Louis Arbessier Movies
- 1984
This fictionalized account of the outlaw life of Jacques Mesrine may be a run-of-the-mill crime drama, but it does not sanitize or glorify the hoodlum in any way. As Mesrine makes his prison break, engages in robberies and kidnappings, and systematically wounds a captured journalist who he found personally offensive, he is shown to be aggressive, angry, brutal, and humorless. This is a far cry from many media reports about Mesrine and is harsher than the documentary on his activities that appeared several weeks before this film by director André Genoves was released. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Silberg, Caroline Aguilar, (more)
- 1974
- R
Charlotte is better known by its original French title, La Jeune Fille Assassinee. The film combines Roger Vadim's overriding twin fascinations: eroticism and death. Charlotte (Sirpa Lane) dreams of dying violently while in the throes of an orgasm. This curious desire is the principal motivation for her entering into a life of crime. In addition to directing Charlotte, Vadim also produced, scripted, and played a major on-screen role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Vadim, Sirpa Lane, (more)
- 1968
This is an updated version of the Alexander Dumas classic. Edmond Dantes (Paul Barge) is framed and imprisoned for collaboration with the enemy during World War II. When he escapes from jail he travels to South America where rumors of his death are soon taken to be fact. He discovers a treasure and plots his return to seek revenge against those who had falsely accused him of being a traitor. Cars replace horses for the chase scenes in this modernized version of Monte-Cristo as Edmond fights to regain his name, his property, and the woman who was taken from him years earlier. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Suzanne Flon, (more)
- 1965
La Guerre Secrete is divided into four separate vignettes, each scene representing a day in the life of international espionage agents. Stories involve a secret agent (Vittorio Gassman) who goes undercover as a kidnapper, an attempt to impede a Russian attack on two submarines, and an undercover agent confronting a traitor in the Berlin offices of the CIA. Linking the stories is Robert Ryan as a US Intelligence chief. Terence Young directed the English-language sequences, while Christian-Jacques and Carlo Lizzani handled the French and Italian sequences, respectively. German director Werner Klinger's name does not appear on the US credits of The Dirty Game, inasmuch as his scenes were cut from all American prints. Dirty Game sank without a trace on its initial release, only to pop up on television, intermittently, throughout the '70s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil, Robert Ryan, (more)
- 1961
Jean Gabin carries this conventional political drama set in pre-World War II France. He is Emile, a retired politico with a long memory, a curmudgeon who is not yet prepared to stand on the sidelines and watch others wield power. Flashbacks fill in the details about his earlier career -- and why he wants to block the new cabinet proposed by a politician he knew in his former days of government service. A bit long at almost two hours, director Henri Verneuil worked often enough with Gabin in his films to elicit a strong portrayal. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Bernard Blier, (more)
- 1960
This French-Italian romantic crime thriller is titled The Truth in English. Henri-Georges Clouzot directed sexpot Brigitte Bardot as Dominique Marceau, who is accused of killing her boyfriend. The question for the jury is whether the murder was premeditated or a crime of passion. Marceau had come from a small town to take up a sexually adventuresome life on the Left Bank in Paris. She has an affair with Gilbert Tellier (Sami Frey), the boyfriend of her sister Annie (Marie-Jose Nat). Dominique moves on to other romances, but Tellier won't let go of her. They fight and eventually separate. Tellier becomes a renowned orchestra conductor while Dominique descends into prostitution. She eventually learns that her sister and Tellier are engaged, and this knowledge leads up to the events that lead her to court. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Charles Vanel, (more)
- 1958
Les Louves was also released as Demoniaque and She Wolves. By any name, it's a puzzler, at least until the final fast-paced scenes. Gervais (François Perier) escapes from a German concentration camp and assumes the identity of a recently deceased fellow prisoner. Knowing that the dead man has been carrying on a romance by correspondence with Helene (Micheline Presle), a woman whom he has never seen, Gervais makes the acquaintance of the woman and moves in with her. The woman's sister, Agnes (Jeanne Moreau), dabbles in the black arts, which should be warning enough for Gervais to make himself scarce. But he sticks around, intrigued that the dead man's sister, Julia (Madeleine Robinson), refuses to blow the whistle on him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Perier, Micheline Presle, (more)
- 1958
A Life is based on a novel by Guy De Mauppasant. Maria Schell plays Jeanne, who enters into a loveless marriage with impoverished Julien (Christian Marquand). Having married Jeanne only for her money, Julien has no qualms about carrying on an affair with Gilberte (Antonella Lualdi), the family maid. Even after Gilberte gives birth to Julien's child, Jeanne forgives her husband, but he fails to learn his lesson and suffers spectacularly as a result. The physical and psychological isolation of the long-suffering heroine is emphasized by director Alexandre Astruc's decision to film Un Vie almost exclusively in a remote, sterile country mansion. Un Vie was released in the U.S. as End of Desire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Schell, Christian Marquand, (more)
- 1954
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
- Starring:
- Sacha Guitry, Michel Auclair, (more)
- 1952
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
- Starring:
- Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, (more)
