Daniel Gélin Movies
Known for his sensitivity and keen intelligence, French actor Daniel Gelin has played starring and supporting roles in French cinema since the late '30s following studies at the Paris Conservatoire. He had his first major role the 1941 film Premiere Rendez-Vous, and after a lengthy break during WWII, went on to become a popular star in such light fare as Max Ophuls' Le Ronde (1950) and Le Plaisir (1955). In 1956, Gelin memorably played a villainous Arab spy in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, but was wearing so much makeup as to be unrecognizable. During the late '70s, Gelin disappeared from films until the early '80s. Since then, he has continued to make sporadic appearances in La Vie Est Une Longue Fleuve Tranquille (1988) and Hommes, Femmes: Mode d'Emploi (Men, Women: A User's Manual) (1996). His daughter, Maria Schneider, is an actress and is son, Xavier Gelin, is a producer. When not acting, Daniel Gelin writes poetry and has published a few volumes of his work. ~ Sandra Brennan, 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
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, (more)
A five-year-old boy playing in West Germany accidently kicks his ball through a hole in the Berlin wall in this children's story that is a thinly disguised political statement. Unable to retrieve his favorite toy, he watches as East German children delight in playing with the ball. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Nino del Arco, (more)
- 1965
The first film directed by Costa-Gavras, The Sleeping Car Murders was based on a novel by Sebastien Japrisot. During a Marseilles-to-Paris overnight train trip, a girl is found dead in a sleeping car. As Paris detective Yves Montand steps up his investigation, more and more passengers turn up murdered. The unlikely climax is the only sore point of this otherwise well-wrought mystery. Bereft of the politicizing of Costa-Gavras' later works, The Sleeping Car Murders exhibits the director's fondness for American "film noir" thrillers. The film first hit Parisian movie screens under the title Compartiment Tueurs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 1964
In this romantic drama, a middle-aged gambler tells a casino croupier her life story. The story is told in flashback and chronicles the woman's romantic exploits with men. Though she was involved with many men, only one really touched her heart. He was a bartender who was tragically shot and killed during an attempted robbery. She later marries and has a daughter. Unfortunately she alienates herself from her daughter when she has an affair with her daughter's fiance. Her remorse is short lived. The film jumps back to the present with the woman leaving the casino on the arm of a handsome millionaire. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Bell, Annie Girardot, (more)
The Longest Day is a mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, personally orchestrated by Darryl F. Zanuck. Whenever possible, the original locations were utilized, and an all-star international cast impersonates the people involved, from high-ranking officials to ordinary GIs. Each actor speaks in his or her native language with subtitles translating for the benefit of the audience (alternate "takes" were made of each scene with the foreign actors speaking English, but these were seen only during the first network telecast of the film in 1972). The stars are listed alphabetically, with the exception of John Wayne, who as Lt. Colonel Vandervoort gets separate billing. Others in the huge cast include Eddie Albert, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Gert Frobe, Curt Jurgens, Peter Lawford, Robert Mitchum, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Jean Servais, Rod Steiger and Robert Wagner. Paul Anka, who wrote the film's title song, shows up as an Army private. Scenes include the Allies parachuting into Ste. Mere Englise, where the paratroopers were mowed down by German bullets; a real-life sequence wherein the German and Allied troops unwittingly march side by side in the dark of night; and a spectacular three-minute overhead shot of the troops fighting and dying in the streets of Quistreham. The last major black-and-white road-show attraction, The Longest Day made millions, enough to recoup some of the cost of 20th Century Fox's concurrently produced Cleopatra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, (more)
- 1960
In this tragedy, a sailor heads to Hamburg to search for the girl who became his friend a decade before when he had been a POW in Germany. He finds her in the red-light district, the Reeperbahn, where she works as a mud-wrestler in a crummy dive. She hates her job, and she hates the seedy clientele. When she meets the sailor, her hopes of a better life rise. Even though he is already married, the two fall in love. He promises to return that very night, but he is later knifed to death by a mugger. The unknowing woman, assuming he has abandoned her, is crushed and commits suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In his final film, Jean Cocteau brilliantly evokes memories of his past triumphs, Blood of a Poet (1930) and Orpheus (1949). Cocteau casts himself as an aging poet who knows he is dying (as indeed he was); his greatest desire is to be reborn so that he can qualify for celestial immortality. The stellar cast includes such French film favorites as Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jean Marais, and François Perier, along with Hollywood's Yul Brynner and such Cocteau friends and admirers as Pablo Picasso, singer Charles Aznavour, and bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguen. Given the influence Cocteau's influence over the French New Wave directors of the 1950s and 1960s, it is altogether appropriate that the producer of Testament of Orpheus was François Truffaut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Cocteau, Edouard Dermit, (more)
- 1960
Director Alexandre Astruc is known for his abstract, avant-garde works such as this interesting film about a woman longing for independence. Anna (Annie Girardon) is married to Eric (Daniel Gelin) who has old-fashioned ideas about a woman never working (outside the home, that is). But Eric is also magnanimous enough to "give" Anna the freedom to run her own gallery. His ambivalence remains unresolved, contributing to Anna's sense of loneliness. Her plight, in turn, leads her into a love affair with Bruno (Christian Marquand), a man much more romantic than her husband. But as she becomes more committed to her art gallery, the men in her life -- legitimate and otherwise -- start to fade for several reasons. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Girardot, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1960
