Françoise Christophe Movies

In this somewhat broad comedy, guaranteed to offend (at a minimum) feminists and homosexuals, Albert has always dreaded visits by his beloved wife's five highly dysfunctional girlfriends, who are forever complaining about the absence of any real men for them to date or marry. When he loses his job, however, the gals rally 'round, and he couldn't have found a more loyal or helpful group. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Elise (Arielle Dombasle) is content being the lover of Alex (Omar Sharif), a wealthy magnate who lavishes her with attention and money. When she gets religious and decides to hide from him in a French convent, Alex hires agents to bring her back. He offers money to the corrupt cult leader Noah (Pierre Vaneck), who then orders his young follower Marc (Hippolyte Girardot) and Elise to head a delegation traveling to Mexico. Marc turns out to be a journalist doing secret research on cults, but he quickly falls in love with Elise. She must chose between Alex and Marc in this uneven distaff melodrama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Based on a Eugene Saccomano novel entitled The Bandits of Marseilles, this movie was followed by a sequel entitled Borsalino and Co. This movie captures the mood of 1930 Marseilles beautifully with the use of ambience and music. Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo portray two gangsters who kill their way to the top. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Caroline (France Anglade) is the heroine who is pushed by her father into a loveless marriage with a lawyer. Unknown to her new husband, she lost her virginity to a handsome young officer the day the peasants stormed the Bastille. When her husband flees the revolutionary fervor, Caroline engages in a series of adventures. She is seduced, then raped before her husband returns and relative calm has been restored. The officer, now a member of Napoleon's court, and her husband are now safe. She conspires to leave her husband and return to the arms of her true love, the dashing officer to whom she has given her all. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The French/Italian/British King of Hearts (Le Roi de Coeur) takes place during World War I, but it might as well have been the Vietnamese conflict so far as its youthful "core" audience was concerned. Overacting outrageously, Adolfo Celi plays British colonel Alexander MacBibenbrook, who orders mild-mannered Scotsman Pvt. Charles Plumpick (Alan Bates) to undertake a life-or-death mission in a tiny French village. While evacuating the town, the Germans have left behind a time bomb that will explode at midnight; Plumpick must defuse that bomb. Upon his arrival in town, Plumpick discovers that it is far from deserted. A group of inmates from the local insane asylum, left behind during the evacuation, have claimed the village for their own. Knocked unconscious, Plumpick awakens to learn that he has been crowned "King of Hearts" by the gentle lunatics. None of the inmates pay any heed to Plumpick's warnings about impending doom, and when he attempts to lead them out of town, they are terrified at the prospect and scurry back to the "safety" of the village. Plumpick is finally able to render the bomb useless, whereupon the grateful inmates decide to stage a three-year celebration. When Plumpick tries to leave, he is kidnapped by the loonies at the behest of beautiful inmate Coquelicot (Geneviève Bujold), who has fallen in love with him. Bound and gagged, Plumpick watches helplessly as the Germans and the British troops kill each other off in comic-opera fashion. Finally set free, Plumpick weighs the horrible insanity of war against the more benign brand of lunacy represented by the inmates. The final image -- of a nude Plumpick carrying a birdcage, knocking on the doors of the asylum, and demanding that he be "accepted" -- was reproduced for the print ads of King of Hearts, effectively giving away the ending. An essential "date" film of the 1970s, King of Hearts was often released to campus movie houses in tandem with a pair of cult-favorite short subjects, the animated Bambi Meets Godzilla and Lenny Bruce's Thank You Masked Man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Italian director Mario Bava took a brief hiatus from horror films to make this fairly interesting Viking-themed adventure. Iron (Cameron Mitchell) is a Viking leader whose long-lost brother Erik (Giorgio Ardisson) was raised by Queen Alice of England. Alice's counselor, Gunnar (Andrea Checchi) betrays her and helps the Vikings take over, while the shipwrecked Erik is nursed back to health by Rama (Alice Kessleri), the twin sister of Iron's wife Daja (Ellen Kessleri). Naturally, Erik returns home and must fight Iron and defeat Gunnar in order to save the country. It doesn't quite work out that way, however, as the ruthless counselor kills Iron, leading the Vikings and British to join forces with Erik and take Gunnar down. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Jean Gabin stars as Noel, patriarch of a large and wealthy family of industrialists. Noel sees no reason not to run his home in the same ruthless, coldhearted manner in which he runs his business. "Black sheep" Lucien (Pierre Brasseur), however, sees Noel for the pompous fraud that he is. And it is Lucien who topples Noel's dictatorship in a climactic series of cutthroat maneuvers on the stock exchange. Based on actual people and events, Les Grandes Families concludes with the sort of profound tragedy that is merely the logical extension of "business as usual." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nez de Cuir is a lesser but still fascinating exercise from French director Yves Allegret. The title translates to Leathernose, a reference to the protagonist, a Napoleonic-era soldier nobleman named Roger (Jean Marais). After losing his nose in battle, Roger is fitted with a leather prosthesis, which creates an aura of exotic romanticism and enables the lad to enjoy the favors of dozens of eligible young ladies. Alas, Roger cannot come to grips emotionally with his disfigurement, and it is his inner struggles which form the dramatic nucleus of the story. Allegret co-adapted the screenplay of Nez de Cuir from a novel by La Verende. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Victor was adapted from the popular stage play by Henri Bernstein. The title character, played by Jean Gabin, is a good-hearted soul who is willing to sacrifice his own well-being for the sake of others. Smitten by Francoise (Francoise Christophe), the wife of his friend Marc (Jacques Castelot), Victor willingly accepts responsibility for a crime committed by Marc. He uncomplainingly serves a prison sentence, whereupon the conscience-stricken Francoise offers to make love to him. But Victor decides that he'd rather Francoise love him for himself, rather than merely out of pity. A sad ending? Not quite: Victor's luck has to change sometime -- and it does, spectacularly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide