Françoise Fabian Movies

That merry prankster Till Eulenspiegel is at it again in this lively Franco-German production. Director Gerard Phillipe does double duty as Till, a fun-loving youth who turns freedom fighter after his father is burned as a heretic during the Spanish Inquisition. In public, Till is a carefree buffoon; but under cover of night, he fights the good fight on behalf of the Flemmish cause. The fact that the film is not to be taken seriously is underlined by the scene wherein the Spanish soldiers are routed by a gang of ice-skating rebels! Les Aventures de Till L'Espiegle was partially financed by East German business concerns, a rarety for an international release of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A deadly vendetta motivates the plot of Les Violents. Fernand Ledoux plays a young Frenchman who has lived for many years in the U.S. Ledoux returns to his homeland to exact vengeance on the people he holds responsible for the death of his father. Three murders later, police inspector Paul Meurisse arrests the hot-headed protagonist. An open and shut case? Not likely: the inspector suspects that Ledoux is being set up as a fall guy for a very clever killer -- and the inspector is right on the money! Les Violents was released in the U.S. by United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The trials and tribulations of Olga (Danielle Delorme) begin when her plane crashes in the jungles of South America. Legally declared dead, Olga throws her in-laws into an uproar when she returns to France. She soon learns that, in her absence, her now-deceased husband was engaged in all sorts of highly suspect activities. The intrigues begin piling up when Olga falls in love with her brother-in-law (Jean Marais) thereby incurring the wrath of the family's Mrs. Danvers-like housekeeper-and, by extension unearthing more than a few family skeletons. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This historical war drama follows the command of 16th-century artist Benvenuto Cellini as he and his troops defend Rome against the attack of Charles V and his armies. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Louis Malle directed this light comedy about crime and class in the City of Light. Georges Randal (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a young man living in Paris at the turn of the century who is due to inherit a considerable fortune. However, his uncle, who is acting as his guardian, manages to spend Georges' money before he ever gets a chance to see it. Georges is also deeply in love with Charlotte (Geneviève Bujold), his cousin, and wants to marry her; however, the same uncle has promised her hand to another, a man Charlotte does not love. Understandably angry, Georges makes plans to steal the family's jewelry, intended for Charlotte, away from his dishonest uncle. Georges soon discovers that he enjoys being a thief, and begins robbing the wealthy as protest against the bourgeoisie. However, as Georges' ill-gotten nest egg grows, he finds himself becoming a member of the idle rich he professes to despise. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This spaghetti western features hippie outlaws battling French singer Hallyday. ~ Rovi

The "my" in My Night At Maud's belongs to the protagonist played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, a Catholic engineer whose struggle with his faith is renewed when he falls instantly in love with a woman he's never met (Marie-Christine Barrault) while attending mass. A chance meeting with an amoral old friend (Antoine Vitez) the same night places him in a potentially compromising situation when he's forced to spend the night with Vitez's alluring acquaintance Maude (Françoise Fabian), a sophisticated woman who challenges Trintignant's belief through intellectual and fleshly means. ~ Keith Phipps, Rovi

A crackdown on drugs leads a burned out cop (Michel Bouquet) to take the law into his own hands and seek revenge against villainous drug dealers. Word comes down from above that the United States feels French authorities have been lax on their arrests of the dealers. A violent action feature finds the harried inspector battling his colleagues as much as the criminal element targeted for extermination. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Eric Rohmer ends his cycle of Six Moral Tales with this delightful film starring Bernard Verley as Frédéric, a happily married man who discovers that he can't stop looking at beautiful women. As he says in a voice-over, "I feel marriage closes me in, cloisters me, and I want to escape." His escape comes to him in the form of Chloé (Zouzou), a woman from his past. Chloé had left for America as a successful model but has now returned to Paris, bored with her life and saddled with a man she doesn't love. Although Frédéric is reluctant to see her at first, they agree to meet in the afternoons -- just to talk. He feels a freedom with her that he doesn't experience with anyone else because they have, he thinks, no commitments to each other. So, they talk of their problems and their relationships and, before long, Frédéric finds that he is becoming increasingly attracted to her. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The temptation to roll one of his wealthier customers is too great for casino croupier Kosta (Helmut Berger) to resist. It's too bad the man dies. Luckily for him, the only witness to his crime, Lara (Françoise Fabian), thinks he's too pretty to turn over to the police; she wants him for her bed. Still, the local police inspector has been keeping a sharp eye on him. Things don't turn out quite the way anyone expects in this sly French crime drama. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi