Romy Schneider Movies
The daughter of two popular European actors -- Austrian leading man Wolf Albach-Retty and German film star Magda Schneider -- Romy Schneider began her own career at age 15. Billed as "The German Shirley Temple," Romy starred in a series of fluffy comedies about young Austro-Hungarian Empress Elizabeth, better known as Sissi. She matured rather quickly, right before the eyes of her most fervent fans, with a sexy assignment in director Luchino Visconti's Boccacio 70 (1962). She also successfully tackled a difficult role in Orson Welles' The Trial (1963). After playing a prostitute in the big-budget war film The Victors (1963), Romy began her largely unrewarding Hollywood career, where she was usually cast on the basis of her ripe figure and cute middle-European accent. Settling in France in the 1960s, Romy became one of that country's most respected actresses, winning Cesar awards for her performances in L'Important C'est d'Aimer (1975) and L'Histoire Simple (1978). In her last years, she was beset by several personal tragedies, including the accidental death of her 14-year-old son. She was on the road to emotional and professional recovery when, in May of 1982, Romy Schneider was found dead in her Paris apartment; the official cause of death was heart failure, though many believe that she committed suicide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1967
Adapted from his autobiography The Eddie Chapman Story, this is the story of a British safecracker who was in prison when WWII broke out. When the Germans occupied the area, he offers to work for them if they will set him free and they do so, sending him as a spy to England. Once there, however, he offers his services to the British and becomes a double agent. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, Yul Brynner, (more)
- 1963
An epic and unusual anti-war drama about WWII, writer-director Carl Foreman's heavily ironic saga is loosely based on the novel The Human Kind by Alexander Baron. It follows the adventures of an American infantry platoon based in Sicily that participates in the invasion of France, marches into Germany, and remains there for the Allied post-war occupation. Interspersed during the nearly three-hour film are vignettes of silly newsreel scenes from the home front. These are contrasted with disturbing incidents from the war. George Peppard plays Corporal Chase, who has an affair with a woman who wants him to desert to help her run a black market business. He visits the wounded Sergeant Craig (Eli Wallach) in the hospital and finds that most of his face has been blown away. Sgt. Trower (George Hamilton) takes up with a woman who turns out to be a prostitute The plot is highly episodic, with characters coming and going. Originally released at 175 minutes, the picture was withdrawn from distribution and edited down to 156 minutes to place greater emphasis on onscreen action. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Hamilton, George Peppard, (more)
- 1974
Elizabeth (Romy Schneider) and her daughter (Benedicte Bucher) take a holiday together, and each of them has a brief romance: the mother has an affair with a suitably mysterious Italian (Nino Castelnuovo) and the girl has a satisfying flirtation with a boy her own age (Alain David). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Nino Castelnuovo, (more)
- 1976
Social classes and different cultures collide as three disparate men try to court a wealthy young woman (Romy Schneider) in this French drama. One of them, an impoverished aristocrat marries her for her money. Though he is terribly cynical, he does, in some strange way, love her. She is also loved by a super-straight-arrow industrialist. The third lover is a fugitive Greek communist who has been trying to escape Johannes Metaxas' secret police. He and the protagonist are having an affair. Soon after the woman bears him a daughter, the communist is killed. WW II erupts and the woman vanishes. Years pass and the daughter grows up. She heads for Greece to learn more about her parents. There the woman's husband and the capitalist meet again and discuss their shared past. The cinematography of this sweeping romance, based on a novel by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, is particularly beautiful. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Philippe Noiret, (more)
- 1978
Nominated for an Academy Award, Claude Sautet's A Simple Story (Une Histoire Simple) examines the behavior of its characters as dictated by their environment. Romy Schneider plays Marie, a fortysomething working woman whose tiresome existence has prompted her to inaugurate an affair. Marie eventually parts with her lover, aborting the pregnancy resulting from her liaison. She pauses long enough to take stock of her current situation, and to muse on its possible outcome. Though exuding star quality throughout, Romy Schneider is thoroughly believable as the essentially ordinary, nonspectacular heroine. Her behavior is not that of a wealthy play-actress but a genuine bourgeois woman emotionally hemmed in by her social strata. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Bruno Cremer, (more)
A notorious womanizer, fashion editor Michael James (Peter O'Toole) decides to seek the help of a psychiatrist when he begins to feel that his inability to commit to a relationship is adversely affecting his personal life. Desperate to remain faithful to his fiancée Carole (Romy Schneider), Michael enlists the help of Dr. Fassbinder (Peter Sellers), blissfully unaware that as Dr. Fassbinder is making the moves on a patient who secretly longs for the seemingly irresistible Michael. As Michael and Carole check into the Chateau Chantelle in hopes of patching up their relationship, Dr. Fassbinder has also arrived at the Chateau in hopes of finally cementing his relationship with the comely patient. As the two couples check into the hotel, disaster looms just beyond the bend in a series of hilarious mishaps that will test both Michael's faithfulness and Dr. Fassbinder's sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, (more)
