Panique (1946), L’alibi (1937), Le pays sans étoiles (1946), Le baron fantôme (1943), La Marie du port (1950), La fiancée des ténèbres (1945), back to back to back, so it’s now one 12-hour long French b/w film in my mind; I can vaguely attest to how much La Marie and her damn port sucked, Panique had unfathomably perfect sets and lighting, as did La fiancée des ténèbres which had rich atmosphere but literally no story. Le pays sans étoiles was boring and slow. L’alibi was quite nice, Erich von Stroheim can carry a film any day. Le baron fantôme is a blur, but what a cool title.

An actress by the name of Jany Holt was the star of most of these films. Didn’t know of Jany, I liked Jany, a lot. Unconventional looks, lived through two world wars, born in Romania, moved to France, had one hell of a run in pictures – while simultaneously working as an active secret agent in the Resistance, for which she was awarded the Croix de Guerre by General de Gaulle, lived to 94 years, spending her last few decades alone on a retrofitted barge named “La Garonne” permanently moored on the Seine (!!) with her cats Microche and Képi.
Bloody fucking hell.

So there, I found a new friend, it’s Jany and since it’s only 6:13am, I’ll watch Les Anges du péché (1943) filmed during her active secret agent era, in which she stars as a convict nun.