Jean Richard Movies

In this French variation on Mark Twain's Man with a Million story, a man's life is completely changed by the acquisition of a new car. Marcel, a Chaplainesque factory worker, sets out to buy an old motorcycle and ends up getting a new Cadillac convertible (the "beautiful American" of the title) for $100. He loses his job and suffers other misadventures, but is then amazed at how people treat him when they learn he owns the prestigious vehicle. Amusing little farce makes a few telling points about the pretensions of the very rich. ~ Michael P. Rogers, All Movie Guide

Jean-Pierre Cassel is ideally cast as the hopelessly optimistic Candide in this noir updating of Voltaire's classic 18th-century social satire. Candide has been assured by his ivory-tower professor (Pierre Brasseur) that whatever fate befalls him, he will be all the better for it. Armed with the confidence of the ignorant, Candide is abused by practically everyone he comes across (he has a particularly rough time in a German POW camp), but somehow emerges with his faith in humanity unscathed. His picaresque adventures take him all the way to the Americas, both North and South. Just as in most stage versions of Candide, some of the supporting actors play double and triple roles: Robert Manuel, for example, portrays all the German officers Candide meets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Effective in its message that war itself is idiotic, this slowly, slowly evolving, conventional comedy drama by director Helmut Kautner takes place during the Franco-Prussian hostilities of 1870. Jumping into its main point early on, the story has two soldiers, one French and one German, accidentally changing uniforms when one of them is swimming. Now that they are for all exterior appearances on the opposite side of the fence, they meet up at a farmhouse where a friendship starts between them. They share a few adventures as they help out some people who need it -- and then a potential disaster strikes when some Prussian forces intrude on their private hiatus from war. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Director Jean Bastia has created another amusing comedy in this story about Claudius (Jean Richard), a local policeman who is plagued by the local bandit, Vittorio (Roger-Pierre). In reality, Claudius has become Vittorio's friend, which makes chasing after him in all seriousness a difficult proposition. Assisted by an able supporting cast and an upbeat spirit, this farce may be a bit too specialized in its regional humor and jargon to reach a general, non-French audience. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In the 1950s, French films were considered the ne plus ultra in naughtiness by certain impressionable filmgoers. It was to these movie fans that the American distributor of Jean Renoir's Elena et les Hommes (Elena and the Men) catered when it provocatively retitled the picture Paris Does Strange Things As further grist to the mill for American publicity hacks, the film starred Ingrid Bergman, who had recently returned to Hollywood after her career was nearly ruined by a marital scandal. Actually there was nothing overtly erotic about Paris Does Strange Things. The film was a sweet romantic comedy wherein Bergman plays a poverty-stricken Polish princess, who is wooed by eligible admirers Mel Ferrer and Jean Marais. Will she marry for love, or merely to restore her wealth? The suspense is bearable. Inexpertly cut to 86 minutes for its American showings, Paris Does Strange Things was restored to its full 98 minutes in 1986 and its title reverted to Elena et les Hommes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

La Vie est Belle is purely and simply a showcase for the popular French comedy team of Roger Pierre and Jean-Marc Thibaut. The two stars also co-directed the film, thereby beating Jerry Lewis to the punch by some four years. The "plot," concerning the efforts of four people to live as cheaply as two, is merely a clothesline upon which to hang a series of unrelated comedy sketches. Supporting Pierre and Thibaut are the toothsome Colette Ricard and Veronique Zuber. The film's ironic title translates to the equally ironic Life is Beautiful. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eddie Constantine found a little time between his "Lemmy Caution" actioners to star in the tongue-in-cheek meller Les Truands (The Thieves). In flashback, the audience learns why 104-year-old Amedee (Yves Robert) steals the watch belonging to the town mayor just before expiring. The film develops into a history of the watch-thievery business, told in anecdotal fashion. Constantine plays a Wild West timepiece-rustler who develops a sense of morality which puts him out of business; others in the cast include Noel-Noel as a bemused burglar and Jean Richard as an amorous crook. Les Truands was directed by Carlo-Rim with the same breeziness that he invested in his Fernandel comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide