Louise Lambert Movies
- 1980
One of Canada's talented directors, actress Micheline Lanctot expresses an effective, engaging approach in this simple, poignant drama about Armand (Jocelyn Berube), a handyman with one problem romance after another. The quiet Armand settles into Montreal after his wife has left him and before long, he continues the momentum when an ill-considered liaison with a nubile woman ends on her insistence. Next, Armand gives his heart to a frustrated housewife, though this decision is hardly well thought out. In the meantime, a gay man who rents out a room in his apartment has unfulfilled longings directed at the unsuspecting handyman. L'Homme a Tout Faire won a Silver Medal for "Best Picture" at the 1980 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jocelyn Berube, Andree Pelletier, (more)
A year after Get Carter (1971), director Mike Hodges and star Michael Caine reunited for this comic crime thriller. Caine stars as Mickey King, a writer of cheap paperback detective novels, living in Rome and cranking one noir book after another. King is approached by Ben Dinuccio (Lionel Stander) and offered an abnormally large sum to ghost write the autobiography of a mystery celebrity. The intrigued King agrees and is transported to a remote island where he meets his subject, Preston Gilbert (Mickey Rooney), a one-time movie star known for playing gangsters and notorious for hanging out with real-life mobsters off the set (a sly jab at Frank Sinatra and George Raft). Now dying of cancer, Gilbert wants King to jot down his life story before he dies. Although he's an abusive jerk, Gilbert's had an interesting life and King sets about getting it all down on paper, but then the star is murdered at a party, leaving King with no conclusion to his tale. Playing detective like the heroes of his stories, King pieces together a mystery involving Gilbert's past, his ex-wife, a transvestite who's supposed to be dead, and an Italian prince running for office. Though largely dismissed at the time of its release by fans and critics disappointed at its dissimilarity to Get Carter, Pulp (1972) was championed by a few and became something of a cult favorite over subsequent decades. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Mickey Rooney, (more)
- 1970
This chilling mystery begins when Lucy Dawson (Flora Robson) is found strangled in her apartment. Her nephew Tim (David Hemmings) is the former-drug-addict-turned-successful-author who wrote a book about his experiences. When Tim looks into his aunt's death, people give sketchy answers and the police offer little help. Apparently they think his pleas are simply a drug-addict's ravings. As he investigates he begins to find himself plagued by threatening phone calls, and his own paranoia. The pressure begins mounting until at last he suffers a complete breakdown. As a result, the murder is never solved. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Hemmings, Gayle Hunnicutt, (more)
