Which actress stars as Mouche in Five Graves to Cairo?

Which actress stars as Mouche in Five Graves to Cairo? Anne Baxter. Baxter plays Marie-Jacques Claire, known by the nickname Mouche, in Billy Wilder’s 1943 wartime thriller.

The film follows British Corporal John Bramble, played by Franchot Tone, who survives a desert battle and reaches an isolated hotel. Mouche is the hotel’s lone French employee, while Erich von Stroheim plays Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The title refers to hidden supply dumps that Bramble discovers through overheard conversations.

Five Graves to Cairo was one of Wilder’s early Hollywood films and was adapted from Lajos Bíró’s 1917 play Hotel Imperial. Paramount borrowed Baxter from Twentieth Century-Fox for the production; Ingrid Bergman had reportedly been considered earlier. The film was shot mainly at Paramount Studios, with desert exteriors filmed in California and Arizona.

A common mix-up is confusing Baxter’s role here with her later Oscar-winning performance as Sophie Nelson in The Razor’s Edge. Baxter won Best Supporting Actress for that 1946 film, while Five Graves to Cairo earned nominations for art direction, cinematography, and editing.