Claude Boissol Movies

Released in 1963 in the U.S. under the title Julie the Redhead, this average yarn by director Claude Boissol begins with a first generation love story that is intentionally repeated in the second generation. When an artist falls in love with his model, he wants no more than to marry her and live happily ever after. Then his father calls him back to reality and forces him to join the family business, changing his life forever. He marries another woman, has a son, and dies leaving two-thirds of his fortune to his lost love. His son seeks out his father's old flame, only to discover that she has died and left a daughter behind. He then decides to romance the daughter so as to keep her inherited two-thirds of his father's fortune "all in the family." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Sly and greedy young people endeavor to use l'amour to get their hands on a fortune in this French comedy. The story begins when an aspiring young artist falls hopelessly in love with his model Julie, an extraordinarily beautiful redhead. He desperately wants to marry her, but his father insists that he abandon the foolishness of art and take over the family business. The dutiful young son does so, but deep down regrets not pursuing his dream. He marries another and produces a son. Eventually he dies, leaving his son only one third of his empire. The rest he bequeathed to the beautiful, long-gone Julie. The son is anxious to find this enigmatic woman so he can buy her out. Unfortunately, she too has died and left the money to her daughter, also a Julie. To get at the fortune, he launches a whirlwind courtship. Unfortunately, things don't quite work out as planned. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Pierre Brasseur plays the "mad monk" Rasputin -- or "Raspoutine" -- in this French historical melodrama. Insinuating himself into the court of the Romanoffs in early-20th-century Russia, Rasputin is able to gain enormous power through his apparent ability to heal the hemophiliac son of the Czarina (Isa Miranda). Taking advantage of his clout, the unkempt, barely literate Rasputin embarks on a series of orgies and debaucheries. A group of Russian nobles conspire to murder Rasputin and save the monarchy -- but as history records, Rasputin was not so easily bumped off. Despite his monstrous behavior, Rasputin is depicted as a man who genuinely came to believe in his own "holiness," and who desperately strived to bring peace and stability to Russia before his assassination. With both eyes on the box office, director Georges Combret manages to slip a modicum of female nudity into the film's bacchanal scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi