Word: fresnay
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Grand Illusion evoked nostalgia for the comfortable 1914 world that charmed the audiences of the thirties and continues to charm viewers today. Renoir's screenplay innovations (like the famous "Marseillaise" Scene that Micheal Curtiz lifted for Casablanca) were well supported by three superb performances from Pierre Fresnay, Jean Gabin, and Erich von Stroheim...
Whereas the exchanges between Fresnay and von Stroheim are classics in character portrayal as well as landmarks in cimema history, Jean-Pierre Cassel finds the role of the Corporal rather tough going. He never manages to convince the audience that the man really wants to escape, much less arouse our sympathy. Ballochet, the stock bespectacled "intellectual" who worships the Corporal, is abysmally parodied by Claude Rich, who marches forth to death like those two poor souls in the opening of Stalag 17. Claude Brasseur's part as another crony is never clearly defined in the script, and the actor avails...
More thany anything else, Fanny is a vehicle for Raimu, as Cesar, but that may be by default for Orane Demazis' Fanny is wooden and not really believable; Pierre Fresnay as Marius is stilted and a bit constipated. This leaves the screen to the senior trio--Raimu, Charpin as Panisse, and the brilliant Alida Rouffe as Fanny's mother. These three hams sport around the screen, indulging in every kind of histrionics: uproarious and tragic by turn, they are spellbinding and immensely warm. But Raimu best of all explores the depths of Cesar. Pagnol and the actor join hands...