Roger Fradet Movies

Parisian police commissioner Coleman (Alain Delon) is not a happy man, but he does what he can to get through each day. He has recently started having an affair with Cathy (Catherine Deneuve), and that helps a little. Cathy is also Simon's girlfriend and Simon (Richard Crenna) is Coleman's friend. Unfortunately, Simon is also the head of a gang of criminals. When Coleman's investigation of a drug-smuggling ring closes in, their rivalry comes to a head. One of the highlights of this film is a stunt involving a helicopter and a moving train. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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

The characters and plot convolutions of the classic silent French serial Judex are thrust into a 1960s framework in this Georges Franju concoction. Channing Pollock plays a mysterious masked avenger who kidnaps evil-banker Michel Vitold, then sets about to turn the banker's friends and loved ones against him. At first appearing to be as wicked as his captive, Pollock is actually motivated by familial love: his father had been driven to suicide by Vitold. Pollock is successful in destroying his enemy, adding spice to the program by wedding Vitold's daughter Edith Scob. In keeping with the spirit of the original serial, Pollock pops in and out of the plotline decked out in impenetrable disguises. As with his earlier horror film Eyes without a Face (1960), director Franju invests his two-dimensional material in Judex with three-dimensional characters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi