Christian Barbier Movies

A long parade of actors and actresses pop up in an unconnected series of skits, vignettes, and sight gags in this comedy anthology by Jean Curtelin. Among the sketches performed is one with Jean Carmet playing a man from the sticks woefully burdened with the challenge of getting through a dog food commercial on less than one tank of intelligible French. Another skit shows a silent duel between an airport custodian and an automatic door, while another with the renowned Michel Galabru sets up a strange teacher-student exchange. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this complex muddle of a spy story, Salomon (Miescyslaw Voit) is a Russian agent who was sent to West Berlin to complete an assassination and steal a notebook -- but ends up looking for his former lover and her son in Brussels while secret agents from all colors of the political spectrum are out to kill him. The son himself has his own marital problems to contend with, and soon he also becomes a focus of attention. Salomon's job is to somehow stay alive, though after many twists and turns in the plot, suspended disbelief has probably come crashing down for most viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

During the height of the tourist season, the rivalry between the manager of a slightly fancy restaurant and the proprietor of a nearby fast-food stand becomes quite heated, and shots are fired. In this comedy, the restaurant is run with an iron hand by its "patronne," (Annie Girardot), and the help eventually have had enough. If that weren't sufficient trouble, the children of the owners of both establishments are romantically entangled, further infuriating the passions of the feuding food fanatics. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this Belgian/French romance, based on the novel by Françoise Mallet-Joris, Tamara (Françoise Brion), a sex-hungry and ambitious woman "on the make," trifles with the affections of Lena (Sharon Gurney), in order to gain affection with Lena's wealthy father. When Tamara and the father are wed, Lena cultivates her wounded feelings and wants vengeance. Though now married, Tamara is unable to pummel her own lustful tendencies, and when the dashing, but rakish, Parisian director Gerfaud newly arrives in town, she sets her sights on him. Lena, seizing the opportunity for sweet revenge, gets to him first, and he whisks her away to the deluxe "Red Room" of a local brothel. However, getting a man into bed and enjoying it are two different things: Lena tells the man to desist and is raped for her pains. She succeeds in making Tamara furious, however, and the two women fight all the way back into each others arms. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A grandfather (Jean Gabin) kills a gangster who comes looking for his grandson at the family farm. The boy was involved in hiding heroin for the mob, but the grandfather finds the dope before the gang can retrieve it. He buries the dead goon in the back yard and drives his car into the stream. Soon other members of the gang come to the farm to search for the hidden drugs. The heroic grandfather systematically eliminates the criminals as he acts as judge, jury and executioner in his one man war on drugs and organized crime. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Albert (Hardy Kruger) is a Franciscan monk and a medical orderly at a monastery in France. Although he is German, the kindly monk helps hide French resistance members and gives medical treatment to anyone who needs it. Albert helps two Frenchmen who escape from a Nazi prison, and he tries to maintain the delicate balance between the warring factions by helping out the afflicted and not getting involved in political ideology. This film, based on a true story from the novel by Marc Toledano, was released nearly 23 years after the end of World War II. Some students of history allege that the French resistance was a much more insignificant affair than is shown in post-war films and express great bitterness about all Franco-German collaboration during the war. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Manu (Michel Constantin) is a drifter who becomes wealthy when he finds a lost treasure. He rescues Helene (Alexandra Stewart) by helping her escape from the mansion where she is kept prisoner, and Manu and Helene barely escape a pack of vicious dogs who are hot on their trail. Manu falls for Helene before he discovers she was responsible for turning over her sweetheart to the Nazis during World War II. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this WW II drama set during a weekend in June of 1940, German invaders force British troops to flee Dunkirk. The French soldiers stationed on a nearby beach also want to withdraw so they too can battle the Germans, but they have been ordered to stay in place and the British are to use the boats first. Though it is a bloody conflict and many innocent residents are killed, one young woman, Jeanne (Catherine Spaak) refuses to evacuate her home. She becomes friends with one of the French soldiers, Julien (Jean-Paul Belmondo) who later saves her from being raped. The situation on the beach grows increasingly tense as the waiting soldiers are easy targets for German warplanes. Julien tries to persuade Jeanne to leave this dangerous place. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide