02 September 2012

Marie-France Dousset

French actress and singer Marie-France Dousset appeared in a few German films as Marie France.

Marie-France Dousset (aka Marie France)
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/348. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.

Marie France 1 or Marie France 2


There is not much known about the career and the life of French starlet Marie France-Dousset. IMDb confused her with Spanish actress Paca Gabaldón (we did too in an earlier post), who also worked under the pseudonym Marie France in Germany during the 1960s.

At the time, Marie-France Dousset appeared as a singer in a few Schlager films. The Schlager film had been a popular German film genre since the introduction of the sound film around 1930. These were light romantic comedies in which recording artists sang their hit songs.

There are examples from the 1930s with Willy Fritsch and Hans Albers, but after the war, the genre became really popular.

The big stars from the 1950s were Vico Torriani, Peter Alexander and Caterina Valente. They were followed by the youth idols Freddy Quinn, Rex Gildo, Conny Froboess and Peter Kraus.

They had some big blockbusters at the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, when genres such as the Heimatfilm and the Revuefilm became less popular. Around 1960, Schlager films even formed a quarter of the total output of the German cinema.

Peter Alexander, Caterina Valente, Silvio Francesco
Peter Alexander, Caterina Valente and Silvio Francesco. German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 73. Photo: Lantin.

Conny Froboess, Rex Gildo, Peter Krauss, Rolf Pinegger
Conny Froboess, Rex Gildo, Peter Kraus and Rolf Pinegger. German postcard by ISV, no. E 13. Photo: Constantin / Grimm.

Mrs Beecher-Stowe turning in her grave


Marie-France Dousset appeared in the Schlager films ...denn die Musik und die Liebe in Tirol/Because ... the Music and the Love in Tyrol (Werner Jacobs, 1963) with Vivi Bach and Claus Biederstadt, and Die lustigen Weiber von Tirol/The Merry Wives of Tyrol (Hans Billian, 1964) starring Gus Backus and Hannelore Auer.

She also appeared in Onkel Toms Hütte/Uncle Tom's Cabin (Géza von Radványi, 1965) based on the famous book by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The international cast included American actor John Kitzmiller as Uncle Tom and European stars like Herbert Lom and O.W. Fischer. Marie-France’s part was only a minor one.

DB du Monteil reviews the film at IMDb: "Uncle Tom's Cabin is more a European movie than a German one: Italian actors (Eleonora Rossi-Drago) meet English (Herbert Lom) or French ones (Juliette Gréco, Mylène Demongeot) ones.

Mrs Beecher-Stowe would be turning in her grave if she saw some of the scenarists ‘adaptations’: On the boat, there's a steamy (for the time) scene between Legree and Cassy. Exit chaste old cousin Ophelia, and make way for a vivacious gorgeous young Harriet. Besides, the deadly serious M. Saint-Clare goes to see a hostess in a bar (Juliette Gréco).

The end of the movie becomes epic, as the slaves rise up against their ‘owners’. On the plus side: beautiful Negro spirituals during the Mississippi shots and a nice Evangeline Saint-Clare played by Gertraud Mittermayer. However, it's doubtful that this movie should be reissued someday."

More information about Marie-France Dousset is welcome.


German trailer for Onkel Toms Hütte/Uncle Tom's Cabin (1965). Source: KSMFilm (YouTube).

Sources: DB du Monteil (IMDb), Wikipedia (German), IMDb, and an anonymous comment.

This post was last updated on 27 January 2024.

1 comment:

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