Pierre Very Movies

Aladdin (Donald O'Connor) is a poor young man living in ancient Bagdad, who is given to flights of imagination, and taken with tales of the wealthy and powerful -- in many ways, he's still a boy, and so caught up in his daydreaming that he doesn't realize how his one-time childhood playmate Djalma (Noelle Adam), now a grown young woman, loves him (even if her merchant father thinks he's a worthless loafer). In a moment of indulgence, his mother buys Aladdin an old lamp so that he can have light at night "like a rich man." He accidentally discovers that the lamp contains a genie $Vittorio De Sica), who will grant him three wishes -- but he is so scatterbrained, that he can't figure out exactly how he called the genie in the first place. Aladdin and Djalma both end up headed for Basra and the wedding of the young Prince Malouk (Mario Girotti) to the princess (Michele Mercier), and both are caught up in the plans of the evil Grand Vizier (Fausto Tozzi) to kill the prince and marry the princess himself. Those plans, helped by a malevolent old magician (Raymond Bussieres), include the use of two full-size magical dolls, one a dancing wonder and the other with a deadly embrace. And only Aladdin and his genie, and the brave young prince, can stand in his way. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Un Grande Campon, The Perfectionist is a tailor-made vehicle for Pierre Fresnay. The star plays a brilliant and celebrated surgeon, on the verge of achieving his life's goal: a membership in the Academy of Medicine. Unfortunately, the surgeon's medical accomplishments are counterpointed by his less-than-admirable private life. One of the victims of the surgeon's single-minded pursuit of success is his woefully neglected life. He finally awakens to his domestic responsibilities only to lapse back into his old habits at the first opportunity. A subplot concerns a young medical student who bids fair to achieve the same measure of success as the elder surgeon -- and to make the same grievous errors on a personal level. The Perfectionist was the 1951 winner of France's Les Victoire Cinema Francais, the Gallic equivalent to Hollywood's Oscar. The film was the third feature-length directorial effort of Yves Ciampi, himself a onetime medical student. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this French drama, a blossoming love affair is abruptly nipped in the bud when the gentleman learns the vocation of his wealthy lady. Martin Roumagnac (Jean Gabin) is a construction engineer hired by beautiful Blanche Ferrand (Marlene Dietrich) to build her new home. He travels to her small town to start building and it isn't long before romantic sparks fly. She, a prostitute who made her fortune entertaining Austrian men, finds the old fashioned Martin much interesting and for the first time in her life feels the inklings of true love. He too is surprised by his deep feelings for her. Wedding bells are just about to ring when he learns the truth about his beloved Blanche. A terrible rage overtakes him and without second thought he kills her. At the trial, he comes to realize the depth of Blanche's love. As there is no hard evidence that he did the deed, the court frees him and he returns home to live with his terrible guilt. The original version of Room Upstairs ran 115 minutes but when it came to the U.S. the Catholic League of Decency was outraged that prostitution was cast in a nonjudgemental light and demanded that certain scenes get cut. As a result, over 20 minutes of film were trimmed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Originally Goupi Mains Rogues, this was the first new French feature film to be shown in the US since the end of WW2-though "new" was a relative term, inasmuch as the film was completed in 1943. The scene is a remote, rustic inn, managed by a scruffy family of peasants known as the Goupis. Practicing their own special brand of larceny, the Goupis fancy themselves as Runyonesque rogues, going so far as to bestow colorful nicknames upon themselves. The official head of the band is "Red Hands", played by Fernand Ledoux, but even he is answerable to the Goupis' patriarch, a 106-year-old named "The Emperor" (Maurice Schulz). Nearly plotless, Goupi Mains Rogues offers an unforgettable cast of characters and an abundance of authentic Gallic atmosphere. Picked up for American distribution by MGM, the film inexplicably disappeared from view within a few months; director Jacques Becker later claimed that MGM destroyed all the prints so that the film wouldn't compete with the studio's American-made productions, though this hardly seems to be the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally released in 1941 as L'Assasinat du Pere Noel, this labyrinthine thriller was finally distributed in the U.S. in 1948, five years after its star, Harry Baur, died while in the custody of the Gestapo. Per the title, the film takes place at Christmastime in a small French village where the local children eagerly await the annual arrival of Santa Claus -- actually toymaker Cornuese (Harry Baur) in disguise. This year, however, a pall has been cast on the festivities: a valuable ring has been stolen from a reclusive baron, and another man dressed up like Santa has been found murdered. What, if anything, this has to do with the jovial Cornuese is a mystery that everyone is eager to solve. Meanwhile, a brace of subplots involving a gravely ill child and a mildly addled young girl are neatly woven into the continuity. Who Killed Santa Claus can be described as a "romantic mystery," a specialty of director Christian-Jaque. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide