Frederick O'Brady Movies

In this tragedy, a sailor heads to Hamburg to search for the girl who became his friend a decade before when he had been a POW in Germany. He finds her in the red-light district, the Reeperbahn, where she works as a mud-wrestler in a crummy dive. She hates her job, and she hates the seedy clientele. When she meets the sailor, her hopes of a better life rise. Even though he is already married, the two fall in love. He promises to return that very night, but he is later knifed to death by a mugger. The unknowing woman, assuming he has abandoned her, is crushed and commits suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderlos de Laclos's 18th century novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses was filmed several times. In Roger Vadim's version, Jeanne Moreau coerces her husband Gerard Philippe into ruining the reputation of pious Annette Vadim (the director's wife at the time). Philippe spoils Moreau's nasty little plan by falling in love with his intended victim. While the novel merely humiliated Moreau's character for her misdeeds, Vadim comes up with a far more painful and permanent punishment. Since the release of the 1988 Dangerous Liaisons, Vadim's film has travelled under the title Dangerous Liaisons 1960 (even though it was technically completed in 1959, and released to the U.S. in 1961). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Martine Carol plays the title character in the comedy melodrama Nathalie. The heroine is a professional model who becomes innocently mixed up in a robbery/murder case. Deciding to play detective, Nathalie leads both the authorities and the underworld on a merry chase. She also wins the heart of police inspector Franck (Michel Piccoli), who does his best to shield her from the evil machinations of criminal mastermind Coco (Philippe Clay). A big hit in France, Nathalie also did quite well in the U.S. under the title Foxiest Girl in Paris. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Also known as Mr. Arkadin, this flawed late effort by director Orson Welles recalls the structure of Citizen Kane, centering around an investigation into the past of a powerful millionaire. This time around, however, the millionaire is very much alive; in fact, it is Gregory Arkadin (Welles) himself who orders the inquiry, claiming to suffer from amnesia. The investigator soon gets a taste of the difficulty of his task, however, when several witnesses to Arkadin's past suspiciously turn up dead. Indeed, the closer he comes to the truth about Arkadin, the more he fears that he himself may be the next victim. While it aspires to intense suspense, Confidential Report suffers more than most of Welles' films from budgetary limitations and erratic shooting habits, with the final result often seeming choppy and needlessly confusing. Nevertheless, any Welles effort is by definition at least partially worthwhile, if only for further demonstration of his brilliant visual sensibility. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Mr. Peek-a-Boo may seem like a puerile title, but it is a lot more graspable to non-French audiences than the original Garou Garou Le Passe Muraille. Bourvil stars as a minor bureaucrat who finds himself the reluctant recipient of magical powers. He is actually able to walk through solid walls, which should be no surprise to those who read the novel on which the film is based, Marcel Ayme's The Man Who Walked Through Walls (truth in advertising!) He resists his friends' suggestions that he utilize his power to commit undetectable thefts, but changes his mind when he meets reluctant thief Joan Greenwood. The special effects by Henry Harris and Paul Raibaud are fairly elementary, but good for a few laughs as Bourvil constantly makes monkeys of the gendarmes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi