Yvon Dufour Movies

Documentary filmmaker Jean-Claude Labrecque has stayed close to his calling in this dramatization of the trial of Wilbert Coffin in Quebec in the 1950s. Three American hunters were murdered in the woods, and Coffin, an English-speaking prospector from the dominantly Francophone province, came under suspicion. He helped the detectives in their search for clues through the woods and admitted that he had stolen some things from the hunters -- but he certainly did not kill them, he said. In the end, Coffin is arrested and tried while all along he protests his innocence. Given the rising emotions among the pro-French-speaking factions in Quebec at the time as well as other political factors hinted at in the film, Coffin may have been a simple scapegoat. Labrecque informs, as always, but does not necessarily hit the dramatic highs that a feature-length film needs to hold a general audience. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this subpar Canadian film, Sophia Loren is Angela, a prostitute who has decided to become a waitress after she gets pregnant by Ben Kincaid (John Vernon) and needs a better way to support her baby. When Ben gets back from service in the Korean War, he does not believe Angela's little boy is his, and after he starts working for his old mob boss, he says he cannot continue as long as the boy is in the house. So his boss Hogan (John Huston) has the child kidnapped, which triggers Angela to seek revenge, and she informs the police about Ben's planned robbery. He is caught and goes to jail for more than two decades, and when he gets out, his only goal is to get even. Meanwhile, Angela has worked her way up to the ownership of an elegant restaurant and has fallen in love with handsome young Jean Labrecque (Steve Railsback), who delivers meat to the kitchen -- without either knowing at the time that they are mother and son. With dim lighting, a dim script, and dim chances, this turkey was quickly made into dim-sum and shelved in video cassettes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this French-language drama, the psychological tensions which are driving four bourgeois couples apart are blithely ignored, as they attempt to party through them, all the while discussing politics, flirting, and drinking heavily. One of the couples includes the daughter of an older couple, together with her first serious lover. An idyllic pair at first, their problems multiply and they begin to resemble their more dejected and dissipated elders. The movie is based on the successful play by Marcel Dube. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Not surprisingly, this Canadian series originated from the Montréal studios of the CBC. The hosts were Gerard and Sheila Arthur, who'd previously helmed the similar CBC radio weekly "Time for French." In an entertaining, non-pedantic fashion, the hosts did their best to indoctrinate English-speaking audiences in the subtleties of conversational French, using comic sketches as the principle means of education. Regular features included "What the Dictionaries Don't Tell" and "Pages Choisies," the latter dealing with basic phrases needed for day-to-day survival in Quebec. Due to the frequent absences of costar Gerard Arthur, the sketches were taken over by a troupe of comedy regulars during the series' fourth season. French for Love was broadcast locally in Montréal from 1962, and on the entire CBC network from January 3 to July 10, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi