Simone Simon
Acting
Biography
French screen actress Simone Simon's film career spanned the years 1931-1973. She is best remembered, regarding her English language roles, for the Hollywood films The Devil and Daniel Webster [originally titled All That Money Can Buy] (1941), Cat People (1942), and The Curse of the Cat People (1944). Simon died in Paris in 2005.
Born: April 23, 1911
Place of Birth: Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Known For
Dark Eyes
In 1913, in Russia, a widower hides from his daughter that he is a butler in a meeting restaurant. She meets a banker who is trying to seduce her and takes her to this restaurant. The father, knowing the decadent life of this client, immediately sends his daughter home. The pure love that her piano teacher devotes to her will allow the young girl to console herself for her disappointments...
Le Plaisir
Three stories about the pleasure. The first one is about a man hiding his age behind a mask to keep going to balls and fancying women - pleasure and youth. Then comes the long tale of Mme Tellier taking her girls (whores) to the country for attending her niece's communion - pleasure and purity. And lastly, Jean the painter falling in love with his model - pleasure and death.
La Ronde
An all-knowing interlocutor guides us through a series of affairs in Vienna, 1900. A soldier meets an eager young lady of the evening. Later he has an affair with a young lady, who becomes a maid and does similarly with the young man of the house. The young man seduces a married woman. On and on, spinning on the gay carousel of life.
La Bête Humaine
Returning by train to the French port of Le Havre, Jacques Lantier, a tormented railwayman, meets by chance the impulsive stationmaster Roubard and Séverine, his wife.
All That Money Can Buy
Farmer Jabez Stone, about to lose his land, agrees to sell his soul to the devil, known as Mr. Scratch, who gives Jabez seven years to enjoy the fruits of his sale before he collects. Over that time, Jabez pays off his debts and helps many neighboring farmers, then becomes an advocate for the upstanding Sen. Daniel Webster. When Jabez's contract with Mr. Scratch concludes, he desperately turns to Webster to represent him in a trial for his soul.
Hollywood Goes to Town
This short shows how Hollywood gets ready for the world premiere of an "important" movie. The film celebrated here is Marie Antoinette (1938), which had its premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre. We see the street leading to the theatre transformed to suggest a garden that might be seen in a French palace. This includes the placement of trees and other foliage, as well as large statues along the route. Grandstands are set up so fans can see their favorite stars as they arrive for the premiere. Finally, the proverbial "galaxy of stars" arrives in their limousines. Fanny Brice and Pete Smith make remarks at the microphone set up on the carpet outside the theatre.
Cat People
A Serbian émigré in Manhattan believes that, because of an ancient curse, any physical intimacy with the man she loves will turn her into a feline predator.
The Extra Day
Director William Fairchild's 1956 British comedy takes a peek into the private lives of various performers employed as extras in a new film that's currently shooting.
Olivia
"Olivia" captures the awakening passions of an English adolescent sent away for a year to a small finishing school outside Paris. The innocent but watchful Olivia develops an infatuation for her headmistress Julie and through this screen of love observes the tense romance between Julie and the other head of the school Cara in its final months.
Josette
Two young men try to wrest their father from the clutches of a gold digger but by mistake think the woman is a young nightclub singer with whom they both fall in love.
Filmography
as Self (archival images)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as la dame de Meudon
as Self
as Michele Blanchard
as Françoise Dunoyer
as Doris Ornano
as Joséphine
as Mademoiselle Cara
as Marie, la femme de chambre
as Yvonne Dubois
as Camelia
as Migo
as Elizabeth Bousset
as Kathie Aumont
as Ghost of Irena
as Suzie Durand
as Irena Dubrovna Reed
as Belle
as Juliette
as Séverine
as Self
as Renee LeBlanc
as Yvett Guerin
as Diane
as Marie Armand
as Marie Claudel
as Sylvie
as Tania
as Puck
as Rita
as julie
as Pierette
as Éliane
as (uncredited)