The angel in question of course being Gaby Morlay - and if you don't believe me check out her performance in Le Voile bleu, a copy of which should be wending its way to me even as we speak, courtesy of my more than generous French friend - a rock of thirties and forties French cinema who, like other standout performers, fell out of favour with fickle audiences when she formed a close relationship with a Minister in Petain's puppet government during the Occupation. The fact that they later married cut little ice with ticket-buyers but eventually, just like Gabin, Arletty, Darrieux, Morgan etc, her talent could not be denied. She's more or less the only reason for watching this creaking War Horse which was dated even in 1932. Paul Czinner was one of the 'old' school inasmuch as he loved nothing better than a wallow through schmaltz and had a penchant for directing his wife, Elizabeth Bergner. You'd be justified in dismissing this as total ephemera but for me it represents yet another tile in the rich mosaic that was French Cinema in the thirties.
Review of The Dreamy Mouth
