Daniel Gélin Movies

This unique French offering is a compilation of 30 short films focused on AIDS. The mini-films were based on over 3,000 ideas put in by French school children and were made by filmmakers on a voluntary basis. Most of the vignettes deal with heterosexuality and AIDS, but one deals with drug-usage, and one with homosexuality. It took four production houses three years to create this inspirational and informative film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In a complex story of automotive intrigue, oil barons, corporate finance, and international villainy, the inventor of an environmentally friendly car powered by energy cells becomes the target of killers. After Ralph Korda (Jurgen Prochnow) has given his patented worldcar to a German automaker for testing, he is confronted by ominous men, eager to get their hands on his patent. Evil Arab petroleum lords also want to stop this threat to the gasoline market any way they can. Unable to disentangle himself from the women who keep him distracted, Korda is slow to realize that even his closest associates may be trying to send him six feet under. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This costume drama with spectacular special effects but a less-than-adequate storyline was one of the last films by director Carmine Gallone. The tale is set in 200 BC when Rome and Carthage were going at it, sending warships into battle over control of Carthage. Against this backdrop of warfare is a romantic tangle between two women in love with the same warrior and two men in love with the same woman. As the romantic and military battles progress, it becomes clear that Carthage will burn and at least a few of the erstwhile lovers are going to get burnt as well, in more ways than one. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Zizi Jeanmaire, the delightful French singer/actress who previously brightened such American films as Hans Christian Andersen and Anything Goes, is the star of Charmants Garcons (Charming Boys). Jeanmaire is appropriately cast as a nightclub entertainer named Lulu, who is surrounded by a throng of "Stage Door Johnnies" of all ages. Lulu is too gracious and generous to say "Non!", and as a result her heart is broken again and again. It isn't until the very end that she finds true love with the most unlikely of fellows. Future Goldfinger star Gert Froebe is terrific as a lecherous zillionaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Danish movie by an American director, Birthe Tove plays Christa, a ravishingly beautiful airline stewardess who lives, it seems, to seduce men. Her seductions include men whom she is not able to take to her bed. All of these men are stunned by her beauty and her aggressiveness, and serve only to highlight her attractiveness by providing a kind of darkened backdrop to it. She has had a son by an earlier lover, and he lives with her parents. The child's father continually makes a spectacle of himself by demanding more from Christa than it is reasonable to expect, and his suicide prompts feelings of relief. Aside from Tove's performance, this film was the object of unintended mirth at its first screenings. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Claude Brasseur stars in this cinemadaptation of the Moliere play Georges Dandin, ou le mari confondu. Written in 1668, the play has been somewhat dwarfed by such like-vintage Moliere classics as The Imaginary Invalid. Still, it was popular enough in its time to inspire imitation, most notably Betterton's Don Juan and The Amorous Widow. The plot, involving a wealthy man's avoidance of marriage until he is trapped by a crafty widow, is but a peg upon which to hang any number of comic complications and character vignettes. Brasseur's leading lady is the toothsome Zabou. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A French army journalist bears witness to the atrocities of the Algerian war in 1962 in this gripping French war movie. It is based on the 1967 novel by Philippe Labro. The film begins in Paris as Jerome Carier, ready to embark to Algiers, is beaten and questioned about the politically sensitive photographs he has. The photos were sent to him by Francois, a friend stationed in Algiers. Francoise is trying to get the French and the Algerians to reconcile. Jerome arrives in the war-torn country and finds himself faced with unbelievable carnage. The French are behind most of it. Because he took the pictures, Francois life is in jeopardy. He is murdered and Jerome finds himself attracted to his girl friend, a radio station announcer. The film contains graphic pictures of the slaughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

French filmmaker Jean Dellanoy once again combines visual poetry with box-office savvy in Dieu a Besoin des Hommes. Set on a remote French coastal island in the 19th century, the film stars Pierre Fresnay as a peasant named Thomas. In the absence of a priest, Thomas, the village sacristan, is coerced into conducting religious services. Suddenly, and much against his will, he becomes the spiritual leader of the community. He eventually runs afoul of both the Church and the Law by administering last rites, an illegal act for a non-clergyman. Despite its rather remonstrative attitude towards organized religion, the film won an award from a major Catholic organization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

French filmmaker Jacques Becker's Edouard et Caroline has been described as a film without a story. This isn't quite true, though the most memorable aspect of the film is the byplay between the two title characters. Edouard (Daniel Gelin) is a young, headstrong musician. Caroline (Anne Vernon) is his flibbertigibbet spouse. The two quarrel over an evening dress, they separate and then reunite. These farcical proceedings are counterpointed by Becker's naturalistic choice of settings, including Eduoard and Caroline's less-than-fashionable apartment and the prison-like confines of Caroline's uncle's mansion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Aimed at younger audiences, this special-effects filled French comedy centers on the afterlife adventures of two recently deceased fellows, Georges, a gentle chauffeur and his ruthless corporate tiger of an employer, Phillipe. Unfortunate Georges meets his demise at the hands of a gunman just as he discovers that he has won the lottery. Shortly thereafter, his boss Phillipe is murdered by his business rival Martigues. As ghosts, no living soul can see or here Georges and Phillipe who set out together to put their earthly affairs in order before taking off to their respective final resting places. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sullen teenage orphan Johnny Miles (Josh Albee) is wrongfully accused of stealing from his foster parents. Running away from home, Johnny forms a bond with another youthful "runaway"--this one a leopard who has escaped from a nearby wild-animal compound. Both fugitives are sheltered by a harsh but lovable kennel owner, Angela Lakey (Dorothy McGuire), who senses that neither boy nor leopard are as bad as they're cracked up to be. Assuming the responsibility of caring for the animal, Johnny risks being captured by the authorities--and while his punishment will be relatively benign, the leopard might well be destroyed. Adapted from a novel by Victor Canning, The Runaways premiered April 1, 1975, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1944, with Paris on the verge of Liberation by the allies, Adolph Hitler ordered that the City of Light be blown up and burned to the ground. General Dietrich Von Choltitz, after much rumination, decided that he didn't want to go down in history as the man who destroyed Paris. His refusal to follow Hitler's orders would make him a pariah in Germany for the rest of his life; nor was his gesture ever rewarded by the Allies. From this very human story in the midst of one of the most inhuman conflicts in history grew the screenplay (by Gore Vidal and Francis Ford Coppola) of the all-star, internationally produced Is Paris Burning? Whereas the earlier The Longest Day was able to support a castful of celebrities and brief subplot vignettes, Is Paris Burning? seems more weighted down than weighty. Still, a modern audience will have fun playing "spot the star" throughout the film, especially when those spotted stars include the likes of Gert Frobe (as Choltitz), Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Kirk Douglas (as Patton), Glenn Ford (as Bradley), Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Robert Stack, and even Anthony Perkins as a wide-eyed GI. Filmed on a gargantuan scale, Is Paris Burning? was based on a book by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. The film was lensed in black and white, save for the Technicolor finale (in the original road-show prints). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide