Charles Trenet Movies
Martin Scorsese explores the life of organized crime with his gritty, kinetic adaptation of Nicolas Pileggi's best-selling Wiseguy, the true-life account of mobster and FBI informant Henry Hill. Set to a true-to-period rock soundtrack, the story details the rise and fall of Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian New York kid who grows up idolizing the "wise guys" in his impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood. He begins hanging around the mobsters, running errands and doing odd jobs until he gains the notice of local chieftain Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino), who takes him in as a surrogate son. As he reaches his teens, Hill (Ray Liotta) is inducted into the world of petty crime, where he distinguishes himself as a "stand-up guy" by choosing jail time over ratting on his accomplices. From that moment on, he is a part of the family. Along with his psychotic partner Tommy (Joe Pesci), he rises through the ranks to become Paulie's lieutenant; however, he quickly learns that, like his mentor Jimmy (Robert DeNiro), his ethnicity prevents him from ever becoming a "made guy," an actual member of the crime family. Soon he finds himself the target of both the feds and the mobsters, who feel that he has become a threat to their security with his reckless dealings. Goodfellas was rewarded with six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture; Pesci would walk away with Best Supporting Actor for his work. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, (more)
For his first directorial project in six years, Robert Towne selected a timeworn romantic-triangle yarn, injecting the material with subtlety and conviction. Tequila Sunrise stars Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell as two lifelong friends who, in true James Cagney-Pat O'Brien fashion, grow up on the opposite sides of the law. One is a retired drug dealer (at least he says he is), the other a "celebrity" cop. Both fall in love with gorgeous restaurateur Michelle Pfeiffer. Veteran movie buffs will enjoy spotting director Budd Boetticher as a judge, and will welcome the presence in the production credits of cinematographer Conrad Hall, who earned an Oscar nomination for his richly textured color camerawork. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
Mireille (Joisane Balasko) is a female cop who leads a crusade against the neighborhood pimp in this comedy drama. She falls for the black detective who is sent to investigate charges of corruption. Their relationship is adversarial before it becomes congenial. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josiane Balasko, Isaach de Bankolé, (more)
L'Argent de Poche (Small Change) is an episodic comedy drama composed of several sequences that explore childhood in director François Truffaut's signature humanistic style. Filmed in Thiers in South Central France, each vignette is seen from the point of view of a kid from two weeks to 14 years old. There is no real plot, just little scenes flowing together dealing with personal joys and pains of the children in a small town. While most of the issues are simple and lighthearted, some of the kids have a harder time growing up. A few choice moments involve a double date at the movies, brothers who give a friend a haircut, and a toddler who falls from a window. Patrick (Georges Desmouceaux) discovers girls and helps care for his father, Sylvie (Sylvie Grizel) rebels against her parents, and Julien (Philippe Goldmann) comes from a painful home life. While mostly focusing on developing the personal perspectives of children, adults get some screen time to share their wisdom. The conclusion consists of a monologue from the schoolteacher, played by Jean-François Stévenin. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geary Desmouceaux, Jean-François Stévenin, (more)
The episodic romantic comedy Stolen Kisses is the third installment in François Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series, which started with The 400 Blows in 1959. In 1968, Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is discharged from the military and comes home to Paris, getting an apartment in Montmartre with an excellent view of the Sacré-Coeur. He meets up with his sweetheart, Christine Darbon (Claude Jade, making her film debut), and joins her and her parents for dinner (Daniel Ceccaldi and Claire Duhamel). With the help of Christine's father, he gets a job as a hotel clerk but quickly gets fired after he unwittingly aids a private detective (Harry Max). After running into the detective at a coffee shop, Antonie then falls into a job at the Blady Detective Agency, assisting with the investigation of a magician. He is then assigned to the case of neurotic Georges Tabard (Michel Lonsdale), and ends up working in the stock room of his shoe store. After Antoine has coffee with Tabard's beautiful and intelligent wife, Fabienne (Delphine Seyrig), she inevitably tries to seduce him. He later meets Christine in a park and proposes to her, taking the pair into the next film: Bed and Board. One of the lightest entries in the series, Stolen Kisses was ironically filmed during a turbulent political time in France. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Léaud, Delphine Seyrig, (more)
- Starring:
- Danielle Godet
- Starring:
- Charles Trenet, Tilda Thamar, (more)
That matchless Gallic comedian Fernandel is but one of the many spicy ingredients of Love Around the Clock. The film's original title, La Cavalcade des Heures, was closer to the central theme: man's relation to, and utter reliance on, Time. Eight different stories are offered herein, each playlet illustrating how important the clock is to one's destiny. In the Fernandel sequence, the actor is cast as a bum who tries to cadge a meal in a restaurant. Most critics felt that the best of the dramatic vignettes was the one starring Tramel as a browbeaten husband who decides -- disastrously -- to alter his daily, set-in-stone routine. Throughout, Pierre Caillol appears as Time personified, making wry comments about the human comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Charles Trenet, (more)
Pierre Prevert directed this amusing comedy, one of three which he co-wrote with his better-known brother Jacques Prevert. Pop singer Charles Trenet stars as a rich moron who is targeted for murder by a shady enemy (Pierre Brasseur). Brasseur blackmails a criminal (Julien Carette) into killing Trenet, but both escape into the countryside, where they encounter some funny situations and odd locals. Prevert was forced by the film's producer to cast Trenet, and rumors of trouble on the set were plentiful, but none of it appears to have affected the film, which remains a light and engaging romp. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brasseur, Charles Trenet, (more)
- Starring:
- Charles Trenet, Elvire Popesco, (more)
- Starring:
- Charles Trenet, Jacqueline Porel, (more)
- Starring:
- Marguerite Moreno, Charles Trenet, (more)
- Starring:
- Janine Darcey, Margo Lion, (more)















