Eddie Constantine Movies
Eddie Constantine studied voice in Vienna but his career as a singer in the U.S. was unsuccessful. His wife, dancer Helene Mussel, joined the Ballets de Monte Carlo, and he followed her to Paris, where he began singing in nightclubs. Discovered by Edith Piaf, he became her protégé and intimate friend, and she helped him launch a career as a popular recording artist. His film career began in 1953, when he landed the role of a tough American private eye, Lemmy Caution, in a series of French action thrillers based on the novels of Peter Cheyney. His role as Caution culminated in Jean Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965). Constantine starred in movies of other genres, but usually maintained his basic tough-guy, heroic acting style. He is also the author of a novel, Le Proprietaire/The Godplayer. ~ All Movie Guide- 1973
This video profiles the life and musical career of Edith Piaf, "the Little Sparrow." ~ All Movie Guide
- 1970
Enrico Malatesta (Eddie Constantine) leads a group of Latvian dissidents in the siege of Sidney Street. Chief of police Winston Churchill organizes against the anarchist who threaten to disturb the peace to make their demands known to the British aristocracy. Authorities break up the volatile gang and Malatesta is deported to Italy. Constantine gives a sympathetic portrayal of the agitator that organizes the revolt that shocked the Edwardian sensibilities of London in this historical drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Christine Noonan, (more)
- 1969
Agnes Varda directed this drama which combines formal dramatic structures with the openness of improvisational cinema verite. Independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke plays an avant-garde film director attempting to work with a major studio to finance her next project, in which she hopes to collaborate with James Rado and Jerome Ragni, creators of the musical Hair (who play themselves). She also wants to use Andy Warhol superstar Viva (who also appears as herself) as her leading lady. However, after much give and take between herself and the moneymen, the director learns that the plug has been pulled on her project, pushing her to the brink of suicide. Incorporating newsreel footage and excerpts from the work of poet and playwright Michael McClure into its narrative, Lions Love also features appearances by European screen tough guy Eddie Constantine and noted film writers Carlos Clarens and Peter Bogdanovich, the latter a year after he made his (credited) directorial debut with Targets and two years before his breakthrough with The Last Picture Show. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viva, Jerome Ragni, (more)
- 1968
This action comedy finds tough guy Ric (Eddie Constantine) coming to the rescue of Frankie (Johnny Halliday) when his club is invaded by a hippie motorcycle gang. The club serves no hard liquor, and the head gang member offers to buy Frankie's club and install a bar with stronger drinks. Frankie refuses and is beaten up, and the irrepressible Ric brings his two-fisted opinion to the fight that ensues. Frankie sings some songs and Ric (as usual in a Constantine film) is romantically amorous with some pretty French girls. Director John Berry went to court to keep his name off the credits after Jean Kerchbron re-edited the film without the director's consent. Neither Berry's name nor that of co-scripter Christian Plume were credited in the final release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Johnny Hallyday, (more)
- 1966
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
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Françoise Brion, (more)
- 1965
Warner (Eddie Constantine) is a private detective/secret agent hired to retrieve a youthful scientist who has invented a ring that makes people unconscious for hours after initial contact. Also on the trail of the young genius is a Russian secret agent accompanied by a bevy of beautiful but deadly women. By the time the scientist is recovered, he has fallen in love and lost his innate intellect as a result, in this typical vehicle for the phlegmatic Constantine. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Laura Valenzuela, (more)
- 1965
In this crime drama, an American fugitive in France is pursued by two thugs for two different reasons. One of the pursuers has been engaged by a large, corrupt construction company that wants the fugitive killed to prevent him from giving damaging testimony. The other stalker has more personal reasons for killing him. When the construction company is acquitted, the assassin is told to protect the fugitive from the other man. A three-way gun battle ensues and all of the men are fatally shot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Silva, Jack Klugman, (more)
- 1965
U.S. Secret agent Nick Carter (Eddie Constantine) travels to Belgium to stop international terrorists from using a stolen radioactive invention in this plodding spy story. Constantine forgoes the hard-drinking and romance in this one and sticks to business, as Nick goes through a series of routine fights and adventures involving enemy agents. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Nicole Courcel, (more)
In Alphaville, Jean-Luc Godard fuses a hardboiled detective story with science fiction. Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine), a hero Godard borrowed from a series of French adventure films, comes to Alphaville, the capital of a totalitarian state, in order to destroy its leader, an almost-human computer called Alpha 60. While on his mission, Lemmy meets and falls in love with Natacha (Anna Karina), the daughter of the scientist who designed Alpha 60. Their love becomes the most profound challenge to the computer's control. Void of any flashy special effects, Alphaville uses 1960s Paris to depict the city of the future. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina, (more)
- 1964
Jo (Eddie Constantine) is a gangster who is down on his luck. His cronies avoid him like the plague because his presence brings them misfortune as well. Jo gets in plenty of fights as he tries to press his luck in the right direction. The role is a departure for American actor Constantine, who usually plays a phlegmatic, hard-drinking detective with suave assurance. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Pierre Brasseur, (more)
- 1964
In this actioner, supersleuth Nick Carter finds himself mixed up with Oriental spies and secret guided missile. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Daphne Dayle, (more)
- 1963
European action star Eddie Constantine is the hero of this noirish thriller. Constantine plays a soldier-of-fortune, taking a well-earned vacation in Spain. It doesn't take long before he gets mixed up in an embezzling scheme. The more involved he gets in the plot, the less likely it is that he'll be able to extricate himself by fade-out time. For reasons unknown, the fairly well-distributed As If It Were Raining is frequently missing from "official" listings of Eddie Constantine's films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Elisa Montes, (more)
- 1963
In this suspenseful espionage adventure, Yankee super-sleuth Lemmy Caution must investigate the murder of a female agent and the disappearance of an important scientist. Caution's search leads him to Europe where he learns that the scientist was not kidnapped. He is instead the secret leader of a spy ring. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Christiane Minazzoli, (more)
- 1963
The government hires reporter Eddie Constantine to carry vital microfilm in this espionage thriller. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1963
Usually cast as secret agent/private eye Lemmy Caution, Eddie Constantine plays "Eddie" in The Empire of Night. This time, Constantine is a cabaret singer at odds with a criminal gang. When the villains try to take over every nightclub in town for their own nefarious purposes, Eddie sings a new tune with his fists. The story takes several unexpected turns, but Constantine remains in charge throughout. This French production was originally released as L'Empire de la Nuit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Genevieve Grad, Elga Andersen, (more)
- 1962
The seven major sins receive treatment from some of France's greatest directors in this lively portmanteau. "Anger" by Dhomme, chronicles a single horrific day when every bowl of soup in France is found to contain a fly. This causes a devastating nationwide revolt. "Envy" by Molinaro tells the story of a chambermaid whose dream of sleeping with a millionaire comes true. Unfortunately, she goes back to work and finds herself still consumed with jealousy. De Broca's "Gluttony" provides one of the film's most enjoyable episodes as it follows the exploits of a voracious family heading off for a funeral. "Lust" by Demy is set at a Parisian sidewalk cafe and eavesdrops upon the lusty conversation between two young men, one of whom has x-ray eyes that enable him to see through women's clothing. "Laziness" by Godard features real life matinee idol Constantine as a movie star who finds himself too sluggish to respond to the starlet trying so hard to seduce him. "Pride" by Roger Vadim tells the satirical tale of a philandering wife who changes her mind and stays with her husband after learning that her happy home is being threatened by another woman. Finally in Chabrol's "Greed," young men who have pooled their meager resources to buy a prostitute, fight for the chance to be with her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Charrier, Marie-José Nat, (more)
- 1962
Eddie Constantine once again picks up his usual persona, this time as Bobby, an FBI agent who is affable, equipped with enough verbal acuity to make his way through any situation, tough, and sharp as nails. As always, he is also romantically engaging. This time around, Bobby helps out a woman who is in need of assistance and along the way gets involved with busting a drug cartel, all with the usual and appropriate physical prowess. Christiane Minazzoli stars as Juliette, Bobby's romantic interest. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Christiane Minazzoli, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, (more)
- 1961
Eddie Constantine stars as Jarvis, an American covert operator working for the Secret Service, in this routine spy drama-comedy by director Pierre Montazel. Jarvis has been sent to Portugal with the assignment of uncovering a double agent working out of Lisbon. Without taking too many detours into female entanglements or alcoholic hazes, Jarvis manages to pose as someone the double agent just might want to get in touch with. He figures if the mouse is big enough, the cat might be interested. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Constantine, Barbara Laage, (more)
