Marcel Charvey Movies
- 1969
Antonin (Fernandel) works on a farm and takes care of the animals in this sentimental comedy. When his boss tells him his favorite old horse has been sold, he takes off with the animal. His goal is to release the horse to run free in the South of France. Antonin runs across a rival who has married a girl he once loved and discovers the woman is scolding, bitchy and evil tempered. He and his equine companion finally make it to freedom, but the horse loves Antonin are tries to follow him home from the swamp. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
Belle de Jour dramatizes the collision between depravity and elegance, one of the favorite themes of director Luis Buñuel. Catherine Deneuve stars as a wealthy but bored newlywed, eager to taste life to the fullest. She seemingly gets her wish early in the film when she is kidnapped, tied to a tree, and gang-raped. It turns out that this is only a daydream, but her subsequent visits to a neighboring brothel, where she offers her services, certainly seem to be real. This illusion/reality dichotomy extends to the final scenes, in which we are offered two possible endings. Thanks to a question of copyright and ownership, Belle de Jour disappeared from view shortly after its 1967 release, not even resurfacing on videotape. When it was reissued theatrically in 1994, many critics placed the perplexing but mesmerizing film on their lists of that year's best films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, (more)
- 1965
In this charming drama, a department store clerk takes his wife and kids on a Parisian vacation. One day he is out sightseeing by himself when he encounters a fashion model and offers to give her a guided tour. As they amble about, the romantic city casts its spell and the model falls in love with her guide (who has been pretending to be an artist). Finally things come to a passionate head, and the fellow must decide between a fling and his family. He chooses the latter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Aznavour, Susan Hampshire, (more)
- 1965
It is only with some reluctance that big-time hood Alphonse (Lino Ventura) allows himself to be persuaded that a major painting-theft planned by some formerly small-time gangsters is a good idea. He gives the idea his backing and support and winds up holding the bag for the crime as the others escape. On emerging from prison, he wreaks havoc on his betrayers, until a pretty girl stops him in his tracks. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Charles Aznavour, (more)
- 1961
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
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Martine Carol, (more)
- 1958
Variously titled La Parisienne and Une Parisienne, Parisienne, this Franco-Italian co-production is one of Brigitte Bardot's best vehicles. The daughter of the Premier of France (no, not DeGaulle!), La Bardot is married to Henri Vidal, the premier's chief aide. When Vidal shows signs of straying from his marital vows, Bardot decides to fight fire with fire. She enchants visiting nobleman Charles Boyer, who invites her to a romantic rendezvous on the Riviera. The outraged Vidal tracks down the would-be lovers, only to discover that nothing has happened-both Bardot and Boyer fell victim to head colds, and spent the weekend sneezing rather than smooching. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1954
In this odd French tragedy, set in Ireland, a nun plots revenge against her brother's executor, the IRA leader she had idolized. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1947
Originally released in France under the title Le Silence est D'Or, Man About Town is set in the Paris of the early 1900s. Maurice Chevalier plays a director of silent films (whose working conditions are recreated with remarkable accuracy), while Marcelle Derien is an actress whom Chevalier hopes to turn into a film star. She falls in love with her younger leading man (Francois Perier), and Chevalier, after putting up a gentle struggle, bows to the inevitability of young romance. The first postwar US/France coproduction, Man About Town won several international prizes. Unfortunately, its American version was hampered by a misguided translation device: Rather than dub the actors' voices or utilize subtitles, the American distributor chose to have Maurice Chevalier narrate the film in English and comment upon its action. The resultant effect took the audience "out" of the picture when it should have been involved with the plot, and this clumsy translation technique was never used again. The best moment in the Americanized Man About Town was Chevalier's opening musical number, directed not by Le Silence Est D'Or's Rene Clair but by RKO film editor Robert Pirosh--who also trimmed the film by 17 minutes for U.S. audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Chevalier, Marcelle Derrien, (more)
- 1940
Based on a novel by Colette, Claudine stars Blanchette Brunoy as the title character. The 16-year-old heroine finds herself the romantic bone of contention between two of her schoolteachers. Eventually tiring of the tug of war, Claudine finds happiness in the arms of handsome young doctor Dubois (Pierre Brasseur). The "naughtier" aspects of the Colette original were apparently dispensed with long before Claudine went before the cameras. As a result, this was one of the few French films of the early 1940s that could be released in the U.S. with virtually no censorial cuts at all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blanchette Brunoy, Max Dearly, (more)
