Michel Galabru Movies

This adaptation of Ben Hecht's novel is a satire that unfolds as a mystery story. A Hollywood studio is producing another spectacular when the top billed male stars suddenly show up as corpses, killed before the critics could ever put pen to paper. Under suspicion is a talent agent. Is he guilty or not? These macabre events have everyone off their feed, from the producers down to the lowest gofer. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A short and strange storyline emboldens this thriller with sci-fi overtones by Didier Grousset. Albert (Michel Galabru) is an electronics genius who gets the ax from his company and then goes over the edge. At first he packs off to his attic, turns on the television, and opts for vegetating. But he gets a little irritated by what he sees on TV and is especially miffed at some inept announcers. So his solution is to invent a "ray gun" that can travel through the TV screen and the camera in the studios and kill the idiots, one at a time. A detective (Richard Bohringer) starts to figure out how the murders are happening and develops a scheme to eliminate the unknown, attic assassin. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Mixing real locations with a Louis XIV stage setting, director Michel Mitrani interprets the story first told in Moliere's play of the same name, written for the stage. A slightly supercilious country gentleman, Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (Michel Galabru) has arrived in Paris to marry Julie (Fanny Cottencon) the woman promised him, but he does not know that Julie is in love with a handsome young man and has no interest in marrying the grand Monsieur, at all. She and her lover ask the cunningly clever Sbrigani (Roger Coggio) for help, and he concocts a wild array of characters with claims on the easily gulled Pourceaugnac's attention, including arrogant doctors and women with supposed liens on his matrimonial intentions -- actually no more valid than the ostensible creditors out to collect imaginary debts from the unwary gentlemen. The dialogue and situations are as funny as when Moliere first wrote them, but Mitrani's version may be a bit long and slow for some tastes. Some viewers may want to compare this cinematic interpretation with the 1932 version of the same play. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This routine drama about a thespian couple, Marion (Nicole Garcia) and Gabriel (Jean-Pierre Marielle) takes place during the second half of their hit comedy, as the two try to work out their differences. Marion plays one of the leads in the comedy, opposite an actor of lesser abilities who also happens to be the author of the play. Gabriel, on the other hand, has come down from his apex as an applauded tragedian to play only a small part in this piece -- and passes the time with a bottle in his dressing room, vainly attempting to drown his sorrows. As the couple's relationship comes under scrutiny, it is eventually revealed that there is more to their problems than first meets the eye. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The universally recognized topic of this light comedy is the struggle between refusing to fall in love only to be rejected, and falling in love, regardless. After a computer operator (Richard Bohringer) has been through a painful relationship, he is determined to look the other way every time any interesting woman enters his life. He has his other loves -- photography and model planes -- to challenge him anyway, though his mother is not about to understand how a model plane can replace a woman in his life. One day, a car breaks down in front of his house, and a young mother (Catherine Frot) with her 10-year-old daughter (Anne Clignet) come in looking for assistance. The daughter is endearing and would make a terrific subject for a photo contest. As both the young mother and the computer operator studiously ignore the flicker of romantic sparks, it is only a matter of time before the flame either grows or is extinguished.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Les Fausses Confidences is a commedia dell'arte written in 1735 by the French playwright Pierre de Carlet Chamblain de Marivaux (1688-1763), mercifully known simply as Marivaux. This cinematic adaptation is by Daniel Moosmann, and it remains faithful to Marivaux' elegant wit and sensibilities. The simple story focuses around the desire of Dorante (Jean-Pierre Bouvier) to win over the heart and subsequently, the fortune of the wealthy, young, and beautiful Araminte (Brigitte Fossey). To better forward his amorous goal, Dorante enlists the aid of Araminte's valet -- the man who conveys both true and false "confidences" to the unsuspecting young woman. It is the combination of truth and falsehoods, and the young Dorante's desire for both the woman and her wealth, that set up entertainingly ambiguous situations, typical of Marivaux comedies. Thrown into the plot is a domineering mother (Micheline Presle) who has plans for Araminte to marry a well-established Count. The excellent acting ensemble is complemented by good cinematography, costuming, and musical score. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this confusing, surreal, and slow-paced drama that swings back and forth from strange to farcical, Robert (Alain Delon) meets Donatienne (Nathalie Baye) on a train. She tells him a story about a woman and a man who meet on a train and subsequently spend a night - only one night - in a glorious sexual encounter before they part forever. He is so taken with her that he ends up in her mountain chalet, not just for one night, but for many - drinking beer and forgetting about his wife in Paris. Donatienne then has sexual relations with all the men in her neighborhood - and the film steps fully into a bizarre world in which neither Robert nor Donatienne can honestly relate to each other. The mystery about what is going on is revealed in the end, but by then the film - verbose, inscrutable, and artificial - may have alienated more than one viewer. On the other hand, the performances of Delon and Baye stand out against this flawed backdrop, an achievement recognized at the 1984 Cesars when Delon won the Best Actor award for his role as Robert. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this tragic tale of misunderstanding, obsession, and increasing madness, "she," a beautiful young woman (Isabelle Adjani) settles into a small town in the south of France with her introverted mother (Maria Machado) and physically handicapped father and soon becomes the subject of wild speculation because of her aloofness and at the same time, her obvious sexuality. The young woman is actually caught up in the desire to avenge the long-ago rape of her mother, a rape committed by three Italian immigrants, one of whom is associated with a player piano. An attractive car mechanic (Alain Souchon) is enamored of her, and the woman suddenly sees him in a different light when she learns that his father, now dead, was an Italian immigrant who owned a player piano. Intent on taking action against the mechanic's family to right the wrong suffered by her mother, the daughter begins to lose her grip on sanity when she finds out that the men she suspects of the rape are actually innocent. In fact, her father long ago exacted his own vengeance on the three rapists. This knowledge pushes her over the edge, and she has to be institutionalized. Meanwhile, the young mechanic misunderstands what has happened and sets in motion events that cannot but lead to tragedy. L'Été Meurtier garnered four different Cesars in the 1983 competition: "Best Actress" (Isabelle Adjani), "Best Supporting Actress" (Suzanne Flon), "Best Original Screenplay," and "Best Editing." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide