. Based on a story by... more
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10:00 PM
1490839200
comedy
Le Plaisir (1952)
B/W - 98 m
TV-14
Closed
Captions
comedy
Le Plaisir (1952)
Synopsis: Three stories explore the intersection of pleasure, purity and sex.
Dir: Max Ophüls Cast: Jean Gabin , Madeleine Renaud , Danielle Darrieux .
B/W
98 min

LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW:

D: Max Ophuls. Jean Gabin, Danielle Darrieux, Simone Simon, Claude Dauphin, Gaby Morlay, Pierre Brasseur, Pauline Dubost, Madeleine Renaud, Daniel Gelin. Three short stories by Guy de Maupassant relate the joy and irony of romance. In "Le Masque,'' an elderly man recovers his youth with the aid of a magic mask; in "Le Maison Tellier,'' a bevy of prostitutes embarks on their annual holiday in the countryside; in "Le Modele,'' a free-living artist weds a model after she cripples herself in a failed suicide attempt. Lush production with fluid camera and baroque set decoration, Ophuls' trademarks. Coscripted by Ophuls and Jacques Natanson. Narrated by Peter Ustinov, as the voice of de Maupassant, in the English version (Jean Servais narrates the original).
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12:00 AM
1490846400
drama
Mademoiselle Fifi (1944)
B/W - 69 m

TV-G
drama
Mademoiselle Fifi (1944)
Synopsis: A German officer tries to force a French laundress to become his mistress.
Dir: Robert Wise Cast: Simone Simon , John Emery , Kurt Kreuger .
B/W
69 min
, CC
LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW:

D: Robert Wise. Simone Simon, John Emery, Kurt Kreuger, Alan Napier, Jason Robards, Sr., Helen Freeman. A laundress reveals more integrity and patriotic spirit than her condescending fellow passengers on an eventful coach ride during the Franco-Prussian war. Uneven Val Lewton production (with allegorical implications about WW2), adapted from two Guy de Maupassant stories.
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1:30 AM
1490851800
drama
Masculin Feminin (1966)
B/W - 104 m
TV-MA
Closed
Captions
drama
Masculin Feminin (1966)
Synopsis: An aspiring writer becomes involved with a rising pop star and her two roommates.
Dir: Jean-Luc Godard Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud , Chantal Goya , Marlène Jobert .
B/W
104 min
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3:30 AM
1490859000
drama
Day in the Country, A (1936)
B/W - 41 m

TV-PG

drama
Day in the Country, A (1936)
Synopsis: The family of a Parisian shop-owner falls in love with a man at a countryside inn.
Dir: Jean Renoir Cast: Sylvia Bataille , Jeanne Marken , Jacques Borel .

B/W
41 min

LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW:

D: Jean Renoir. Sylvia Bataille, Georges Saint-Saens (Georges Darnoux), Jacques Borel (Jacques Brunius), Jeanne Marken. At a picnic along a river, a bourgeois Parisian mother and daughter find romance while the menfolk try to fish. Nature plays a starring role in this cinematic tone poem about the emotional depth of spiritual love and the sexual high of a romp in the hay. Screenplay by Renoir, from a short story by Guy de Maupassant; among his assistants on this were Yves Allegret, Jacques Becker, Henri Cartier- Bresson, and Luchino Visconti! Renoir cast himself as Poulain the innkeeper. Shot in 1936, only partially completed, and edited in Renoir's absence. Original title: UNE PARTIE DE CAMPAGNE.
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4:30 AM
comedy
Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
B/W - 85 m
TV-G
comedy
Synopsis: When a bookseller saves a tramp from drowning, he takes the man in despite protests from his wife.
Dir: Jean Renoir Cast: Michel Simon , Charles Granval , Marcelle Hainia .

B/W
85 min
LEONARD MALTIN REVIEW:

D: Jean Renoir. Michel Simon, Charles Granval, Marcelle Hania, Severine Lerczynska. Title tramp is rescued from the Seine and taken home by well-meaning book dealer; he eventually takes over household, then seduces both the wife and maid. Classic attack on complacency still holds up, with ratty-bearded Simon giving the performance of a lifetime. U.S. remake: DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS

TCM schedule, 03/29/2017
Should be entertaining!

 

[Foxbat]

I have a collection of De Maupassant short stories and they're very good. Should make good TV.

 

[Jeffbert]

Are they mostly horror?

 

[Foxbat]

I'd describe them as dark rather than horror.

 

[Jeffbert]

Thanks, Foxbat.

 

[Jeffbert]

As I began watching the 2nd film in the series, Le plaisir, which contains several short stories, Le Masque being the 1st, I soon realized I had seen this story before, though I was not sure about having seen this film, before. After seeing the 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd story, I was sure I had seen the film already. Bummer, because having already seen it, & not too long ago, I decided to skip the rest of it. As such, I cannot comment on the 2nd or 3rd stories.

I thought there must be some point to these stories, though I cannot find one for Le Masque,. So there is this man wearing the mask of a young man,

Spoiler

he goes to dances, dances with the young women, nearly passes out from exhaustion, a doctor is called, they carry him to a bed, remove his mask, and reveal an elderly man. Apparently, the man just could not accept aging.