Paul Frankeur Movies

Alexandre (Eric Damain), the neglected teenager in this drama, finally gets some attention when he has a very serious accident while climbing a tree: it leads to the amputation of one of his legs. When he finds out that his mother (Stephane Audran) has a lover, he blackmails her into telling him all about it. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In typical Luis Buñuel fashion, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie surrealistically skewers the conventions of society. Buñuel applies his surrealist touch to a mundane event: a dinner party that may never come to pass. A group of well-to-do friends attempt to gather for a social evening, but are thwarted at every turn. The initial problem seems to be a simple scheduling mistake, but the obstacles become more and more bizarre. At one point, the guests are interrupted at the table by an army on maneuvers. Later they learn that they are merely characters in a stage play and so cannot have dinner together. These misadventures are combined with symbolic dreams of the various characters, some of which also involve interrupted dinners. Wicked social satire and one of Buñuel's funniest films. Winner of the Academy Award for "Best Foreign Film" in 1972. ~ John Voorhees, Rovi

While arch surrealist Luis Bunuel never made a secret of his skepticism about the existence of God, he was also raised as a strict Spanish Catholic and remained fascinated with the church's teaching throughout his life, and his obsessions with both faith and the contradictions of dogma provided the basis for this episodic satiric comedy. Jean (Laurent Terzieff) and Pierre (Paul Frankeur) are two threadbare vagabonds who are making their way from Paris to Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of Saint James are believed to be kept. While Jean and Pierre's journey begins in the 20th Century, as they travel they seemingly develop the ability to move through time and space as they pass through a variety of historical scenes taken from a broad range of theological texts -- and all involving heresy in one form or another. As they walk the long road to Santiago de Compostela (when they can't catch a ride), Jean and Pierre encounter Jesus (Bernard Verley), who decides not to shave his beard to keep his mother happy; a young boy with stigmata and unusual powers; the Marquis de Sade (Michel Piccoli), who patently struggles to teach atheism to a young girl he's captured; an eccentric priest who has an irreversible belief in transubstantiation until he changes his mind; two men who put their debate over Catholic dogma to the test in a duel with swords; and Satan (Pierre Clementi), who shows up just in time for a car wreck. La Voie Lactee (aka The Milky Way) was scripted by Bunuel and his frequent screenwriting collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere; each of the film's historic episodes was adapted faithfully from an actual biblical text or historical account. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Vincent (George Chakiris) is a gentleman thief who steals the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. He falls in love with the pretty young maid Nicole (Marina Vlady), whose main goal in life is to marry a wealthy man, but Vincent is unable to tell Nicole what his vocation is or that he is financially stable if not rich. The police begin to follow the duo, beginning the chase scene that takes up the major part of the film. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Arthur (Jean Richard) dreams of killing his harridan shrew of a wife to spend more time with his demanding mistress in this crime drama. His wife refuses to grant him a divorce, so Arthur puts his mind to murder. Arthur kills a woman who is sleeping in his bed, but it turns out to be the mistress who had earlier come to visit the wife. His spouse knocked out the mistress by hitting her and dumped the unconscious victim in the bed. Arthur and his wife hide the body, but he discovers that the mistress was poisoned before her visit to his wife. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Three screenwriters pooled their talents for the French racetrack drama Duke of the Derby. Jean Gabin plays a handicapper who's been living high on the hog (or horse) for years. While playing the ponies at Britain's Epson Downs, Gabin finally outsmarts himself. The rest of the story concerns his feverish efforts to recoup his former glory. Originally Le Gentleman D'Epsom, the film is also known as Grandes Seigneurs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A police inspector on the trail of the murderer of a nightclub owner falls for the dead man's drug-addicted mistress. He tries to get her to talk, but the commissioner suspects her and wants the case solved, so he orders her arrested. She disappears, and the inspector is led to the home of the real killer. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

This drama chronicles the exploits of two criminal brothers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Jean Gabin once again stars as that other famous French detective Inspector Maigret in this murder mystery that is less a mystery than it is a psychological exercise. When the apparently slow but actually clear-headed Maigret returns to the small town where he grew up, he is called upon to help out a Countess (Valentine Tessier) who is threatened by someone unidentified. As Maigret reminisces and goes back over his past, including his romantic interest in the Countess, she ends up murdered and he has a new case on his hands. Rather than go the way of lab tests and photos of the crime scene, Maigret starts to analyze the underlying emotional currents in the townspeople themselves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This popular, standard French spy drama is the second in a series that stars tough guy Lino Ventura as Paul, a man who really would like to come in from the cold. Paul has established himself in the ordinary world with an on-going, successful business and has settled down with his wife Nadine (Estella Blain) and their two children. Thanks to his former chief and the fact that some sensitive plans have been stolen, Paul is coerced to going back to work undercover to retrieve the plans, knowing that the assignment is dangerous. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The producers of Une Balles dans le Canou (A Slug in the Heater) undoubtedly believed that the magical name of BARDOT on the marquee would draw in patrons by the thousands. Imagine the surprise of some of those patrons when the film's star turned out not to be Brigitte Bardot, but her younger sister Mijanou. Alas, the younger Bardot has none of her celebrated sibling's sensuality or charisma. The story concerns a couple of ex-servicemen who engineer a robbery, only to run afoul of professional criminals. There is little to recommend the film outside of the assured supporting performance of the always interesting Roger Hanin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi