Gisèle Pascal Movies

Juillet (Laetitia Gabrielli) is a young orphan girl who returns to the town she was born in to find her mother. She tries to befriend her yuppie neighbors Marie (Anne Parillaud) and Jacques (Eric Damain) with comic consequences. The thrilling part (supposedly) of the film finds Marbas (Daniel Desmars) as a timid psycho killer who targets pretty young women. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Françoise Canavaggia (Danielle Darrieux) heads back to Toulon in 1963 with murderous plans for the people who now inhabit the villa that had once been hers. After arriving in Toulon, Françoise meets up with her sister and a niece, both adding to her tendency toward self-analysis. But with images of the present and past mixed with memories and fantasies of the past -- and excerpts from speeches by Petain and De Gaulle combined with psychological and philosophical ramblings -- director Paul Vecchiali has created complexities that many an audience will never figure out. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Wendy (Jacqueline Bisset) is the British guest of a French couple and the daughter of the man who saved the host's life during World War II. Living with the couple is their 20-year-old son and a 12-year-old nephew whose parents were killed in an automobile accident. The father and son both try to seduce the attractive guest. The young boy retreats into his own world and dreams of being taken back to Britain by Wendy in this romantic drama. The mother spends her time bleaching her hair and is seemingly uninterested in anything that goes on with her family at the beachfront villa. Meanwhile, Wendy and the younger boy develop a fondness for each other, while his aunt and uncle fail to understand his needs. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

An aging musketeer is called out of retirement to help a king in this comic swashbuckler. The king's twin brother is freed after twenty years in an iron mask. He is to be used as a decoy for the monarch while the real king and his court roust some rebels to foil their insurgent uprising. D'Artagnan (Jean Marais) leads the way with his expert fencing to aid in the royal flush. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A social worker endeavors to rehabilitate Parisian streetwalkers in this drama. Two men later meet a pair of these reformed women and fall in love. When one of the women's old friend's is murdered, one of the girl's become a prime suspect. Actually the dead woman was slain by the ex-hooker's former employer, a gangster. Unfortunately the gangster dies in an auto wreck. Meanwhile, the social worker tries to clear the girl by telling police that she had been with her lover. The truth about the girls eventually comes out, and only one of their lovers is understanding. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Producer/director Sacha Guitry's contribution to the 1956 film season was the free-flowing historical pageant Si Paris Nous Etait Conte (If Paris Were Told to Us). Guitry himself appears as the ghost of King Louis XI, who relates the story of Paris to a group of fascinated modern-day students. As usual, Guitry manages to "humanize" history by depicting the great men and women of France in amusing warts-and-all fashion. Symbolizing the indomitable spirit of Paris is Robert Lamoureaux as Latude, a prisoner of the Bastille who repeatedly tries to escape, and just as repeatedly is captured and thrown back in jail. A note of pathos is provided by Jacques de Feraudy as the dying Voltaire. Though Sacha Guitry suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair throughout much of the filming of Si Paris Nous Etait Conte, he still had two more films left in him before his death in 1957--just 10 days after Bastille Day. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bel Amour (Beautiful Love) is a compact little tale of love, betrayal and redemption. Happily married for ten years, a young doctor (Anthony Vilar) deserts his wife in favor of a more desirable mistress. The doctor's young son (played by a girl named Marie-France) refuses to accept his parents' breakup. As his father endeavors to secure a divorce, the boy does his best to gum up the proceedings. The virtuoso acting by the young Marie-France in a very challenging role elevates Bel Amour from the mundane. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Mademoiselle S'Amuse (Mademoiselle Has Fun) is purely and simply a vehicle for popular bandleader Ray Ventura. What plot there is concerns a jazz-happy damsel (Giselle Pascal) who has her wealthy daddy (Randall) wrapped around her little finger. Our spoiled heroine demands that her father hire Ventura and his band to play for her day-and-night, nonstop. She gets her wish, resulting in reams of swing tunes and ballads before the girl realizes that her selfishness is depriving others of the talented Mr. Ventura. One critic described this 97-minute songfest as a "long short subject." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi