Anna Maria Sandri Movies

Anthony Steel stars in this fanciful wartime drama. Stationed in Libya, British soldier Steel is wounded, then nursed back to health by a band of Nomads. He manages to marry the tribal chieftan's daughter (Anna Maria Sandri) before getting down to the serious business of fending off the Nazis. Ten years afterwards, Steel's brother returns to the tribe, there to take his late father's place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fortune Carree (Square Fortune) was co-adapted by director Bernard Borderie from the novel by Joseph Kessel. Mexican film-favorite Pedro Armendariz plays Igricheff, an undisciplined soldier who opts for the life of a mercenary. Operating out of the North African desert, Igricheff offers his services to a French arms smuggler (Paul Meurisse). Betrayed by his "partner," Igricheff is left to face his fate alone, which he does with a philosophical shrug. A dash of feminine interest is provided by Anna-Marie Sandri as a native lovely whom Igricheff purchases during his journey across the desert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stendhal's brilliant but difficult novel Le Rouge et le Noir all but defies transfer to film, but adaptor/director Claude Autant-Lara comes within shouting distance of full success. Stripped to essentials, the plot concerns Julien Sorel (Gerard Philipe), a carpenter's son who becomes a tutor. While his duties do not include the seduction of his employer's wife (Danielle Darrieux), Sorel offers this service free of charge. After this episode, Sorel becomes a priest...and the story isn't over yet. Though the director is too doggedly literal in his adaptation at times, and despite the fact that Gerard Philipe was about ten years too old for the part of Jean Sorel, Le Rouge et le Noir manages to hold the audience in its thrall for 2 hours and 50 minutes (most American prints, retitled The Red and the Black, run only 140 minutes). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide