Françoise Dorléac Movies

Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), the reluctant secret agent from The Ipcress File (1965) and Funeral in Berlin (1966) -- both (like the source for this movie) based on novels by Len Deighton -- is back again in Ken Russell's Billion Dollar Brain. Having left Britain's espionage service, Palmer is scraping out a living as a private investigator, but he's still willing to give his old boss Colonel Ross (Guy Doleman) the bum's rush out of his office when he comes calling, offering a raise and promotion if he'll return. But Palmer ends up working for Her Majesty's government anyway -- a letter arrives, with a key and money, and telephoned instructions by a mechanical voice connect him up with a carefully sealed parcel (filled with what an x-ray reveals as eggs) that he must transport to Helsinki. No sooner does he get there than he discovers that an old friend, Leo Newbigin (Karl Malden), and his young lover Anya (Françoise Dorléac) are behind the trip, and that the man who was supposed to receive the parcel is dead. The eggs contain dangerous viruses stolen from a secret British laboratory, and England wants them back and wants to know why they were stolen. That assignment immerses Palmer in a deadly game of deception, double-dealing, and triple-crosses on all sides, as he finds that Leo is working for a privately operated intelligence network, set up by a rabidly right-wing Texas oil man, General Midwinter (Ed Begley Sr.).

The billion-dollar super-computer of the title, built by Midwinter, runs a network of spies and assassins aimed at the destruction of the Soviet Union. That interests Palmer's old friend, Soviet security chief Colonel Stok (Oskar Homolka, in an almost movie-stealing performance), very much, and he, too, wants to know what Palmer knows. And then there's Leo, who has taken millions from Midwinter, supposedly to establish a secret underground in Latvia, waiting for the signal to rise up against the Soviets occupying their country that will spread across the Baltics and beyond and bring down the Soviet government. He's taken the money, but all Harry find when he goes into Latvia is motley bunch of broken-down black marketeers whose orders are to kill him and make it look like the work of the Soviets. And there's Anya, who is sleeping with Leo, trying to seduce Harry, and seems to have an agenda all her own, but in whose interest? If it's all a little confusing, so was the book on which it was based, but there's enough striking visual material, courtesy of cinematographer Billy Williams, and engrossing performances (and a wry sensibility), courtesy of director Ken Russell and screenwriter John McGrath, that the leaps in plot, logic, and setting don't matter that much, and it is great fun. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Dr. Love (David Niven) is a suave British secret agent sent to Lebanon to investigate the murder of his colleague Parkington (Nigel Davenport) by an enemy agent in this spy spoof. With the help of the beautiful Vikki (Francoise Dorlac), Love uncovers a plot by Russian agents to kill a Middle Eastern Prince who favors the British. The story was taken from the novel Passport To Oblivion by James Leasor. Niven carries the feature with his typical aplomb. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Francois Truffaut directed this simple tale of revenge and adultery which features an exceptional musical score by Georges Delerue. The story concerns a love affair between successful literary magazine editor Pierre Lachenay (Jean Desailly) and alluring airline stewardess, Nicole Chomette (Francoise Dorleac). They meet on a flight to Lisbon, where Pierre is scheduled to deliver a lecture. When he returns to Paris, they continue their affair, but find it is difficult to set up their clandestine trysts, so Pierre arranges a lecture trip to Riems, where they can be together. In Riems however, Pierre finds it difficult to keep the affair a secret from his lecture sponsors. Upon his return to Paris, his wife Franca (Nelly Benedetti), suspicious her husband is having an affair, quarrels with Pierre, who leaves her and asks Nicole to marry him. Nicole refuses his proposition and Pierre attempts to reconcile with his wife. But Nelly, with a gun in her bag, is en route to surprise Pierre at his favorite restaurant for a final confrontation. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This uneven remake of the 1950 Max Ophuls feature from the play by Arthur Schnitzler takes place in Paris just before World War I instead of Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. A soldier (Claude Giraud) sleeps with a prostitute (Marie Dubois) before he seduces Rose (Anna Karina), and a willing but married Sophie (Jane Fonda). A night of drinking finds the soldier back with the prostitute again in this feature directed by Roger Vadim. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Arsene Lupin was a well-known French gentleman burglar who was active at the turn of the 20th century. In this routine costume drama and actioner by Edouard Molinaro, Lupin's two sons, François (Jean-Claude Brialy) and Gerard (Jean-Pierre Cassel) decide to go into their father's profession soon after he has been laid to rest, six feet under. Both sons have their own personalities, and though they go into the burglary business together, they have multiple disagreements. One thing they do agree on is that they must put aside their differences in order to rescue some jewels for a gorgeous princess (Françoise Dorleac. Dorleac, the sister of Catherine Deneuve, was tragically killed in a 1967 auto accident. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This routine film by novice director Jean-Gabriel Albicocco handles the taboo subject of a homosexual relationship between women, though the story still implies that if a man falls in love with a lesbian she can change her sexual orientation. Loosely based on a novel by Honore de Balzac, a skirt-chasing fashion photographer meets a charming young woman who captures his interest immediately. She is not wholly forthcoming, but after a period of time, he realizes that he is in love with her -- she is not just another conquest. It takes awhile before he also realizes that she is the partner of his femme associate who is possessive, at the very least. As it turns out, one corner in this odd triangle is highly unstable. This was one of the early films of Françoise Dorleac, Catherine Deneuve's beautiful sister who was killed in an automobile accident in 1967. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Focusing more on the personalities of the characters involved, Michel Deville in his first solo directing effort, has created a "New Wave"-style, slightly strident, routine romantic comedy. Set in an apartment where budding thespians are about to put on a show, the narration slips from view as the casual, roaming eye of the camera catches the couples dancing, talking, and flirting with each other. Valerie (Anna Karina) is particularly determined to end up with the man she wants. Françoise Dorleac makes an early appearance here as one of the young women. She was Catherine Deneuve's sister, killed in a 1967 automobile accident. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is a fast-paced, effective drama about some "wolves" or gangsters who take over a reformatory for juvenile delinquents with consequences that are deadly, and much more reformative than any programs on the books. The professional thugs are on the run from a police dragnet when they hole up in the home for wayward adolescents, run by an understanding couple. A range of teen offenders are serving time in this institution without bars, but none are as brutal, cowardly, and miserable as the killers who now control the place. As the action picks up, leading the drama to its inevitable conclusion, the gangsters turn out to be the perfect anecdote to criminal tendencies in the young inmates. Notable among the juveniles is 17-year-old Francois Deloreac, killed in an auto accident in 1967. She was the stunningly beautiful sister of Catherine Deneuve. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide