Gerard Landry Movies

The Count of Besacon is sent out to rescue the sons of the King of France from Arab pirates in this adventure film. ~ Rovi

A dictatorship is the target of a rebellion led by a single man. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this high-seas adventure, a dashing pirate and his loyal crew take on a wicked king forced his way onto the throne with his own bad pirates. The newly empowered villain kidnaps the daughter of the deposed Duke and forces her into marriage. Fortunately, the good pirates attack on her wedding day. A long, bloody battle takes place while the palace women, including the bride take refuge in the dungeon. The conniving leader ruthlessly orders the dungeon flooded, but fortunately, the good pirate manages to save all the women, while the bad one finds himself impaled by his own booby-trap. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Once branded himself by the House Un-American Activities Committee, award-winning director Martin Ritt focuses on the cruel branding of five women in this standard wartime drama. Some of his better-known films (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, Norma Rae) also deal with the question of social and ethical choices in the face of pressure. In this story, the savagery of the Yugoslav partisans as they fight off Nazi occupation forces is also vented on five women accused of Nazi sympathies because of their sexual association with one German officer. The women (played by Silvana Mangano, Vera Miles, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jeanne Moreau, and Carla Gravina) have their heads shaved in order to brand them as traitors. What the partisans did to the German officer (Steve Forrest) in revenge for sleeping with these women was much worse. Intermittently shocking, the film with its excess cruelty and hatreds stands as a good indictment against war and its causes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Former circus aerialist Burt Lancaster was the logical choice to star in the Technicolor drama Trapeze. Lancaster plays a crippled acrobat, disabled after attempting to perform a dangerous triple mid-air somersault. Tony Curtis co-stars as an aspiring aerialist who coerces Lancaster into teaching him the tricks of the trade. The friendship between Lancaster and Curtis is threatened by the arrival of beautiful, ambitious circus tumbler Gina Lollobridgida (it's a toss-up as to which of the three stars looks best in spangled tights). Surprisingly, Lancaster's former circus partner Nick Cravat is nowhere to be found in the film; we are, however, treated to the harmonica virtuosity of Johnny Puleo. Trapeze is highlighted by its truly breathtaking stunt sequences, performed by the cream of the European big-top circuit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Jacqueline Audry, the director of the 1948 hit Gigi, called the shots on 1954's La Caraque Blonde (The Blonde Gypsy). Tilda Thamar plays the title character, a voluptuous golden-haired gypsy lass named Myra. Rising to fame as a dancer, Myra soon finds herself trapped by her celebrity. She decides to don a brunette wig and travel about incognito -- but just for a while. While thus disguised, Myra falls head over tambourine in love with handsome rice planter Antoine (Roger Pigaut). Their future happiness is threatened by the mean-spirited Pedro (Gerard Landry), Myra's blackmailing ex-lover. La Caraque Blonde was filmed in the Camarque district, the French equivalent to Chatsworth, California in terms of its overuse on the screen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi