Claude Veillot Movies
- 1983
Jean-Claude Missiaen had a very brief career as a director in the mid-1980s, and this is one of his typical police dramas that allude to American movie tough guys and detectives, to previous films in the same genre, and to well-known police/criminal actors or types (such as Humphrey Bogart). The story revolves around the relationship between a team of two policemen, brash and quick to act, devoted to justice and bending the rules to get it. The duo have to overcome a sexually off-beat, evil woman and a group of gangsters doing illegal real estate deals if they are to succeed on their currently assigned case. The two policemen (Gerard Lanvin and Eddy Mitchell) have their share of shoot-outs and brawls before the bad guys and bad woman discover that crime does not pay as well as they thought. Caught between references to other movies and characters, a certain amount of melodrama, and a wandering camera style, director Missiaen may have taken off in too many directions at once to maintain the interest of most viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Eddy Mitchell, (more)
- 1982
Antoine (Gerard Lanvin becomes a cool, controlled vigilante when his lover is murdered by three psychotic men preying on their victims in subways and trains. After acquiring a gun, Antoine starts his hunt for the killers and as both he and the police make progress in their search, they eventually end up at the killers' hideaway together. A police shoot-out kills two of the suspects, but a third is captured and put inside the police van to be booked and jailed. At that point, Antoine and the police differ on the value of the criminal justice system, and with his lover's gruesome death dominating his every thought, Antoine walks towards the van convinced that nothing short of vengeance can bring him personal peace. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Véronique Jannot, (more)
- 1982
Sebastien Grenier (Lino Ventura), a former French spy, is working as a financial analyst in Zurich and cultivating an on-going relationship with Anna Gretz (Krystyna Janda), a German teaching at the university. Then his peaceful existence starts to disintegrate when he is recruited by a top French intelligence operative (Michel Piccoli) to discover how one of their own secret agents was found out and executed in broad daylight by a gang of terrorists. Sebastien starts to work but is immediately put off by the fact that his contacts are being murdered before he can reach them. As he gets deeper and deeper into the case, he comes to realize that he is being used in an elaborate political scheme, a scheme that leads to the death of Anna and a vow to get the killers who have now ruined what is left of his life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Krystyna Janda, (more)
- 1982
Martin Terrier (Alain Delon) has a problem. He wants to quit his job, but unlike everyone else, he cannot do it because he is a hired hitman and his employers would hate to see him turned out to pasture -- he knows too much, and he is still useful. When he escapes to the countryside for awhile, he meets Claire (Catherine Deneuve), and love blossoms. Back in Paris to confront his employers once again, Terrier gets an ultimatum -- do one last job for them and he can go free. He has no choice but to accept, even knowing that the odds on a long retirement have just changed for the worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Catherine Deneuve, (more)
- 1979
Corinne (Miou-Miou) is a Parisian detective who is transferred to a small village in Northern France when an investigation uncovers evidence that is potentially damaging to some powerful local politicians. She is temporarily given a desk job before she is called on to solve the murder of a little girl. Her inquiry uncovers a child pornography ring that targets children from the working class. Comedian (Jean-Marc Thibault) gives a fine performance in a straight role as the local police inspector. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miou-Miou, Jean-Marc Thibault, (more)
- 1979
Three men with a penchant for gambling on the horses soon find themselves in trouble because of their addiction. Pierre (Michel Piccoli) is the math whiz who uses his talent for picking the winners. Charles (Michel Galabru) is the wealthy scrap-iron magnate who has embarrassing evidence on many prominent political figures. Loic (Jacques Dutronc) is the aspiring politico who seeks to further his career by any means possible. Charles approaches Loic and asks his political party for a loan in hopes of fixing an upcoming race. When all three men come up big winners, an official investigation is launched. Pierre and Charles find themselves in trouble, with Loic gaining access to Charles' coveted list of evidence on his political rivals. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Dutronc, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1977
Fayard (Patrick Dewaere) is a magistrate of the French courts, who is unusually enthusiastic in seeking justice. For instance, when his girlfriend is trapped in a store-front bordello, he has no qualms about arranging (and joining) a police raid on the place. This stunt earned him the nickname "the Sheriff." However, this otherwise shy and diminutive fellow has made many enemies, both in the bureaucracy and among the criminal classes, and before long they catch up to him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Dewaere, Aurore Clément, (more)
- 1977
Charlegue (Jacques Denis) is a small-time publisher who ran a left-wing newspaper in Algeria and worked in support of that country's independence movement. When the country is taken over by right-wing French military types in the 1950s, he is forced to go underground. The country's rulers eventually capture him, imprison him, and subject him to brutal torture. Despite this, he maintains his morale and even manages to smuggle out a book about his experiences. When the book is published in France, it provokes cries of outrage against the regime in Algeria. This movie is based on Henri Alleg's best-selling autobiographical book. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Denis, Nicole Garcia, (more)
- 1975
Diquet (Claude Brasseur) is a private investigator. Usually, he just follows people around and records what he sees them doing. His latest case becomes progressively stranger. After he is hired to follow a man's young mistress, the detective finds that her journeys begin to tie into his own life -- to episodes dating back to World War II, and to certain of his friends who are dead. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Brasseur, Annie Girardot, (more)
- 1975
Old Gun (Le Vieux Fusil) stars Philippe Noiret as an aging, embittered French physician. During the occupation, Noiret loses his wife and daughter to Nazi bullets. He vows to personally kill every one of the Germans responsible (along with a few who weren't) in order to assuage his grief. Romy Schneider and Jean Bousse costar in this heart rending character study. Philippe Noiret was justifiably honored with the French Cesar Award for his towering performance in Old Gun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Romy Schneider, (more)
- 1973
In this French film, soldiers in the Algerian war not only fight against the rebelling natives of that country, but fight an equally brutal battle among themselves. Three young army misfits are assigned to a brutal "disciplinary company" during the conflict. When the "discipline" becomes too harsh for him to bear, one of the soldiers kills two of his tormentors. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Spiesser, Jacques Weber, (more)
- 1971
In this French crime thriller, you can leave the mob, but the mob won't leave you. Louis (Jean Yanne) has retired to a Thailand plantation with an Asian wife and child. Back in Marseilles, however, because a no-holds-barred gang war has broken out, Louis' large collateral family is wiped out, and he is family are slated for destruction. Hit-men are sent, and they kill his wife, but fail to get Louis. Now incensed, he returns to Marseilles to set these people straight. They confuse him with a policeman (Sterling Hayden) who is escorting Louis' daughter to Paris, and though they kill his daughter, Louis is able to get through the airport and into town. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
During a political demonstration some years before, the police brutalized the demonstrators and Trassell (Jean-Pierre Mocky) fought back. Without his intending it, a policeman died. He spent some years in prison and has now escaped. His lawyer will help him leave the country if he can make it to the border on his own. Instead, he winds up having to take a hostage -- Paula, the daughter of a prominent politician. The politician's own corrupt history becomes known in the intense spotlight of news coverage about Trassell's escape. Paula grows enamored by Trassell, and they begin to work as a team as this French political thriller goes on to its ironic climax. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Game, Paul Muller, (more)
- 1970
A crackdown on drugs leads a burned out cop (Michel Bouquet) to take the law into his own hands and seek revenge against villainous drug dealers. Word comes down from above that the United States feels French authorities have been lax on their arrests of the dealers. A violent action feature finds the harried inspector battling his colleagues as much as the criminal element targeted for extermination. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Bouquet, Françoise Fabian, (more)
- 1968
Coplan (Claudio Brook) is a free-lance undercover agent who offers his services to the highest bidder. He receives a phone call from an old girlfriend in Turkey imploring him to see her immediately. The panic-stricken woman gives sketchy details of a plot that threatens world security. When Coplan arrives, he is told the woman has been killed, and the trail of the murderer leads to her brother (a mad scientist driven insane by radioactive fallout from a failed experiment). The mad scientist tries to hunt down Coplan with a bow and arrow. Coplan believes he sees his girlfriend alive, or is it her sister? The secret agent uses all of his resources to survive long enough to save the world from the brother's evil plan. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudio Brook, Margaret Lee, (more)
- 1963
- NR
Before Greed in the Sun was released to the States by way of MGM, this French/Italian co-production had made the European rounds under the titles 100,000 Dollars au Soleil and Centomilia Dollare al Sol. As any good linguist can gather, the catalyst for this action melodrama is 100,000 dollars---actually 100,000 dollars worth of guns and ammunition, unknowingly transported to African insurrectionists by truck driver Reginald Kernan. Fellow trucker Jean-Paul Belmondo teams with his girlfriend Andrea Parisy to hijack the shipment. Gert Frobe, head of the trucking company, offers Kernan a large reward for the return of the truck and its contents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Lino Ventura, (more)
