Victor Francen

Belgian actor (1888–1977)

Eleanor Kreutzer
Renée Corciade
Mary Marquet

Victor Francen (born Victor Franssens; 5 August 1888 – 18 November 1977) was a Belgian-born actor with a long career in French cinema and in Hollywood.

Biography

Francen was born in 1888 in Tienen, Belgium, the son of a chief of police.

According to Russian sources, he attended opera classes in Odessa before 1914.^{[citation needed]}

He worked in trade in Belgium before settling in Paris, where he trained in dramatic art under Paul Mounet. His stage career in the 1920s included appearances in plays by Henri Bernstein, Georges Bataille and Edmond Rostand, which took him all over the world. After three appearances in silent films, he played the Prophet in Abel Gance's film La Fin du monde (The End of the World) (1931) and established his career as a leading man in French films.

In 1940, he was introduced to Hollywood by Charles Boyer. He appeared prolifically in American films throughout the 1940s, then made a single, final, appearance in 1954. His debut was in 1941, in Hold Back the Dawn. Among his memorable roles were as a ship's captain in Passage to Marseille (1944), an international intriguer in The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), and a French adventurer in San Antonio (1945). His last film role was as a professor in Hell and High Water (1954).

Personal life

Francen was married three times, his last to the actress Mary Marquet. He died in 1977 in Saint-Cannat, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.

Complete filmography

Le doute (1921) – Le jeune écrivain Pierre Aubry
Crépuscule d'épouvante (1921) – Michel Fortin
The Snow on the Footsteps (1923) – Marc Romenay
La Fin du monde (End of the World) (1931) – Martial Novalic
L'aiglon (The Eaglet) (1931) – Flambeau
Après l'amour (When Love Is Over) (1931) – Pierre Meyran
Ariane, jeune fille russe (1932) – Constantin
Mélo (The Dreamy Mouth) (1932) – Marcel, l'amant
Broken Wings (1933) – Fabrège
Le velour (1933) – Richard Voisin
The Adventurer (1934) – Étienne Ranson
Le chemineau (1935) – Le chemineau / The Vagabond
Veille d'armes (1935) – Captain de Corlaix
La porte du large (1936) – Commandant Villette
Le roi (The King) (1936) – Le roi Jean IV de Cerdagne – en visite à Paris
Nuits de feu (Nights of Fire) (1937) – Fedor Andreiev
L'appel de la vie (The Call of Life) (1937) – Le professeur Rougeon
Double crime sur la ligne Maginot (Double Crime in the Maginot Line) (1937) – Capitaine Bruchot
Feu! (1937) – André Frémiet
Forfaiture (The Cheat) (1937) – Pierre Moret
J'accuse! (1938) – Jean Diaz
Tamara la complaisante (1938) – Grigory
La vierge folle (The Foolish Virgin) (1938) – Marcel Armaury
La fin du jour (The End of the Day) (1939) – Marny
Entente cordiale (1939) – Le roi Édouard VII
L'homme du Niger (The Man from Niger) (1940) – Le commandant Bréval
Hold Back the Dawn (1941) – Van Den Luecken
The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942) – Dr. Blondin
Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942) – Florimond Massey
Tales of Manhattan (1942) – Arturo Bellini
Mission to Moscow (1943) – Vyshinsky, chief trial prosecutor
Madame Curie (1943) – President of University
The Desert Song (1943) – Caid Yousseff
In Our Time (1944) – Count Pawel Orwid
Passage to Marseille (1944) – Capt. Patain Malo
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) – Wladislaw Grudek
The Conspirators (1944) – Hugo Von Mohr
Hollywood Canteen (1944) – Victor Francen
Confidential Agent (1945) – Licata
San Antonio (1945) – Legare
Devotion (1946) – Constantin Heger
Night and Day (1946) – Anatole Giron
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) – Francis Ingram
The Beginning or the End (1947) – Dr. Marré
To the Victor (1948) – Police Inspector Beauvais
La Révoltée (1948) – Henri Dumières
La nuit s'achève (1950) – Dr. Coudray (Thiriot)
Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951) – Henri Brissac
Hell and High Water (1954) – Prof. Montel
Bedevilled (1955) – Father Du Rocher
A Farewell to Arms (1957) – Colonel Valentini
The Indian Tomb (1959) – Penitent (uncredited)
Fanny (1961) – Panisse's Elder Brother
The Big Scare (1964) – Docteur Chabert
Top Crack (1966) – (final film role)