Eddie Constantine Movies

Germany Year Nine Zero follows an old spy's journey back to France from the east. Since the Cold War has ended the spy is unclear about who his enemies are, and he doesn't know what to do with himself. Jean-Luc Godard's film is a series of scenes that present his thoughts on European unification and the fall of Communism. The title harkens back to Roberto Rossellini's Germany Year Zero, a film made in the immediate aftermath of World War II that, like Godard's film, considered the fate of the world in changing political conditions. As his use of Rossellini's title suggests, Godard is concerned with the fate of cinema as well as the fate of the world. He is concerned that as borders are erased, and as the world comes more and more under the sway of corporate power, the cinema will become more and more homogenized and commercial. ~ Louis Schwartz, All Movie Guide

This entertaining spy comedy marks the first appearance of suave secret agent Al Pereira, portrayed here by actor-singer Eddie Constantine, best known as the similar Lemmy Caution in Alphaville and other films. Cult director Jesus Franco's final black-and-white film has Pereira on the trail of robotic hitmen murdering a series of important people. The agent romances a go-go dancer (Sophie Hardy) and breaks a Chinese espionage syndicate headed by the wily Lee Wee (Vicente Roca) before being kidnapped. The real culprits are Sir Percy (Fernando Rey) and his lover Lady Cecilia (Francoise Brion), who plan to turn their Rh-negative victims, including Pereira, into robot assassins. This clever, fast-paced adventure was revamped by acclaimed screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, whose witty dialogue enhances the film greatly. The Al Pereira character returned in Franco's Les Ebranlees (1972) and numerous other films. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

A sartorially resplendent woman (Tabea Blumenschein) arrives in Berlin with plans to live out the rest of her days as a drunkard in this experimental film. The film provides the viewer with a tour of the city and some of the more colorful characters, but the appeal may be limited to those who are mavens of the experimental style. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Box Office tells the story of the road to success in Hollywood, and how once the destination is achieved, the journey can seem too treacherous to be worth the effort. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The "mambo craze"of the late 1950s was hardly confined to the Western hemisphere, as proven by the French adventure flick Ces Dames Preferent le Mambo. In truth, there's not much singing or dancing in this Eddie Constantine vehicle. Instead, two-fisted Eddie gets involved with a treasure hunt in the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, he smashes a narcotics ring, which wins him a reinstatement in the U.S. Navy. And of course, Constantine enjoys the attentions of a bevy of beautiful ladies (Veronique Zuber, Lise Bourdrin et. al.) wearing very little indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Eddie Constantine makes his second appearance as Peter Cheyney's hard-boiled FBI agent Lemmy Caution in Cet Homme est Dangereux. Curiously, when first we meet Lemmy, he is a crook on the lam. Actually, our hero is working undercover to entrap a French bank robber. Along the way, he becomes a reluctant kidnapper, snatching dizzy American heiress Constance (Collette Doreal). As things turn out, it is Constance who holds Lemmy prisoner at fade-out time--not that he's complaining about it. Based on Peter Cheyney's novel The Gun Moll Poison Ivy, Cet Homme est Dangereux was simultenously filmed in an English-language version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cleo From 5 to 7 (Cleo de cinq a sept), per its title, concentrates on two hours in the life of a woman. Those hours are desperate ones, in that Cleo, a pop singer, awaits the results of her tests for cancer. Director Agnes Varda stages the film in "real" rather than subjective time, its various episodes divided into chapters, using significant Tarot cards. During the allotted time, Cleo visits her friends, tries to sing her worries away, spends money, and cries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This "B"-grade spy drama features the ubiquitous Eddie Constantine as Lemmy (a favorite role), the special agent who has an unbounded capacity for Scotch and women, though not necessarily in that order. Lemmy has come to France to help the secret police track down a dangerous spy. His ability to fight himself out of any corner and charm himself out when fighting will not work comes in handy, as he and his French colleagues start to hunt down the elusive spy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Herbie Melbourne (Didi Hallervorden) is a poor schlemiel who is inadvertently caught between the Devil and the deep blue sea in this German farce about a cab driver (Hallervorden) assigned to bring a "comrade" back to the East German side of the Berlin wall, a passenger who is dead to the world, permanently, when he arrives. Herbie the cabbie is recruited by the KGB and East German Intelligence to help them discover who murdered the man in his back seat. After arriving on the West German side of the divide, Herbie is then recruited by the CIA and West German Intelligence to become a counterspy, for double what the other side is paying him. As Herbie seems to have no viable way out of this mess, he does what many have done before him, he goes to a therapist (Catherine Alric) for help. Reaching into her bag of tricks, the therapist gives Herbie a small bottle he can sniff when in need of self-confidence, an act guaranteed to put him on top of any situation. Now Herbie is a cabbie, a KGB agent, a CIA agent, and a bottle sniffer -- and he is falling in love with his gorgeous therapist. Although the standard chase routines are a bit lengthy and exaggerated, this spy spoof keeps its sense of humor intact.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Eddie Constantine is Lemmy Caution in everything but name in this French spy parody. Constantine has been assigned by Interpol to work as a double agent. Little does he know how many spies are on to this deception and how short his life expectancy has become. Italian comedian Renato Rascel is one of the principals involved, giving one an idea of the "seriousness" of the proceedings. Destination Fury is one of four 1961 films made by the very gainfully employed Mr. Constantine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a criminal mastermind and his gang plan to rob the Bank of Belgium during the Brussels Exposition as the roof of the bank is being repaired. Included in his gang are a woman, haunted by wartime memories, who loves money, her assistant, and a man pretending to be a construction worker who will help them get in. The woman owns a floating nightclub, and when she refuses to sell it to a gangster named "The Bug" real trouble ensues for the would-be crooks. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this enigmatic thriller, Susannah (Tusse Silberg) is suddenly herded out of an apartment in the middle of the night and brought to a police station for extensive questioning about why she was in a place that belonged to a known criminal. What the police do not know is that Susannah has been somehow involved in the death of a woman and has reunited with her sister Julie (Lisa Kreuzer) in Berlin. Julie herself has some rather unusual friends -- including Eddie Constantine the American-born French actor and singer who plays himself. It is these characters and their dialogue and asides, and even background action and scenery, that form the real body of this specialized film -- not the plot. For these reasons, this type of film is best limited to those who are more interested in avant-garde than in commercial cinema. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide