Annie Cordy Movies
Belgium-born actress and recording star Annie Cordy appeared in many French musical comedies and dramas from the early '50s through the mid-'70s. She has also appeared on over 300 records. She started out at age 17 when she won a talent contest. This led her to Paris in the early '50s where she became a popular performer at the Lido. Known for her energy and charisma on stage, Cordy created a dynamite solo act that remains popular in Europe where she still tours. In films she usually plays feisty women who live life to the fullest. She also has demonstrated considerable talent as a dramatic actress as can be seen in the 1994 film La Vengeance D'une Blonde. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 2008
An adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1929 short story "The House of Lurking Death," this French-language whodunit represents director Pascal Thomas's third Christie adaptation, following the 2005 By the Pricking of My Thumbs and the 2007 Towards Zero; like Thumbs, it hones in on Prudence (Catherine Frot) and Belisaire Beresford (Andre Dussollier), a married pair of amateur sleuths. This particular outing is set at Christmastime, and finds the Rhone Alps-dwelling Beresfords visited by a beloved aunt, Auntie Babette (Annie Cordy), who promptly informs them that she spotted a murder through a rainy window while seated on a train. Eager for a new crime to solve, Prudence jumps into the case when Belisaire leaves town on a weekend jaunt, and makes her way to a creepy chateau in the middle of the forest, populated by the most unpleasant of families. Inhabitants include an eccentric patriarch widower named Roderick Charpentier (Claude Rich), his morose daughter Emma (Chiara Mastroianni), his conniving and paranoid sons (Christian Vadim, Alexandre Lafaurie and Melvil Poupaud), and a local country doctor (Hippolyte Girardot). Prudence takes a position as a cook at the residence, and when the body crops up, it soon falls on her shoulders to ferret out the murderer. Soon, her husband joins her at the house, tipped off by a local detective regarding his wife's whereabouts. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Frot, André Dussollier, (more)
- 2006
A boy is forced to witness the slow and painful collapse of his family in this drama from France. Martin (Julien Cochelin) is an eleven-year-old boy who lives with his family in a rural community. Their large, shabby house has seen better days, but household repair is the least of the family's problems. Martin's mother Nadege (Dominique Reymond) is emotionally unstable and has begun to retreat into a world of her own, and her husband Jean (Jean-Yves Chatelais) has all but given up on trying to communicate with her. Rose (Annie Cordy), Jean's mother, has moved in with the intention of helping out while Nadege recovers, but it's clear she has little regard for her daughter-in-law and avoids interacting with her grandson. Didier (Pascal Cervo), Martin's older brother, helps look after the boy, as does Malika (Fettouma Bouamari), a Middle Eastern immigrant who helps keep house. However, Didier suffers a falling out with his parents when they discover he's fallen in love with a neighbor boy, and Didier is devastated to learn his new boyfriend has announced his upcoming marriage to a girl. Le Dernier des Fous (aka Demented) was adapted from the novel The Last of the Crazy People by Timothy Findley. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julien Cochelin, Pascal Cervo, (more)
- 2006
This French-language feature, starring and directed by the acclaimed blues maestro Richard Bohringer, was loosely adapted from the musician's roman-a-clef, and almost completely omits a central narrative. In it, a young writer pursues an idolized artist through the various experiences and exotic locales of his continual wanderings, from Paris to Mareille to Africa. Bohringer thus attempts to capture various moods and feelings, with a heavy emphasis on nocturnal events. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Ratings wars on nightly news and lovers quarrels are parodied in this French comedy. The people behind the TV8 news are obsessed with getting good ratings. After their anchor suffers a debilitating accident, Gerard Breha is called to replace him. Breha, a minor market newscaster was chosen because he possesses the kind of face deemed most trustworthy by the French public. Sure enough his ratings soar. He interviews a politician about the YAM gang who have been terrorizing local gun shops. Corine, Breha's wife is getting frustrated as his popularity has caused him to be increasingly away from home. Soon the newscaster is seduced by his predatory producer Marie-Ange. Corine is out for revenge. She gets it when she and Breha appear on the French version of "Truth or Consequences." The show is suddenly interrupted by the YAM gang as they burst into the studio and begin taking hostages. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Clavier, Marie-Anne Chazel, (more)
- 1976
Three unhappy people meet by chance and become embroiled in one another's lives. Set in the most picturesque portion of Brussels, the story centers on a woman who has been deranged by her grief at events which took place during the Second World War. She has a roommate, a German suffering from an overwhelming case of remorse. When an expatriate American becomes involved with her, it eases her pain for a little while. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Cordy, Mort Shuman, (more)
- 1975
When the older brother of a young butcher who boxes on the side decides to make a feature film about his brother's life, the young man is reluctant but agrees when he learns that a beautiful Vietnamese girl he has a yen for will be his co-star. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Cordy, Eddie Constantine, (more)
- 1975
Isabelle (Anicee Alvina) seems unable to sustain any kind of relationship in this sexual drama. Perhaps this is due to her father's untimely suicide when she was an adolescent, or maybe it is because she was raped as a teenager by a German officer. In the film, she becomes the mistress of a diplomat's son, but cannot continue with him after she tells of her tragic past; a relationship with her boss is equally short-lived. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Rochefort, Anicée Alvina, (more)
The title refers to the means of entry into the sewers of Paris. Here we find a group of misfits who've given up on humanity and have decided to dwell below the pavement. The group has its own hierarchy, of course, and soon the conditions that drove them underground begin to manifest themselves without the influences of the Outside World. The satirical thrust of The Holes is muted somewhat by the dubbed English dialogue, though we can discern the subtext from the subtle facial expressions of such expert farceurs as Michel Serrault. This film was originally distributed in France as Les Gaspards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Gérard Depardieu, (more)
- 1973
When intruders interfere in the robbery of Le Metaf (Michel Constantin) and his gang and a girl is murdered, they are set up for blackmail by an underworld figure who wants them to do a job for him. The thugs are double-crossed when they do the job, but Le Metaf wins free of their designs and gets a girlfriend in the process. This crime/caper film is in French. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Constantin, Georges Géret, (more)
- 1973
This dark French comedy satirizes suburban living. Marthe Keller and Jacques Higelin play a newly married couple who have just moved into the suburbs. Nearly everything is oppressive: among other things, the walls of their house are too thin and their neighbors harangue them with complaints of all kinds. They also suffer from the difficulties of the commute to work. When this routine nearly drives the wife to suicide, they are both relieved when their house literally blows up around them. They then discover another set of indignities while they are at the hospital. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marthe Keller, Jacques Higelin, (more)
- 1972
Virna Lisi stars in this slick French romantic thriller. She plays Almy, a beautician on her way to a "fat farm." The story pairs her with a tough, charming race car driver (Maurice Ronet). After he rapes her, she seeks to get revenge by seducing him, but instead finds herself falling in love with him as she taps into his concealed wellsprings of vulnerability. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1972
This is a French World War II action/adventure film. In the story, four French nurses and a doctor are caught by the German advance into North Africa. They are protected from being raped by their captors by a stiff-necked German captain. The doctor then heroically prevents the Germans from ambushing the rescue plane sent to pick them up. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- R
A Georges Simenon novel was the basis for the French Le Chat. Not much happens in the way of plot, nor are many words of dialogue spoken; the character relationships (or lack of same) are the focal point here. Jean Gabin and Simone Signoret, long married, plainly despise one another. Rather than call it quits, Gabin and Signoret spend their days in a crumbling mansion, figuring out ways to make each other's lives a hell on earth. The only thing Gabin truly cares about is his pet cat--and you can bet Signoret will do something about that. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Simone Signoret, (more)
Based on a novel by Charlotte Armstrong, the story concerns Helene (Stephane Audran), the wife of a hopeless would-be writer and drug addict. Her husband's best friend tries to lay a trap for Helene, so that she will be forced to pay dearly for a divorce settlement. Also conspiring against Helene is her father-in-law, who wishes to wrest her child away from her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stéphane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, (more)
Adapted from a novel by acclaimed mystery writer Sébastien Japrisot, this French/Italian nailbiter stars Marlène Jobert as Mélancolie "Mellie" Mau, a young woman stalked by on a rainy afternoon by a mysterious stranger. The man eventually breaks in on Mellie while her husband is gone and rapes her. She grabs a shotgun and kills her assailant, dumping the body into the ocean. When the body is recovered, American military officer Dobbs (Charles Bronson) accuses Mellie of the murder -- and of stealing the U.S. Army money that the rapist had been carrying with him -- and that's only the beginning. The plot piles one twist upon another, deliriously confounding the audience at every turn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlène Jobert, Charles Bronson, (more)
- 1958
Though much of its glory had faded by 1958, France's Tabarin nightclub still held a fascination for tourists and patrons. Filmed on location at the fabled nightspot, Tabarin is a colorful 110-minute dramatized documentary. Its narrative is held together by the efforts of American choreographer Lee Sherman, who works at the Tabarin in hopes of someday opening a club of his own. This thinnish scenario is essentially an excuse for an endless parade of flashy dance numbers, featuring fetchingly underdressed chorines. Gloriously old-fashioned in approach and appeal, Tabarin proved moderatly successful upon its first release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Lopez, Sonja Ziemann, (more)