Claude Magnier translated his stage play into this routine film which given its source, runs to words over action and visual nuances. The premise provides enough fodder to keep conversation going for some time, however. A man is driving in the countryside when he has car trouble and is forced to find help at the nearest house. No one seems to be around, so he goes in, drinks some water (that has a barbiturate dissolved in it), and then promptly falls asleep next to the lady of the house -- already sound asleep herself. When her husband comes home and discovers the two of them together, some explanations are forthcoming -- and a surprise ending as well. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Perier, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1960
A routine, wordy romantic drama about far-from-routine relationships, this tale by Pierre Kast looks at the personalities and love life of two couples. One couple is comprised of a writer and his wife, the writer being egocentric and out of inspiration after his one good novel. His wife is occupied with her own obsessions. The other couple is formed by a young diplomat and his tough, hard-nosed spouse. No one is faithful. As the foursome interact with each other, one of the women ends up with both of the men, and the remaining wife gets her husband's land for herself. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Françoise Arnoul, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1960
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
- Starring:
- Anne Heywood, José Suárez, (more)
- 1959
Released in 1963 in the U.S. under the title Julie the Redhead, this average yarn by director Claude Boissol begins with a first generation love story that is intentionally repeated in the second generation. When an artist falls in love with his model, he wants no more than to marry her and live happily ever after. Then his father calls him back to reality and forces him to join the family business, changing his life forever. He marries another woman, has a son, and dies leaving two-thirds of his fortune to his lost love. His son seeks out his father's old flame, only to discover that she has died and left a daughter behind. He then decides to romance the daughter so as to keep her inherited two-thirds of his father's fortune "all in the family." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Pascale Petit, (more)
- 1959
Sly and greedy young people endeavor to use l'amour to get their hands on a fortune in this French comedy. The story begins when an aspiring young artist falls hopelessly in love with his model Julie, an extraordinarily beautiful redhead. He desperately wants to marry her, but his father insists that he abandon the foolishness of art and take over the family business. The dutiful young son does so, but deep down regrets not pursuing his dream. He marries another and produces a son. Eventually he dies, leaving his son only one third of his empire. The rest he bequeathed to the beautiful, long-gone Julie. The son is anxious to find this enigmatic woman so he can buy her out. Unfortunately, she too has died and left the money to her daughter, also a Julie. To get at the fortune, he launches a whirlwind courtship. Unfortunately, things don't quite work out as planned. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
In this tragedy, a matador is deeply shaken by the death of a good friend who was gored in the ring and decides to retire. He then moves to a ranch to begin raising fighting bulls. His attempts at peace are disrupted by a nagging girlfriend who wants her lover to keep on being a national hero. Finally he returns to the ring only to get gored to death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Trois Jours a Vivre (Three Days to Live) takes off with a bang when two-bit actor Daniel Gelin witnesses a murder. He didn't see the killer, but that doesn't stop him from claiming that he did in order to get his name into the papers. Sure enough, the murderer targets Gelin as his next victim. Our hero is temporarily rescued by Jeanne Moreau, an aspiring actress who has always had a crush on him. Unfortunately, Moreau is likewise slated for extinction by the mystery murderer. Based on a novel by Peter Vanett, Trois Jours a Vivre was a bit too talky for American action fans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
- 1958
Yves Allegret's 3DLa Fille de Hambourg3D (literally 3DThe Girl of Hambourg3D) was released stateside as 3DPort of Desire3D. The film focuses on a former French POW named Pierre (Daniel Gelin) who returns to Germany after the war to seek out a fraulein named Maria (Hildegarde Knef), who extended the hand of kindness to him during his incarceration. Despite the fact that he is married, Pierre hopes to inagurate a romance with Maria, who now works in a seedy Hamburg nightclub. When Pierre is killed by a two-bit thief, Maria brokenheartedly assumes she's been deserted, a misapprehension that leads to tragedy. As was his wont, Allegret piles symbolism upon symbolism throughout 3DLa Fille de Hambourg3D. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Hildegarde Neff, (more)
- 1958
A prostitute is courted by two half-brothers. She marries one, and then must deal with the fallout of domestic friction. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Dany Carrel, (more)
- 1957
In this French comedy, a lovely chanteuse finds herself in very strange series of situations. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Retour de Manivelle (The Turn of the Handle) is an acceptable French approximation of Hollywood "film noir" techniques. Artist Peter Van Eyck rescues Daniel Gelin from drowning, takes the man home, and makes him his chauffeur. Gelin does his job well, even managing to fend off the romantic advances of Van Eyck's wife Michele Morgan (after all, he's got a good thing going with housemaid Michele Mercier). When the artist commits suicide, Morgan inveigles Gelin into rearranging the evidence so that the death will appear to be murder, lest she lose out on her husband's insurance money. The faithful Gelin agrees--a decision he lives to regret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1957
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
- Starring:
- Zizi Jeanmaire, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1957
In this romantic French drama, a young country girl heads for the City of Light to find romance and good fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
This French musical comedy is set in guess what European city? Daniel Gelin and Dany Robin play brother-and-sister nonconformists, who go out on the town for a night of cool jazz music and dancing (not with each other, of course!) In the course of the evening, Robin falls in love with Austrian pianist Adrian Hoven. To keep her new beau financially solvent, the girl innocently takes a rather shady job at a Parisian bar. Adrian misunderstands, but Gelin comes to his sister's rescue and reunites the lovers. The musical numbers are forgettable, but performed with flair by an energetic cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dany Robin, Daniel Gélin, (more)
