Jean Lefebvre Movies
- 2001
An artist fending off his detractors (more imagined than real) ends up making things more difficult for himself in this satiric comedy. Kevin Kazanovitch (Mike Marshall) is a theatrical director whose latest production, a farcical comedy, has become a resounding success. But Kazanovitch is by his nature high-strung and has a pronounced streak of paranoia, and when he's informed that he's to receive a highly coveted award for his work, Kazanovitch is certain it's part of a plot by his detractors to discredit him. The director is so thoroughly convinced of this that he decides to rewrite a few scenes of his play to comment on those he believes are trying to ruin him; he calls his cast to a special rehearsal of the material one afternoon, but Yves Lempereur (Yves Afonso), the show's leading man, gets in an auto accident while rushing to the theater from shooting a television commercial. As chance would have it, the man who hit Lempereur's car was Gaston (Jean Lefebvre), who happens to be dating Fifi Flores (Lili Vonderfield), an actress in the show. Lempereur is injured in the accident and will not be able to tread the boards for a few weeks; Kazanovitch is in a panic, until he discovers Gaston has a photographic memory and can learn Lempereur's lines in a flash (and plays the role nearly as well as the more experienced actor). However, after Gaston is cast in the play, Kazanovitch discovers his new star has a secret life, including a long-standing addiction to gambling. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Lefebvre, Lili Vonderfeld, (more)
- 1989
Before was made into the famous Mozart opera, Le Mariage de Figaro was an incredibly famous French comedy and political satire by Beaumarchais (1732-1799). Beaumarchais was at least as interesting a character as any in his plays; among other things, he was a litigious watchmaker, a playwright, and spy who was also one of the fundraisers for the American Revolution. Even though this otherwise completely silly and very popular story was written by a man who was (at the time) spying for the monarchy, it was also considered seditious, and Louis XVI tried (unsuccessfully) to have it banned. So much for the powers of an absolute monarch. This filmed production of the play is most notable for having been financed by ticket subscriptions. The familiar story concerns the trials and tribulations of the duplicitious Count Almaviva (Claude Giraud), as he tries to have his cake (marriage to the lovely Suzanne, played here by Fanny Cottencon) and eat it, too, by avoiding a contracted marriage to Marceline (Line Renaud), to whom he owes a lot of money. The figures in the story scheme and plot for and against one another in the most vigorous manner possible, and they eventually discover some unlikely truths. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fanny Cottençon, Roger Coggio, (more)
- 1978
During a vacation to a remote tropical hideaway on the African Maurice Islands, two Parisians (Jean Lefebvre and Henri Guybet), rather the worse for wear, urinate on a sacred totem statue. This irreverent act brings them to the attention of the local gods, who punish them by making them invisible in mirrors, giving them telekinetic gifts, and causing them to levitate at odd times. As they grow accustomed to their strange condition, they find ways to take advantage of it to straighten out their problems. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Lefebvre, Henri Guybet, (more)
- 1977
This comedy follows the misadventures of a group of military goofballs who nonetheless manage to help the Resistance following the brief French war effort against the Nazis. They inadvertently stumble on a Resistance operation while out hunting and are forced to get involved. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Lefebvre, Pierre Mondy, (more)
In a way, the title of Some Like It Cool was a piquant comment on the career of star Tony Curtis, whose stardom had chilled since his 1959 appearance in Some Like It Hot. This time around, Curtis plays famed 18th-century lover Giacomo Casanova. The plot would have us believe that Casanova has suddenly turned impotent, and is deploying all manner of subterfuge to hide the fact. One of Casanova's stratagems is to hire a look-alike (also Curtis) to uphold his reputation between the sheets. The stellar supporting cast -- Marisa Berenson, Hugh Griffith, Britt Ekland et. al. -- seem far more embarrassed by their tawdry, topless surroundings than Curtis, who steamrolls his way through the film with the same dogged determination that he'd demonstrated in his "Yonda lies the castle of my fadduh" formative years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Marisa Berenson, (more)
- 1976
In this wartime comedy, Gregoire (Jean Lefebvre), an irrepressible tale-spouting French postman, is unable to convince his fellow villagers that he blew up a nearby bridge, thus slowing a German troop movement. Perhaps he actually did it. When a military "accident" leads the Germans into the village seeking the culprit and reprisals, the postman volunteers that he is the guilty party, but even now he is not believed -- even by the Germans. At long last, the Americans arrive, and they are willing to let him look good in front of his countrymen; they make it look as though he captured a whole group of Germans single-handedly. At last, he has his day of glory. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Lefebvre, Pierre Tornade, (more)
- 1975
Following a car chase and shootout, a man stumbles into a girl's apartment and dies. Frantic to be rid of this encumbrance, and wishing to avoid getting involved with the police, the girl finds a willing lad in a bar who will help her with her predicament. He loads the body into the back of his father's car. Before he can find a place to dump the body, his father takes off in it to see his mistress. In this comedy, the car with the body, chased by the girl and her helpful new friend, slips from their grasp time after time. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Bernard Menez, (more)
- 1975
In the earlier comedy, Where is the Seventh Company?, three young French soldiers who get lost behind German lines during World War II successfully cause endless havoc and live to tell the tale. In the sequel, The Seventh Company Has Been Found they continue to harass the enemy and even discover their own military unit. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Lefebvre, Pierre Mondy, (more)
- 1974
When Joelle (Nathalie Courval) notices that the "one of a kind" watch given to her by her lover Norbert (Jean-Claude Brialy) is also being worn by Olivia (Marcha Grant), she and the other woman strike up an acquaintance. They discover that they had been told the same lie by the same man; not only is he being unfaithful to his wife with a mistress, he is being unfaithful to one mistress with yet another! The two watch-wearing mistresses put their heads together to think up an appropriate punishment. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Brialy, Nathalie Courval, (more)
