Camille Guerini Movies
- 1963
The scene is the French Riviera. Based on eyewitness testimony, three identically dressed men are accused of kidnapping and murdering a child, but two of them can possibly be guilty. Is the innocent party Anthony Perkins, an American who has fled to France in the wake of a sex scandal? Is it Italian Renato Salvatori, whose bad reputation with women has preceded him? Or is it Jean-Claude Brialy, a French businessman whose sister uses her sexual wiles to clinch her brother's big business deals? We'll never know...because Two Are Guilty director Andre Cayatte, a longtime critic of the French justice system, contrives to have all three suspects killed by an out-of-control mob. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Perkins, Jean-Claude Brialy, (more)
- 1962
In this crime drama, an amiable, popular middle-age man (Bernard Blier) abruptly changes when he heads out for a nice picnic, sees a half-naked girl, makes a pass at her, gets rejected, and kills her. No one is the wiser and her lover ends up taking the rap. During the ensuing trial, the real killer finds himself on the jury. As he listens, his conscience begins to bother him and he helps get the defendant acquitted but the town community refuses to accept it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Blier, Danièle Delorme, (more)
- 1962
Latent forces for a strong individualism are pitted against the need to honor deeply held commitments in this effective comedy by Henri Verneuil. Jean Gabin and Jean-Paul Belmondo star as Albert and Gabriel, respectively. Albert is an inn owner who vowed never to drink again if he and his wife survived the war. They did, and the reformed alcoholic keeps his vow. But times have changed and soon after the war, Albert comes in contact with Gabriel, a young man prone to heavy bouts with the bottle. Gabriel is conflicted over visiting his young daughter in a nearby school and in a moment of nostalgia, Albert takes off with him on one major binge -- and havoc results. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Jean-Paul Belmondo, (more)
- 1962
Jackie Gleason plays Gigot, a lumbering but lovable mute Parisian derelict. Shunned by the "respectable" people around him, Gigot is beloved by the children. One of the kids, a little girl, is the melancholy daughter of an insensitive prostitute. Gigot befriends the lonely child and protects her against her wicked parent and the local constabulary. Gigot was heavily edited by 20th Century Fox prior to its release, and subsequently disowned by its director, Gene Kelly. Still, a few hilarious and genuinely poignant moments shine through in this Chaplinesque tour de force for Jackie Gleason, who not only starred but wrote the script and the musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Gleason, Katherine Kath, (more)
Better known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, this opulent French production is the second talkie version of Victor Hugo's famous novel. Buried under mounds of latex, Anthony Quinn does his best as the deformed bellringer Quasimodo, though he comes off more as a punchdrunk ex-pug than a literal interpretation of Hugo's tragic protagonist. Somewhat more effective within the film's framework is Gina Lollobrigida as gypsy dancing girl Esmerelda, whose friendship with Quasimodo motivates the story. As in previous adaptations of the Hugo novel, the villain Frolio (Alain Cluny), originally a priest, is given a less-controversial station in life: in this case, he is an alchemist rather than a man of the cloth. Otherwise, Notre Dame de Paris is one of the more faithful renditions of the original novel, even unto retaining Hugo's unhappy ending. When first released in the U.S. by Allied Artists, the film was titled Hunchback of Paris, to avoid a copyright conflict with RKO's 1939 adaptation of Hunchback of Notre Dame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gina Lollobrigida, Anthony Quinn, (more)
- 1956
Though nearly as lavish as the 1938 MGM film of the same name, the 1955 French historical epic Marie Antoinette is not nearly as coherent or entertaining. Michele Morgan stars as the Austrian princess who becomes the last Queen of France in waning years of the 18th century. Jacques Morel costars as King Louis XVIII, Antoinette's slow-witted, ineffectual husband, while Richard Todd is the dashing European ambassador who briefly brings romance into the heroine's life. The episodic screenplay seldom sticks to the point long enough to detail the reasons behind the fall of the French aristocracy and the ultimate execution of the royal family. In addition, Michele Morgan is a bit too frosty and distant to warrant audience sympathy. Marie Antoinette was filmed simulatenously in French- and English-language versions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Richard Todd, (more)
The greatest film that Alfred Hitchcock never made, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Diabolique is set in a provincial boarding school run by headmaster Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse). A ruthless lothario, he becomes the target of a murder plot concocted by his long-suffering invalid wife Christina (Vera Clouzot, the director's own spouse) and his latest mistress, an icy teacher played by Simone Signoret. A dark, dank thriller with a much-imitated "shock" ending, Diabolique is a masterpiece of Grand Guignol suspense. The simple murder plot goes haywire, and Michel's corpse disappears, prompting strange rumors of his reappearance which grow more and more substantial as the film careens wildly towards its breathless conclusion. Later remade as a greatly inferior 1996 Hollywood feature with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, (more)
