Jean-Pierre Cassel Movies

In this imaginary tale set in 18th-century Europe, Cazotte (Jean-Pierre Cassel), a regaled court painter and womanizer is out to seduce the indomitable Ehrengard (Audrey Matson) -- not an easy task, as he is about to find out. Ehrengard has been sent to be a companion and lady-in-waiting to the young Princess, exiled for the time being to a distant country estate so her out-of-wedlock pregnancy will not become public knowledge. Ehrengard may be schooled in all the amenities, but she rides and thinks like a veritable Amazon and no matter what Cazotte does to capture her fancy, she is far from smitten. After the Princess gives birth, the baby is kidnapped and Ehrengard, completely undaunted by the task ahead of her, sets out for the kidnapper's lair, fully confident that the ruse she has planned will be more than enough to save the day and to get back at Cazotte for his unrelenting sexual overtures. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this French melodrama, the unexpected, untimely death of her husband leaves Jeanne (Annie Girardot) struggling to come to terms with the implications of her new life and take care of her three children. Filmed in French, this movie is available with English subtitles or dubbing. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Le Soleil en Face is a somewhat glib drama about a serious matter -- death. In this case, the death of a writer. Marat (Jean-Pierre Cassel) is a retired novelist living in ease and comfort in his own villa in southern Portugal. His writing has essentially dried up, but he has a good life with his wife Genevieve (Stephane Audran) and two attractive nieces who take care of him -- one is actually his lover. This idyll crashes to the ground when Genevieve finds out that Marat has incurable cancer, and at first, she tries to keep the diagnosis a secret but is not successful. The results are disastrous. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Salvini (Jean-Pierre Cassel) is an orchestra conductor of some renown. While rehearsing for a performance of Verdi's Othello he has a psychological crisis, brought on by his recognition of the man playing tympani in his orchestra. Near the end of World War II, Salvini took a false identity and hid in a remote monastery. While there, he encountered Romualdi, a funny, blustering buffoon who thought of himself as a true musical genius. Salvani and an actress, who was also hiding nearby, had some mean-spirited fun with Romualdi, pretending that the man was in fact a genius, and encouraging him in his delusions. Seeing Romualdi years later, humbly playing the least prestigious position in the orchestra, gives him pause, and causes him to rethink his career. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Je Te Tiens Tu Me Tiens Par La Barbichette refers to a French children's game, where two children hold one another's chins and stare at one another. The one who laughs first, loses. In this satire, a police detective (played by Jean Yanne) is investigating the disappearance and kidnapping of the host of a television dance show (played by Jean-Pierre Cassel). However, instead of finding his man, he is trapped into becoming a contestant on a children's quiz show. What's worse is that he becomes a very successful contestant. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Anna (Aurore Clement) is a film director whose job takes her all over western Europe. In each place she either already has some intimate connection, or readily makes one. People seem drawn to her, but inevitably insist on sharing their inmost secrets and discontents with her, despite her obvious and profound lack of interest in these revelations. This does not deter Anna from continuing to meet people, and she genuinely connects with them occasionally, as when she sees her mother briefly in Brussels. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

John Cassavetes takes a contemporary film noir turn (which he would return to in Gloria) after exploring domestic melodrama in A Woman Under the Influence with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Ben Gazzara plays Cosmo Vitelli, the owner of a sleazy Los Angeles strip joint, who loses $20,000 at a mob gambling club owned by a small time gangster (Seymour Cassel). Since Cosmo doesn't have the $20,000, he is forced to murder a Chinese bookie in order to clear his debt to the mob. What Cosmo doesn't know is he's part of a set-up. The bookie is actually a West Coast mob boss protected around the clock by bodyguards. The mobsters figure that Cosmo will be killed in an impossible hit and they can take over his nightclub. But Cosmo proves luckier than the mobsters think -- he manages to kill his target, and now the mobsters have to track down Cosmo and kill him. Initially, at 133 minutes, the movie was subsequently re-edited by Cassavetes to 109 minutes. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Lee J. Cobb's last film is in this light romantic comedy starring Roger Moore as Michael Scott, an arms dealer who comes complete with a sophisticated playboy patter for the ladies. During war games, Michael attempts to sell weapons to NATO forces by trying to interest NATO general Steedman (Lee J. Cobb) in his wares. Opposing his sale is feminist reporter Julia Richardson (Susannah York), who is not impressed with either his job or his come-hither endearments. But, as happens to most movie feminists, she ends up putting her values on the back burner and she falls in love with Michael. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This comic interpretation of Alexandre Dumas's classic adventure saga picks up where 1974's The Three Musketeers left off, as D'Artagnan (Michael York), Athos (Oliver Reed), Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), and Porthos (Frank Finlay) scuttle the plans of Lady de Winter (Faye Dunaway) to remove Queen Anne (Geraldine Chaplin) from the seat of power. De Winter is determined to get revenge against the Musketeers, and when she learns that D'Artagnan is infatuated with the lovely Constance (Raquel Welch), she first tries to foil their romance by seducing D'Artagnan herself, and then by persuading Rochefort (Christopher Lee) to kidnap Constance. She then engineers the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward), a close friend of D'Artagnan; when word of the Duke's death and Constance's imprisonment reaches D'Artagnan and his comrades, the foursome ride off to rescue the fair lady and see that justice is done against de Winter. The Four Musketeers was filmed concurrently with The Three Musketeers; it was originally intended to be one film, but when director Richard Lester realized the movie would be over three and a half hours long, the decision was made to release it as two separate features instead. This led to lawsuits filed by several of the stars, claiming that they were hired under false pretenses and entitled to be paid for making two films rather than one. The actors won their case, but their settlement was significantly less than the salary they hoped to receive. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Like many of Agatha Christie's mysteries, Murder on the Orient Express is predicated on an actual event, in this case the Lindbergh kidnapping. In the movie, everyone on board the Orient Express seems to have concluded that hateful financier Ratchett (Richard Widmark) was behind the abduction and murder of the infant daughter of a famed aviatrix. Thus, when Ratchett is himself found murdered, everyone is suspect. Normally, the police would handle the investigation, but the train has been stalled by a snowslide halfway between Istanbul and Paris. Thus, it's up to the insufferable but brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (an unrecognizable Albert Finney) to activate his "little grey cells" and determine who's guilty. Among the suspects are colorful characters played by Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, Wendy Hiller, John Gielgud, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, and Ingrid Bergman, whose performance won her a third Academy Award. (In her acceptance speech, Bergman apologized for her win, insisting that Day for Night's Valentina Cortese deserved the prize.) The first and best in a long line of contemporary Christie adaptations, the film scores on atmosphere, period detail, and richness of characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard Lester's adaptation of The Three Musketeers was only the latest of many when released in 1974, but it arrived with a spirit all its own, one influenced as much by Lester's '60s work as the Alexandre Dumas classic. Even so, it followed the plot of Dumas' novel fairly closely, its liberties in interpretation taken elsewhere. Coming off the success of Cabaret, Michael York plays D'Artagnan, the provincial, would-be swashbuckler who travels to Paris to make his name. There he encounters the eponymous heroes: cynical Athos (Oliver Reed), dashing Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), and arrogant Porthos (Frank Finlay). The trio introduces him to the world of court intrigue as they work to protect the Queen (Geraldine Chaplin) from the schemes of the villainous Richelieu (Charlton Heston) and his followers, Rochefort (Christopher Lee) and Milady (Faye Dunaway). Lester shot the film in conjunction with its sequel, The Four Musketeers. Originally intended as a single film, the split prompted a lawsuit from the cast demanding payment for both films. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide