Troubleshooting oil man Vic Scott has arrived in Venezuela to help put out a fire at an offshore well. It’s a ticklish situation: if Scott fails, not only will he die in the blaze, but all of Maracaibo will likely be destroyed. When he isn’t risking his life, Scott romantically pursues ice-princess journalist Laura Kingsley.
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The plot focuses on Gaillac, an electrician employed by the Paris Opera. In love with gorgeous ballerina Suzanne, Gaillac must play second fiddle to Suzanne’s wealthy “protector,” powerful politician Count Montoire. When the Opera personnel go on strike, Gaillac is appointed leader of the strikers, doing his job so well that he is ultimately elected Secretary of Labor in the French cabinet. Now on equal footing with Montoire, Gaillac is at last a “worthy” suitor for Suzanne – who can’t make up her mind between her two well-connected admirers, leading to a political rivalry the likes of which Paris has never seen.
Anna Maria Mentorsi takes her daughter on a vacation to a beautiful seaside resort on the Mediterranean to get away from life in the city. While they enjoy their new surroundings, she catches the eye of the town’s mayor, and considers settling there for good. But when she spurns the advances of a wealthy business man, he threatens to reveal a secret that could ruin all her plans.
A novel by Gaston Leroux (of Phantom of the Opera fame) was the source for this film. The story takes place on the Riviera, where the title character may or may not be involved in various shades of skullduggery, including murder. The film’s highlight involves a coffin containing the body of a man who committed suicide — or, did he? Huguette Duflos played the title character, while the comedy relief was in the capable hands of Belieres. In emulation of the 1928 American film The Terror, the opening credits are not printed on screen, but instead spoken by a mysterious “ghost” voice.
When 21-year-old Melissa Collins commits suicide, her guardian, the domineering American newspaper publisher William T. Marshall, searches (in flashback) for a reason. He finds it in a letter he receives from Melissa, after her death. In this, she asks Marshall to take revenge on her lover, who caused her such pain he made life not worth living. Marshall hires a professional criminal to plot the murder, with the proviso that the victim undergo the torments of the damned before he is finally killed. Trouble is, the wrong man is targeted for the publisher’s revenge.
Henri Chatelard is well in his forties, owns a restaurant and a cinema in the city, and appreciate women. When he meets Marie, a 18ish stronghead who just lost her father in a small fishermen village, it is not clear who is the hunter and who is the prey.
After the death of his mother, middle-aged insurance employee inherits her small cottage surrounded by a garden. Selling the cottage which is situated on unexploited ground near the center of a big city makes him a rich man and he buys a big house in the countryside. He takes some time off and decides to throw a big garden party at the house and invite all his colleagues from the office. Aided by alcohol, the guests gradually lose all their inhibitions and reveal personality traits and frustrations that they normally keep hidden.