DCSIMG
 
 

Nadia Gray Movies

Of Russian-Rumanian descent, Nadia Gray left Bucharest in the late '40s when the Communists took over. Arriving in Paris with her aviator husband, who claimed to be (and probably was) a European prince, she made her first screen appearance in L'Inconnue D'un Soir (1948). Specializing in aristocratic, jet-set roles, she was memorable as a decadent partygoer named Nadia in Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and as Francoise in Stanley Donen's Two For the Road (1967). Fans of TV's The Prisoner will remember her guest star turn in the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben." Marrying a second time to a Manhattan attorney, Nadia Gray left films behind in 1976 to settle in New York, where she began a second career as a night club entertainer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
1967  
 
Frank Sinatra stars in this espionage thriller filmed at the height of the Cold War. Sam Laker (Sinatra) is an American industrial designer working in London. When Laker travels to East Germany on business, he brings along his ten-year-old son, and he ends up running into Martin Slattery (Peter Vaughn), an old Army buddy now working with British intelligence. Slattery tries to persuade Laker to put his wartime skills as a sniper to good use against a rogue agent now working with the communists. Laker refuses, but he reluctantly agrees to deliver a message to Karen Gisevius (Nadia Gray), who worked with the anti-Nazi resistance during the war. Laker returns from his errand to discover that his son has been kidnapped; Col. Hartmann (Derren Nesbitt), a communist operative, informs Laker that his boy will be held until he is willing to perform an assassination on their behalf. The Naked Runner was produced by Brad Dexter; Frank Sinatra, a man of fierce loyalties, often worked with Dexter after the producer saved Sinatra's life in a drowning incident. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Frank SinatraPeter Vaughan, (more)
 
1967  
 
In this episode of the cult-favorite TV series The Prisoner, Number 6 (Patrick McGoohan) appears to be developing an artistic side when he begins work on a series of sculptures for an art exhibit. What his captors do not realize is that they can be assembled into a boat, and Number 6 uses them to sail away from the Village. In time, Number Six reaches England, where he returns to the offices of the espionage organization from which he attempted to resign, only to discover he's fallen into a trap. Leo McKern plays Village leader Number Two in this episode, while Finlay Currie and Nadia Gray highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Leo McKern
 
1967  
 
In this anthology, six French filmmakers each contributed a vignette, offering their take on the history of prostitution. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Michele MercierElsa Martinelli, (more)
 
1967  
 
Add Two for the Road to Queue Add Two for the Road to top of Queue  
In preparing his romantic comedy Two For the Road, director Stanley Donen decided to utilize many of the cinematic techniques popularized by the French "nouvelle vague" filmmakers. Jump cutting back and forth in time with seeming abandon, Donen and scriptwriter Frederic Raphael chronicle the 12-year relationship between architect Wallace (Albert Finney) and his wife (Audrey Hepburn). While backpacking through Europe, student Finney falls for lovely music student Jacqueline Bisset, but later settles for Hepburn, another aspiring musician (this vignette served as the launching pad for the film-within-a-film in Francois Truffaut's 1973 classic Day for Night). Once married, Finney and Hepburn go on a desultory honeymoon, travelling in the company of insufferable American tourists William Daniels and Eleanor Bron and their equally odious daughter Gabrielle Middleton. Later on, during yet another road trip, Finney is offered an irresistible job opportunity by Claude Dauphin, which ultimately distances Finney from his now-pregnant wife. Still remaining on the road, the film then details Finney and Hepburn's separate infidelities. The film ends where it begins, with Finney and Hepburn taking still another road vacation, hoping to sew up their unraveling marriage. While critics did nip-ups over Stanley Donen's "revolutionary" nonlinear story-telling techniques, audiences responded to the chemistry between Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney, not to mention the unforgettable musical score by Henry Mancini. Note: many TV prints of Two for the Road are edited for content, robbing the viewer of Finney and Hepburn's delightful "Bitch/Bastard" closing endearments. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Audrey HepburnAlbert Finney, (more)
 
1966  
 
In this western, a brave cowboy and his loyal partner Winnetou agree to help Mexican villagers defend their home from a vicious bandito gang. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Rod CameronPierre Brice, (more)
 
1965  
 
This British programmer was filmed on the cheap in Yugoslavia, with an American star, Robert Ryan, to secure U.S. playdates. Ryan plays an American journalist who views with alarm as a dictator (Stewart Granger) runs roughshod over the citizens of an unnamed Balkan country. The news hound puts together enough incriminating evidence to topple the dictator from power. The problem for Ryan lies with staying alive long enough to make his findings public--a chancy prospect once the powers-that-be frame the journalist for murder. The Crooked Road was adapted from The Big Story, a novel by Morris West. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
1964  
 
Much of this drama parallels the action in the famed medieval morality play Everyman. The movie begins with an industrial magnate's visit to Salzburg. There he sees his friend who will be playing "Death" in the city's yearly production of the medieval play. He also meets a woman who soon becomes his mistress. Not long after that, he suffers a heart attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Curd JürgensNadia Gray, (more)
 
1964  
 
A governor and a pirate captain each view a beautiful Indian heiress as the object of his desire in this film set against the backdrop of New World colonization by Spain. ~ Rovi

 Read More

 
1963  
 
An American artist travels to rural France for a relaxing vacation and ends up falling for a lovely young woman, whose father is the owner of a cafe. Unfortunately, her father is not in town, as he is locked up in the local looney bin for immolating the man who raped his daughter. The trouble begins when the girl's stepmother seduces the artist and then convinces him to help her free her murderous husband, a man who cannot bear the thought of a man touching his beloved daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Kerwin MathewsNadia Gray, (more)
 
1962  
 
This French-filmed trifle is based on the roguish character created by Ponson du Terrail. American actor Channing Pollock is Rocambole, living by wits in Paris. The film recounts his adventures as he goes from one swinging nightspot to another. Along the way, he breaks a few hearts, but holds out promise for others. A moderate success in the American art-house circuit, Rocambole did even better when released to TV. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Channing PollockEdy Vessel, (more)
 
1961  
 
Robert Hossein serves as both director and star of The Game of Truth. The scene is a party thrown by a capricious novelist. During an elaborate word game, one of the guests, a late arrival, is murdered. Thus begins a round robin of accusations, recriminations and surprising revelations. Cunningly, the film's screenplay is designed in the form of a game, allowing the more adventurous viewers to vicariously play along. Game of Truth was originally released in France as La Jeu de la Verite; the film's American exposure was largely confined to Late Late Show screenings. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Robert HosseinJean Servais, (more)
 
1961  
 
Mr. Topaze was based on a play by Marcel Pagnol, previously filmed twice before with John Barrymore and Fernandel. Peter Sellers stars as a French college professor, known far and wide for his integrity. He refuses to improve a grade on the paper of one student, whose influential father sees to it that Sellers is fired. Cast adrift in the business world, Sellers is hired by a crooked liquor executive (Herbert Lom) to act as "front" for the benefit of the authorities. When Sellers catches on how much money there is in the business, his honesty evaporates and he becomes as underhanded as the next fellow. The love of Joan Sims enables Sellers to change his ways before his dishonesty can become disastrous. Mr. Topaze was rereleased in 1963 as I Like Money; once again, however, no one wanted to see a "straight" Peter Sellers in a role that called out for the broad comedy he did so well. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Peter SellersNadia Gray, (more)
 
1960  
 
Add La Dolce Vita to Queue Add La Dolce Vita to top of Queue  
In one of the most widely seen and acclaimed European movies of the 1960s, Federico Fellini featured Marcello Mastrioanni as gossip columnist Marcello Rubini. Having left his dreary provincial existence behind, Marcello wanders through an ultra-modern, ultra-sophisticated, ultra-decadent Rome. He yearns to write seriously, but his inconsequential newspaper pieces bring in more money, and he's too lazy to argue with this setup. He attaches himself to a bored socialite (Anouk Aimée), whose search for thrills brings them in contact with a bisexual prostitute. The next day, Marcello juggles a personal tragedy (the attempted suicide of his mistress (Yvonne Furneaux)) with the demands of his profession (an interview with none-too-deep film star Anita Ekberg). Throughout his adventures, Marcello's dreams, fantasies, and nightmares are mirrored by the hedonism around him. With a shrug, he concludes that, while his lifestyle is shallow and ultimately pointless, there's nothing he can do to change it and so he might as well enjoy it. Fellini's hallucinatory, circus-like depictions of modern life first earned the adjective "Felliniesque" in this celebrated movie, which also traded on the idea of Rome as a hotbed of sex and decadence. A huge worldwide success, La Dolce Vita won several awards, including a New York Film Critics CIrcle award for Best Foreign Film and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Marcello MastroianniYvonne Furneaux, (more)
 
1960  
 
Jean-Pierre Cassel is ideally cast as the hopelessly optimistic Candide in this noir updating of Voltaire's classic 18th-century social satire. Candide has been assured by his ivory-tower professor (Pierre Brasseur) that whatever fate befalls him, he will be all the better for it. Armed with the confidence of the ignorant, Candide is abused by practically everyone he comes across (he has a particularly rough time in a German POW camp), but somehow emerges with his faith in humanity unscathed. His picaresque adventures take him all the way to the Americas, both North and South. Just as in most stage versions of Candide, some of the supporting actors play double and triple roles: Robert Manuel, for example, portrays all the German officers Candide meets. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Pierre BrasseurMichel Simon, (more)
 
1960  
 
A typical light comedy based on a novel by Richard Gordon, The Captain's Table has director Jack Lee at its own helm, riding high on the success of his 1956 A Town Like Alice. Captain Ebbs (John Gregson) brings a part of his freighter experience with him as he takes charge of an ocean liner for the first time. He soon finds that the tactics that worked on the freighter do not work here, though his crew could use some discipline. His purser has sticky fingers, his chief officer has a roving eye, and the steward has his own problems. And then there are passengers like the secret heiress, the charming widow, the temptress, the would-be novelist, and the offensive VIP. Eventually, the captain catches on to the nuances of his new role, confident that he and the "Love Boat" can weather any storm. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
John GregsonPeggy Cummins, (more)
 
1959  
 
Jean-Louis Trintignant's star was just rising when he took on the role of Carlo in this engrossing wartime coming-of-age story. Carlo is a young man living in his own world and blithely inattentive to the real war that is happening not very far away. This is particularly striking because he is the son of a high-level fascist. The year is 1943 and he has gone to a seaside resort on vacation where he meets the beautiful, older widow Roberta (Eleonora Rossi Drago). Carlo is smitten and in spite of various obstacles, he and Roberta enter into a romantic liaison. Then one day Allied forces land on the coast and Carlo is faced with the realities of war and a reassessment of his life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Eleonora Rossi-DragoJean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
 
1958  
 
Variously titled La Parisienne and Une Parisienne, Parisienne, this Franco-Italian co-production is one of Brigitte Bardot's best vehicles. The daughter of the Premier of France (no, not DeGaulle!), La Bardot is married to Henri Vidal, the premier's chief aide. When Vidal shows signs of straying from his marital vows, Bardot decides to fight fire with fire. She enchants visiting nobleman Charles Boyer, who invites her to a romantic rendezvous on the Riviera. The outraged Vidal tracks down the would-be lovers, only to discover that nothing has happened-both Bardot and Boyer fell victim to head colds, and spent the weekend sneezing rather than smooching. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Brigitte BardotCharles Boyer, (more)
 
1958  
 
The French-filmed Senechal the Magnificent is set during World War II. Fernandel plays a none-too-intelligent travelling entertainer who, through a case of mistaken identity, takes the place of a famed nightclub artiste named Senechal. Fernandel's gift for mimicry makes him a big hit in Paris; however, he spends most of his time looking over his shoulder, hoping the real Senechal never shows up. When the time comes to outwit the occupying Nazi troops, Fernandel's skill at impressions becomes a life-or-death commodity. Senechal le Magnifique was (surprise!) the original French title for this Danny Kaye-like comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
1957  
 
Eddie Constantine stars as Bob, an American GI at large in Paris. After attending a performance of the fabled Folies-Bergere, Bob becomes convinced that one of the dancers, a feisty little number named Claudia (Zizi Jeanmaire), has stolen his wallet. When he confronts her with this accusation, she reacts in predictably volatile fashion--and before either one of them quite knows what has happened, Bob and Claudia are married! The remaining reels of Folies-Bergere chart the turbulent course of the marriage, as Bob becomes jealous that so many males get to see so much of Claudia on a nightly basis. Despite its come-hither title, Folies-Bergere is about as racy as a seed catalogue. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Eddie ConstantineZizi Jeanmaire, (more)