Christian Duvaleix Movies
- 1974
Director Robert Dhery stars in this slight comedy about a man whose brother-in-law is making an amateur film for a regional television contest. He objects when the brother-in-law tries to make the film racier than he feels is appropriate. Before the film is over, he has won control of the brother-in-law's business, among other things. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Dhéry, Colette Brosset, (more)
- 1970
A student becomes a fugitive from justice in the wake of the May Day riots in France in 1968. His older brother Vincent (Jean-Pierre Mocky) is a violin-playing diamond smuggler who performs on cruise ships. He runs interference for his brother and his girlfriend to throw the police off their trail. Soon Vincent is branded as a vicious killer along with his brother. The younger brother got involved with some trigger-happy anarchists and killed some people at an orgy. The police are depicted as the villains who drive the French youth to murder in this tepid crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Mocky, Anne Deleuze, (more)
- 1969
Taken from the popular play by Jean Giraudoux, The Madwoman Of Chaillot has an international all-star cast, but the final result falls short despite the talents of the celebrated thespians. The madwoman in question is the extremely eccentric Countess Aurelia (Katherine Hepburn). Roderick (Richard Chamberlain) is the peace-loving activist who, along with a local rag picker (Danny Kaye), warns the Countess of a plot to destroy the city. A quartet of villains led by the Chairman (Yul Brynner) are after the oil reserves that bubble under the water supply. Along with the Broker (Charles Boyer), the Commissar (Oscar Homolka), and the Prospector (Donald Pleasence), the evil developers plan to secure the oil rights to the region with or without the consent of the unsuspecting public. The Countess invites Josephine (Dame Edith Evans) to judge the villains, who are locked in the Countess's cellar for their crimes against the people of Paris in this lethargic film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Charles Boyer, (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
Filmed in 1950 as Le Rosier de Madame Husson, The Prize was produced and scripted by Marcel Pagnol, of "The Marseilles Trilogy" fame. The plot is motivated by a contest, wherein a prize of 100,000 francs will be bestowed upon the most virtuous maiden in a tiny French village. Virtue being a scarce commodity hereabouts, the money is eventually claimed by a young man named Isidore (Bourvil). Once the farcical situation is played for all it's worth, the story segues into a comedy of errors, culminating in an episode in a faraway house of ill repute. The upshot of all this is that Isidore loses the crown of virtue almost as quickly as he won it. Jacqueline Pagnol, the wife of Marcel Pagnol, has an amusing role as a coquettish farm lass. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bourvil
