Robert Favart Movies
- 1974
- R
English Paul and French Michelle come together again in this sequel to the 1971 film Friends. Several years have passed since they had their adolescent adventure in baby-making. Paul has just finished his fancy British school while Michelle, her baby and an American live together in France. Paul returns to France to find Michelle and take up where they left off. Unfortunately, things don't go exactly as planned. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1973
This campy Roger Vadim film stars sex-kitten Brigitte Bardot as Jeanne, the female counterpart to Don Juan, a woman who is ruthlessly wicked in her pursuit of love and desire. Jeanne confesses murder to a young priest (Mathieu Carriere) who is also her cousin, and after she tells him the story of how she has ruined the lives of a long succession of men, she shamelessly seduces the priest as well. Her story told in flashback, Jeanne gets off to a rocky start as an heiress: her father died while cussing her out for her low-down ways. She gets even with each of the men who does her wrong, usually in devastating ways, but in the end, she sacrifices all for love. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Maurice Ronet, (more)
Corey (Alain Delon) is the young gun in the French underworld who has just been released from prison. Escaped convict Vogel (Gian-Maria Volonté) hides in the trunk of Corey's car. The two enlist the help of an alcoholic former cop (Yves Montand) for an elaborate jewelry-store robbery. Police inspector Mattei (Bourvil) whom Vogel escaped in the beginning of the film is on the case trying to recapture the criminals. He is not opposed to using blackmail techniques to get answers out of the unwilling witnesses and criminals brought in for questioning. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Bourvil, (more)
- 1967
Adapted from his autobiography The Eddie Chapman Story, this is the story of a British safecracker who was in prison when WWII broke out. When the Germans occupy the area, he offers to work for them if they will set him free, and they do so, sending him as a spy to England. Once there, however, he offers his services to the British and becomes a double agent. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, Yul Brynner, (more)
Long considered a classic of European film noir, this existential gangster drama from French director Jean-Pierre Melville was released in the United States only in a severely truncated, re-edited, and overdubbed version entitled The Godson. Thirty years after its initial public airing, Le Samourai (1967) finally saw a limited American release in its intended form. Alain Delon stars as Jef Costello, a professional Parisian assassin-for-hire who, by nature of his work's solitary demands, has no friends. Although he is loved by Jane Lagrange (Natalie Delon, the star's real-life wife), Costello knows that Jane already has a lover. After he successfully wipes out a nightclub owner at the behest of his boss, Costello discovers that he was seen by the club's pianist, Valerie (Cathy Rosier). Although he survives a police lineup thanks to a lie offered up by the fearless Valerie, Costello's alibi disintegrates rapidly and his shadowy employer takes out a contract on him. As he seeks revenge on his betrayer, Costello must also stay one step ahead of a wily, determined superintendent (Francois Perier). Melville's film influenced several other filmmakers and projects, most notably director John Woo's The Killer (1989). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Natalie Delon, (more)
- 1965
The first of two Francis Coplan spy films directed by veteran Riccardo Freda, this flamboyant entry has FX-18 (Richard Wyler of British television's The Man from Interpol) hurtling back and forth between Paris and Istanbul to prevent an Arab nuclear strike on Israel. Teamed with a bumbling Israeli operative (stunt coordinator Gil Delmaire), FX-18 must deal with exploding airplanes, nuclear terrorists, scientists in spiked coffins, murdered strippers, and sadistic torture-killings, all while trying to avoid World War III. Freda loads the film with campy sexual sight-gags and wonderfully silly setpieces such as the film's finale, in which Coplan is strapped inside a nuclear warhead to be launched to a certain doom. Delmaire stages some impressive stunts, and although the supporting cast is rather weak, Wyler, Delmaire, and siren Jany Clare make the film enjoyable for genre devotees. This film has several alternate titles, including: The Exterminators, FX-18, Superspy, Coplan FX-18, and Coplan Casse Tout. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- 1955
In this tuneful, romantic sequel to the classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, two gorgeous brown-haired Broadway chorines head for the City of Light to escape their ardent, predatory fans and find true love after having many adventures. The story is paralleled by that of their mother and aunt who did the same thing during the 1920s. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jane Russell, Jeanne Crain, (more)
- 1954
Sacha Guitry's Si Versailles M'Etait Conte (If Versailles Were Told to Me) is best known by its American title Royal Affairs in Versailles. In addtion to writing and directed the film, Guitry reserves for himself the plum role of Louis XIV. Concentrating on the palace of Versailles over a period of 300 years, the storyline concentrates on the various amorous and political intrigues of three French kings. The plot manages to wend its way through the French revolution, coming to a halt in "the present". The star-studded supporting cast includes Jean Marais as Louis XV, Claudette Colbert as Mme. Montespan, Micheline Presle as Mme. Pompadour, and, best of all, Orson Welles as a gouty Ben Franklin. Most currently available prints of Si Versailles M'Etait Conte are severely edited, and fail to do justice to the rich Eastmancolor hues of the original version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sacha Guitry, Jean Marais, (more)
