Tino Rossi Movies

The four days in the life of three aimless, but handsome men in the South of France are chronicled in this French buddy film. It is the end of the tourist season and Marcel, Raoul, and Yoyo are simply hanging around. As usual, their days are spent drinking pastis, sunning themselves, robbing tourists, and driving around. They feel no compunction to look for real work, and they are not concerned with the moral ramifications of their actions. They are figuratively taken under the wing of Maurice, the owner of a local cafe. His pragmatic but sexy daughter Madeline uses these losers to exact her revenge upon a local honcho. The revenge is violent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sacha Guitry's Si Versailles M'Etait Conte (If Versailles Were Told to Me) is best known by its American title Royal Affairs in Versailles. In addtion to writing and directed the film, Guitry reserves for himself the plum role of Louis XIV. Concentrating on the palace of Versailles over a period of 300 years, the storyline concentrates on the various amorous and political intrigues of three French kings. The plot manages to wend its way through the French revolution, coming to a halt in "the present". The star-studded supporting cast includes Jean Marais as Louis XV, Claudette Colbert as Mme. Montespan, Micheline Presle as Mme. Pompadour, and, best of all, Orson Welles as a gouty Ben Franklin. Most currently available prints of Si Versailles M'Etait Conte are severely edited, and fail to do justice to the rich Eastmancolor hues of the original version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This little-known Marcel Pagnol production stars his wife Jacqueline as a miller's daughter. The film concerns her romance with the rich and powerful Schubert, played by Tino Rossi. However, the storyline of La Belle Meuniere is not as fascinating as the film's technical history. It was lensed in an experimental process called Rouxcolor, wherein four black-and-white images were projected on the screen simultaneously through special tinted lenses, thereby giving the illusion of color and depth. Pagnol had intended to make film in the usual "flat" black-and-white process, but when he became intrigued with Rouxcolor he scrapped his completed footage and started all over. Unfortunately, Rouxicolor proved too cumbersome for widespread distribution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lumieres de Paris (Lights of Paris) resurrects the old chestnut about a wealthy man hiding his identity so that he can romance a not-so-wealthy woman. Tino Rossi stars as a world-renowned music-hall star who chances to meet working girl Michele Alfa at an intimate café. Fearful that his image as a ladies' man will be tarnished if he devotes all his time to one girl, Rossi keeps the romance a secret, not even revealing who he is to the starry-eyed Alfa. Eventually she walks out on him, only to be on hand for a surprise reconciliation when she's chosen at random to replace Rossi's recalcitrant music-hall partner (Conchita Montenegro). Surprisingly, few of Tino Rossi's established song hits are utilized in Lumieres de Paris. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide