Charles Bouillaud Movies

In this WW II drama set during a weekend in June of 1940, German invaders force British troops to flee Dunkirk. The French soldiers stationed on a nearby beach also want to withdraw so they too can battle the Germans, but they have been ordered to stay in place and the British are to use the boats first. Though it is a bloody conflict and many innocent residents are killed, one young woman, Jeanne (Catherine Spaak) refuses to evacuate her home. She becomes friends with one of the French soldiers, Julien (Jean-Paul Belmondo) who later saves her from being raped. The situation on the beach grows increasingly tense as the waiting soldiers are easy targets for German warplanes. Julien tries to persuade Jeanne to leave this dangerous place. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

One of several versions of a steamy novel by Eugene Sue, Les Mystères de Paris is set at the turn of the 20th century and begins when the carriage of Count Rodolphe (Jean Marais) runs over a man and as he dies, the Count vows to help his poor, orphaned daughter Marie (Jill Haworth). And so the Count penetrates the "thieves' quarter" in Paris looking for Marie, and he is emotionally overcome by the poverty he sees everywhere. After he meets Marie, he is attracted to her -- but then she is kidnapped and eventually, the Count learns the truth about her paternity. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This somewhat verbose, standard comic thriller involves one sharp gangster nicknamed Le Dabe (Jean Gabin) pitted against three others as they work on a counterfeiting operation. Le Dabe has just been cooling his heels in the hot tropics and has now resurfaced in France where he hooks up with the counterfeiting trio. Together, they print out millions in fake Dutch guilders, but along the way, the three friends scheme to double-cross Le Dabe as soon as their operation is completed. They obviously underestimate the man. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this drama of lost love, Therese (Alida Valli) is a woman who runs a café in Paris; she lost her husband when he disappeared sixteen years earlier, and, while time has healed some of her wounds, she's still a lonely person. One day, a tramp (Georges Wilson) passes by humming a familiar tune, and Therese is convinced that the vagabond is her husband. She follows him to his home, a tiny shack by the river, and tries to question him about his past. She discovers that the tramp suffers from amnesia and has no clear memory of his past. Therese brings him back to her cafe in hopes of jogging his memory and renewing the love they once knew. Une Aussi Longue Absence was well-received at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, where it shared the Golden Palm with Luis Buñuel's very different Viridiana. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Gary Cooper more or less repeats his international-roue characterization from 1938's Bluebeard's Eighth Wife for the 1957 romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon (both films were co-scripted by Billy Wilder, who also directed the latter picture). Audrey Hepburn co-stars as the daughter of Parisian private eye Maurice Chevalier. Investigating the amorous activities of Cooper, Chevalier relates what he's discovered to cuckolded husband John McGiver, who declares that he's going after Cooper with a pistol. Overhearing this conversation, Hepburn rushes off to rescue Cooper. She keeps him far away from McGiver by adopting a "woman of the world" pose. Cooper quickly sees through this charade; still, she is fascinated by Hepburn and attempts to relocate her after she disappears. Meeting Chevalier one day, Cooper relates the story of the Mystery Woman, never dreaming that he is describing Chevalier's daughter. Equally in the dark, Chevalier offers to locate the elusive Hepburn. Once he's tumbled to the fact that his quarry is his own flesh and blood, Chevalier advises Hepburn against contemplating a relationship with the much-older Cooper. She, of course, fails to heed this warning, setting the stage for an ultraromantic finale. Love in the Afternoon is highlighted by a superb running gag involving a quartet of gypsy violinists, who insist upon dogging Cooper's trail wherever he goes-including a steam bath. Love in the Afternoon was adapted by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond from the novel Ariane by Claude Anet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hotel du Nord was the second in Marcel Carne's trio of "fatalistic romantic melodramas", bracketed on either side by Quai des Brumes and Le Jour se Leve. Star-crossed lovers Annabella and Jean-Pierre Aumont draw up a suicide pact, making their fatal rendezvous at the Hotel du Nord. Aumont shoots Annabella, but loses his nerve when time comes to take his own life. Seedy criminal Louis Jouvet and his mistress Arletty help Aumont to escape the authorities-but he can't very well run away from himself. Happily, Annabella recovers from her wounds and forgives the repentant Aumont. Fate, however, has other things in store for the tormented hero, as elucidated by the grimly ironic ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide