Claude Gensac Movies

Cloud Waltzing was the second of the Showtime Cable service's "Harlequin Romance" films. Kathleen Beller stars as the daughter of a prominent financier who supports herself as a journalist. While working on an investigative report about the top financial wheeler-dealers in Europe, she falls in love with a handsome but reclusive French vintner, played by Francois Eric-Gendron. The film's title refers to hot-air ballooning, the sport that brings hero and heroine together. Not rated, this film contains a brief nude scene. Based on a novel by Harlequin stalwart Tony Cates, Cloud Waltzing was first telecast February 14, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Isabelle (Jodie Foster) is a young American girl who has accompanied her older sister Ble (Sydne Rome) a model, to Paris. There, the two of them have romances. For the teenaged Isabelle, her romantic and sexual encounter with Isidore (Bernard Giraudeau) is her first. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this characteristic French farce, Louis De Funes in the role of Antoine spoofs the 1959 American classic black comedy, Gazebo. In Jo, De Funes is being investigated by the police because his name was on a list kept by a missing blackmailer who is presumed to be dead. Antoine has good reason to know, as he was there when the fellow died; in the moment he almost managed to shoot the man, someone else kills him. He is stuck with the body, and he keeps having to move it while the police are watching him. Fortunately for him, they are somewhat inept. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This comedy finds a family turned upside down by a new addition to the house. Hubert (Louis De Funes) and his wife (Claude-Gensac) are shocked to discover her grandfather has been found frozen in a block of ice at the South Pole. Scientists revive the man, who still appears to be 25 years old. Hubert is reluctant to take in the man until he learns he is extremely wealthy. Doctors keep the news of the man's fortune from him and swear Hubert to secrecy so the man won't suddenly die from the shock. Hubert is full of familial affection for his wife's grandfather, who is mistaken for Hubert's son. The grandfather ends up marrying the fiancee of Hubert's son. Although the premise for this story is amusing, it was used in the American television program "The Second Hundred Years" in 1967 and should hardly be considered original. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Bertrand (Louis De Funes) is a victim of blackmail when a man asks for his daughter's hand in marriage in this madcap comedy of errors. The suitor offers money he has embezzled in exchange for permission to wed the young woman. The trouble is that the woman is not really Bertrand's daughter but a woman who had only borrowed her name. Bertrand agrees to let Oscar the chauffeur marry the woman without revealing that she is not really his own daughter. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This moral melodrama follows a female gynecologist (Marie-Jose Nat) who aggressively promotes birth control methods (at a time when birth control was still taboo in France) in order to avoid unnecessary abortions. In a twist of irony, the unmarried lady doctor becomes pregnant herself, but decides to have the baby in spite of the difficulties it will bring to her professional career. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

La Vie d'un Honnette Homme was the sole 1953 contribution from indefatigable French filmmaker Sacha Guitry, who scripted and directed. Surprisingly, Guitry does not play the film's titular "honest man." Michel Simon essays that role -- or rather, "roles," since Simon plays twin brothers, ant-and-grasshopper types. Secretly, the wealthy and industrious Albert has always envied his carefree brother's lifestyle. When his brother dies, Albert takes his sibling's place, experiencing true happiness for the first time in his life. Despite Albert's duplicity, the film's title is still appropriate: Guitry argues that it's possible to lie to the world so long as you're honest with yourself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide