Henri Vidal Movies

This slight comedy-mystery is another late '50s vehicle for Brigitte Bardot who repeats her sex-kitten persona with ease. She plays Virginie, an instructor at a dance studio that one day is hit with a tragedy -- the owner of the studio is murdered. That is bad enough, but to make matters worse, Virginie's husband has been accused of the crime. She knows he could not be the killer and so she sets out to prove his innocence to the police, and maybe find the real culprit at the same time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Swinging like a pendulum between comedy and drama, this tale by director Henri Decoin concerns a lady lawyer with a tendency to hit the bottle. She takes on a difficult case considering her own weakness -- she is to defend a young man who has killed his alcoholic father. Challenged to the limit, in the end it is love that sees her through the hurdles. Well-acted and sophisticated, the story still does not run much below the surface of each protagonist. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this French comedy, a lovely chanteuse finds herself in very strange series of situations. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Port de Lilias was Rene Clair's first film since 1955, and his last until 1960. It is more serious than most of Clair's efforts, ending with a death that is all the more surprising in that the director never quite prepares us for it. Pierre Brasseur plays Juju, a likeable ne'er-do-well who suddenly finds himself the "guardian" of a murderer named Barbier (Henri Vidal). When his identity is discovered by the heroine Maria (Dany Carel), Barbier wins and betrays the girl. This galvanizes the otherwise easygoing Juju into drastic action. Functioning as a Greek chorus throughout the proceedings is well-known balladeer George Brassens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Action Immediate was adapted from a novel by Paul Kenny. Evidently this was quite an undertaking, since it took the combined talents of three screenwriters. Obviously inspired by Hollywood action flicks, the film concerns a set of top-secret rocket plans. When the plans are stolen by enemy agents, Gallic secret service operative Henri Vidal swings into action. Inevitably, the evidence trail leads him directly into the arms of several luscious ladies. There's a slam-bang climax pitting Vidal against the villains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Showing no signs of slowing down in his 70th year, Sacha Guitry served as director and writer of the lavish historical epic Napoleon, and also costarred as Talleyrand. It is now hard to assess the quality of the film, since most American prints are severely edited, and the color photography appallingly washed out. Reviewers in 1955 admired the effort that went into this $1,800,000 production, but complained that the viewer left the film with no deeper understanding of Napoleon Bonaparte than the viewer had had when coming in. Daniel Gelin poses impressively as the young Bonaparte, registering emotion only when things go wrong in his conquest of Europe, while Raymond Pellegrin is somewhat better as the older, more jaded Napoleon (the transition between the two actors is handled in a near-comic fashion). The Revolution is reduced to a few fleeting scenes, while the rest of the film is devoted to political infighting and betrayal. The huge supporting cast includes Michele Morgan as Josephine and Lana Marconi and Dany Robin, respectively, as Napoleon's mistresses Waleska and Desiree. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this odd French tragedy, set in Ireland, a nun plots revenge against her brother's executor, the IRA leader she had idolized. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Serie Noire (Black Edition) is an acceptable Gallic imitation of America's hard-boiled detective genre. Henri Vidal plays the anti-hero, who moves with ease through the Parisian underworld. The action highlights are paced a bit too far apart, though with judicious cutting the film looks rather better on TV. Of special interest is the presence in the cast of Erich Von Stroheim in a minor role. The girl in the case is played by Monique Van Vooren. Serie Noire was based on a series of popular paperback adventures of the same title (though the publishing firm responsible for the books renounced the film version). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After her divorce from director John Huston, actress Evelyn Keyes divided her time between Hollywood and Europe. It was during one of her stopovers in France that Keyes starred in C'Est Arrive a Paris (It Happened in Paris). She is cast as vacationing heiress Pat, who is sick to death of the sightseeing tours arranged by her uncle (Paul Faivre). During one such excursion, she enjoys a romance with Russian prince Vlad (Henri Vidal). What Pat doesn't know is that her prince is a con artist, who is being bankrolled by two confederates in order to woo the girl and gain access to her inheritance. C'est Arrive a Paris was filmed in two versions, English and French; it was the English version which was released to American television in the late 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

La Jeune Folle is based on a novel by Catherine Beauchamp. Daniele Delorme delivers a brilliant performance as an Irish colleen named Catherine, who because of her vivid imagination and unorthodox behavior is considered to be a lunatic. In one of her delusional moments, she imagines that her dead brother is calling for her. She searches for her brother within the ranks of the Irish rebel organization responsible for his death, falling in love with the man (Henri Vidal) who, unbeknownst to her, ordered the killing. Upon learning the truth, Catherine lives only for revenge, leading to an explosive, almost operatic climax. La Jeune Folle was released in English-speaking countries as The Mad Girl and Desperate Decision. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jean-Louis (Henri Vidal) makes his living by trapping deadly snakes and selling them to zoos. In love with shopgirl Simone (Francoise Arnoul), Jean-Louis gallantly comes to her defense during a minor skirmish with a policeman. Things get out of hand, and before long Jean-Louis is a fugitive from justice, leading the authorities on an appropriately serpentine chase through the streets of Paris. The film's "serpent" motif is further developed when Simone lands a job as a cabaret "snake dancer." If the viewer draws any analogies between Danger is a Woman and the story of Adam and Eve, then screenwriter Jacques Laurent (who adapted his own novel La Mort a Boire) has accomplished what he set out to do. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide