Eddie Constantine Movies

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, Rovi

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, Rovi

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, Rovi

This video profiles the life and musical career of Edith Piaf, "the Little Sparrow." ~ Rovi

The French Ministry of the Future announces that it has computer-selected a so-called "average" French couple, Jean-Michel and Claudine (Andre Dussolier and Anemone), and will use what it finds out from them to determine how to manage housing and other government programs in the future. Overnight, they become famous and are subjected to endless questions by government functionaries. Commercial forces interested in using them for marketing research also begin to hound them. The couple is kidnapped just as they begin to rebel against their exploitation. This gives the government just the excuse it needs to drop the whole program, which had begun to develop in some awkward directions. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Writer-director Larry Cohen followed his ragged but interesting horror hit It's Alive! with this sequel, which surpassed the original in both creativity and technical expertise. The story opens as another expectant couple, Eugene and Jody Scott (Frederic Forrest and Kathleen Lloyd), are paid a surprise visit by a stranger who turns out to be Frank Davies (John P. Ryan), the father of the original monster baby from the previous film. Davies warns the couple that their unborn child may be similarly at risk, and thereby in mortal danger from a nationwide task force dedicated to destroying the monster infants. Despite their initial apprehension, the Scotts eventually place a tenuous trust in the stranger, who explains that the children are not subhuman animals, but may actually represent the next step in human evolution -- a view shared by members of an underground organization devoted to the protection and study of the children. Davies secretes Eugene and Jody in this group's hideout so that they can attend to the birth of the child in safety. Discovering that their newborn is indeed one of the same mutants, the Scotts undergo a traumatic test of familial integrity, much like that of the Davies family in the previous film. Their emotional turmoil is further compounded by an assault on the compound by members of a rival underground dedicated to eradicating the monster babies, which leads to a grim and violent confrontation. This time out, Cohen is far more assured at the helm, stabilizing his vision with a more elaborate script, higher budget, and good performances. On the downside, the monster-baby FX haven't particularly improved since the previous outing, but Cohen has the good sense to keep the little rubber beasties fairly well-hidden. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder both directed and photographed The Third Generation (Die Dritte Generation). Displaying a sense of humor that can most kindly be described as perverse, Fassbinder follows the exploits of a group of well-heeled German terrorists. Without truly taking sides, the director demonstrates how the terrorists are essentially shooting themselves in the foot. The more havoc they spread, the tighter the government restrictions against other radicals. Eddie Constantine, the sang-froid leading man of many a Lemmy Caution espionage film, is ironically cast in The Third Generation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Mackenzie's masterfully directed British crime drama features a star-making performance by Bob Hoskins as Harold Shand, a successful London gangster whose world falls apart over the course of one weekend. Shand controls the London docks and is planning a big real estate deal, financed by money from the American mob and given the okay by the London organization. His world is sweet -- he lives in a fancy penthouse, he owns a yacht, and has a sensitive and intelligent mistress. But suddenly a bomb explodes inside his Rolls Royce, another bomb destroys a pub he owns, and a third is found inside his casino. Shand can't understand who would suddenly want him dead, particularly over the Easter weekend, when representatives from the American mafia are coming into town to discuss investing in Shands's real estate project. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Several hilarious scenes are interspersed throughout this comedy featuring director and singer Udo Lindenberg as a pop singer who is kidnapped by a government agent. The agent hates his music -- he thinks it will lead the nation down the road to depravity. A detective (Lindenberg again) is soon on the case, and before all the low-end bars and clubs in Hamburg can be explored, the kidnapee escapes his captors while being transported over the North Sea in a plane. How this ends up as an accidental oratory to the nation at large is not another story at all -- just a continuation of the saga. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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, Rovi

In this creatively organized story of one "delinquent," director Patrick Chaput has put together a well-paced drama/thriller set in part against the dark by-ways of Paris. Seventeen-year-old Daniel (Philippe Sfez) grew up in foster homes in a rural area and those years contrast with his later youth in Paris. A filmmaker opts to interview Daniel for a documentary on delinquency, and that is how the young man's past and precarious present start coming to light. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi