Samson Fainsilber Movies

With Life is a Bed of Roses, filmmaker Alain Resnais wanted to create a lighthearted tribute to three important French directors, each of whom defined a particular era in his country's cinema Melies (the first French filmmaker to use narrative--his most famous film is A Trip to the Moon), the impressionist L'Herbier (most famous for his inspirational avant garde work during the '20s) and Rohmer (most famed for his sextet of "Moral Tales" during the '60s). To present his chronicle of the human quest for a utopia of personal happiness and fulfillment, Resnais created two distinct narratives representing the past and present, and then interspliced them with a third more fantastical tale to provide contrast. Representing the past, the first tale centers on a monied eccentric who creates a "temple of happiness' in his chateau. There, guests are given a special potion, laid inside enormous cribs and surrounded by pleasant sensations to help them return to the blissful state of infancy. The second story takes place in the same chateau where a symposium on the techniques and philosophies of the eccentric are hotly debated and elaborated upon. Weaving its way between the two tales is the third, which represents the medieval fantasies of children in a forest who imagine the struggle between a wicked king and a brave good-hearted warrior. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Charles is a middle-aged junk dealer, beset by several imagined illnesses. Lucie is his lady friend, a washed-up singer. Vulnerable and easily led, Charles and Lucie fall victim to a confidence scheme. Left penniless in the south of France, our hero and heroine find themselves the targets of pursuit, not only from the authorities but from the underworld. The curious result is that they regain their join in living. Charles and Lucie is one of a handful of amiable character studies (and the last one to date) directed by Abel Gance protegee Nelly Kaplan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first English-language film from Alain Resnais, this drama about a spiteful, alcoholic novelist contains the French director's typically playful surrealist touches and recurring use of characters shackled by memory. John Gielgud stars as Clive Langham, a drunken author in failing health who spends an increasingly intoxicated evening at his Rhode Island estate working on his new novel. Clive bases the characters in the melodramatic story on his own family, including his two sons, Claude (Dirk Bogarde) and the illegitimate Kevin (David Warner), as well as Claude's wife Sonia (Ellen Burstyn). Imagining a bitter love triangle full of spite between the three protagonists of his tale, Clive uses generous doses of imagination and symbolism, including a discordant soccer player (Denis Lawson) related to Kevin and werewolves. When his real-life family appears for a meal with Clive, however, they are not quite the embittered, devious players in the author's booze-fueled fiction. Although dividing critics between those delighted with Resnais' comic flourishes and others annoyed by his arty pretensions, Providence (1977) swept the Cesar Awards, France's Oscar equivalent, winning seven including Best Director for Resnais. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This campy Roger Vadim film stars sex-kitten Brigitte Bardot as Jeanne, the female counterpart to Don Juan, a woman who is ruthlessly wicked in her pursuit of love and desire. Jeanne confesses murder to a young priest (Mathieu Carriere) who is also her cousin, and after she tells him the story of how she has ruined the lives of a long succession of men, she shamelessly seduces the priest as well. Her story told in flashback, Jeanne gets off to a rocky start as an heiress: her father died while cussing her out for her low-down ways. She gets even with each of the men who does her wrong, usually in devastating ways, but in the end, she sacrifices all for love. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

French "underground" films were as common as the measles in 1946. Among the better efforts was Les Clandestins, directed with realism and conviction by Andre Chotin. A romantic subplot involving two resistance fighters can be forgotten; the film's strong suit is its vivid recreations of the horrors and deprivations suffered by the French under Nazi domination. Particularly heart-wrenching is the ordeal of a philosophical Jewish doctor, played by Samson Fainsilber. Commendably, the Nazis are not depicted as caricatures; their matter-of-fact behavior while committing the most heinous of atrocities is far more frightening because of its "normalcy". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Milady is the sequel to director Henri Diamant-Berger's The Three Musketeers and is every bit as lavish as its predecessor. Now that D'Artagnan (Aimee Simon-Girard) and his fellow Musketeers have saved their beloved Queen Anne (Andree Lafayette) from disgrace, they must fend off the vengeance-seeking Milady de Winter (Edith Mara), the chief confederate of the power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu (Samon Fainsliber). The culmination of Milady's vitriolic villainy is her murder of D'Artagnan's sweetheart Constance (Blanche Montel). Ultimately, Milady pays for her crimes, the Cardinal is foiled, and the Musketeers emerge triumphant. In some European markets, Three Musketeers and Milady were run in tandem as a four-hour feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Le Serment (The Pledge) was a minor "entertainment" from legendary French filmmaker Abel Gance -- so minor that it seldom shows up in the list of his films. A remake of Gance's silent film Mater Dolorosa (its original release title), the story concerns Marthe Berleac (Line Noro) the neglected wife of a celebrated doctor (Jean Gilland). Embarking upon an affair with her husband's brother Claude (Samson Fainsilber), Marthe is wracked by guilt and contemplates suicide. In trying to prevent this, Claude is accidentally killed himself, but before he dies he manages to write a suicide note absolving Marthe of all blame. Dr. Berleac isn't satisfied with Claude's note, especially after finding a compromising letter from Marthe. The drama intensifies when Berleac demands proof that the couple's son is legitimate, but eventually it is the repentant husband who begs Marthe's forgiveness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide