Anny Duperey Movies

This zany, French-language fish-out-of-water comedy concerns a married couple, Hugo (Dany Boon) and Ariane (Sophie Marceau), who attempt to escape from the doldrums of nuptial banality by exchanging professional lives. He takes up his wife's career as a door-to-door jewelry salesman, and she assumes control of a building rental company - leading to a predictably endless series of outrageous complications. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Claude Berri's angry, ambitious epic, based on the 19th-century novel by Emile Zola, re-creates, as does the novel, the gut-wrenching poverty and the intense day-by-day struggles of striking French coal-miners in 1884 at the Voreux mines of France. The film centers upon the bitter toils of Maheu (Gerard Depardieu) and his family -- consisting of his iron-willed wife (Miou-Miou) and their daughter Catherine (Judith Henry), who also works in the mines. When a new miner, Etienne Lantier (Renaud), comes to Voreux to seek work, he is befriended by Maheu, who takes him on his mining crew and allows him to stay at his home. Etienne is also an organizer for a new miner's union and, as conditions in the Voreux mines worsen, Etienne convinces Maheu to organize a miner's strike. Meanwhile, Etienne is attracted to Catherine, and Catherine to him, but she doesn't act upon her feelings, taking up, instead, with Chaval (Jean-Roger Milo), a local ne'er do well. As conditions in the mines become more desperate and unsafe, and the owners propose to cut wages, Maheu at last stages a massive strike of the miners. When that happens, the owners send in armed soldiers to defend the mines. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel "Hotel Meuble" by Thomas Owen, this suspense thriller has a female police inspector Aurelia Maudru (Anny Duperey) living in a baroque apartment house in Brussels, the site of a nasty murder. All the inspector's neighbors are suspects in the case, and she is hard-put to ferret out the reasons for the foul deed from among the building's strange inhabitants, including a death-obsessed undertaker and an aging photographer. As the suspense builds to the final scenes, the solution to who did it is as unusual as the residents of the building. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

When her teen-aged son (Stephane Bierry) runs away and the police are noncommittal, a woman (Anne Duperey) convinces two old flames -- a crusading journalist (Gerard Depardieu) and a hypochondriac (Pierre Richard) -- that each is the father of her son in order to spur someone into action. Both eventually decide to search for the boy, meet up, and tell each other their stories without realizing they are looking for the same kid. This French comedy was remade in the U.S. as Fathers' Day in 1997. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

A Jewish Mafia-like family is running a prostitution ring, selling "protection," and operating gambling casinos -- more or less with impunity, and at peace with their Arab counterparts -- until a young gangster (Bernard Giraudeau) decides to pit the two ethnic factions against each other. Jewish cultural and religious events are celebrated by the Jewish gangsters, who promote family traditions -- in contrast to the police inspector who has no family and is out to do them all in. Focusing on the Jewish mob boss, the story has him undergoing some personal rehabilitation in the end. Actually, comparing the merits of ethnically and religiously different mobs of gangsters might be a little like comparing the respective beauty of a pair of week-old corpses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The internationally produced From Hell to Victory is evocative of the works of Erich Maria Remarque. Several close friends of varying nationalities are separated by WW II. German Jurgen Dietrich (Horst Buchholz) is isolated from his old chums by his loyalty to the Fatherland. Still, he and his former comrades hold out hope for a happy reunion at war's end. George Peppard, George Hamilton and Capucine also appear. Despite some well-done battle sequences and a star-studded cast, From Hell to Victory never received an American theatrical release. In some prints, director Umberto Lenzi is billed as "Hank Milestone" (possibly an homage to All Quiet on the Western Front director Lewis Milestone). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Starring Al Pacino and directed by Sydney Pollack, Bobby Deerfield stars Pacino plays the title character, a reckless race car driver. As his fame grows, Bobby becomes increasingly full of himself, which seriously jeopardizes his performance on the track and his private life. Marthe Keller plays Bobby's aristocratic, enigmatic lady friend, whose tragic secret sets the stage for melodrama. Also on hand is Ann Duperey as a racetrack groupie. Originally released at 124 minutes, Bobby Deerfield was pared down to 99 minutes by director Pollack for cable-TV consumption. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When this French romantic comedy was released in English-speaking countries, its French title was changed to Pardon Mon Affaire. The four buddies in this picture help one another out, especially when it concerns affairs of the heart. Etienne (Jean Rochefort) is happily married, but when he sees a young woman's dress blown up over her head, the image will not leave him. Even after his philandering buddy Bouly (Victor Lanoux) returns home one day to find that his wife has left him, taking all of their belongings and their child with her, he cannot stop thinking about the girl in the red dress. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Engaged by the family of a murdered history writer to finish the man's last book, Marc begins to unravel the mystery of the man's death while bedding most of his female relatives. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This film by French director Alain Resnais (Last Year in Marienbad) is loosely based on a true story from the 1930s about financier, con-man and swindler Stavisky who was arrested in 1934 for selling phony stock but was never brought to trial. While in jail, he continued to engage in doubtful monetary transactions. As the rumors that he was being protected by high-ranking members of the government of the French Third Republic were undoubtedly true, the scandal had a profoundly unsettling effect on the French nation, already suffering from poor government handling of the Depression, and this incident nearly brought down both the government and the Republic. Stavisky's death in prison (an apparent suicide) triggered widespread unrest and rioting. In the movie, when Stavisky (Jean-Paul Belmondo) goes to jail as a young con-man, his embarrassed father commits suicide. Ruining countless lives in his stellar career as a big-money swindler, including that of his nobleman friend Raoul (Charles Boyer), Stavisky is shown to be a pawn in a still bigger swindle, one which will destroy the Left and open the way to fascism. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This French comedy journeys with Armand (Jean-Claude Brialy), a valet, as he tries to find an appropriate employer for his specialized skills. Alas, the rich are not what they used to be. His first employer's husband is jailed for embezzlement and she can no longer afford him; his second employer obsesses about her days as a leading opera star; his third is a nymphomaniac who is a little too interested in him; and the fourth is a government minister who works much too hard. Perhaps the renowned poet (Pierre Bertin), who wants to remain at home with his cats, will properly appreciate a good valet. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The notable French comedian Pierre Richard stars in and directs this, his second feature film. Here he plays Alfred, about whom it may be said, "if it weren't for bad luck, he'd have no luck at all." Unlucky in love, he tries to commit suicide, only to be thwarted by police efforts to prevent a simultaneous attempt by a nearby young woman. Their rescue does not proceed without numerous mishaps. Recovering, the young lady puts him up at her house, as he has run out of places to live. He joins a Parisian sporting team and seems to have transferred his bad luck to a corrupt television boss who is attempting to manipulate the game so that Alfred's Paris team loses. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

An older woman uses a younger woman to satisfy both his personal and professional needs in this offbeat sex comedy. Clara (Brigitte Bardot) is beautiful young woman who has been hired by Jerome (Maurice Ronet), a middle-aged novelist, to work as his secretary and take dictation. However, Jerome has been suffering from a severe case of writer's block, and what he needs most at this point is inspiration. Clara's beauty fires his imagination, if not necessarily for literary matters, and as he dictates to her, he shares stories of his sensual past and fantasies of his future. Through his words and actions, Jerome seduces Clara, though it seems obvious this as much her doing as his; however, while Jerome is strictly the "love 'em and leave 'em" type, Clara has a more stable relationship in mind. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide