Jean Lefebvre Movies

This Roger Vadim production was released in the US as ...And God Created Woman. Vadim's then-wife Brigitte Bardot plays the central character, a curvaceous nymphet with a voracious sexual appetite. In fact, it isn't what Bardot does in bed but what she might do that drives the three principal male characters (Curd Jurgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Christian Marquand) into an erotic frenzy. Most available prints of ...And God Created Woman have been heavily edited to conform with the prevailing censorial standards of 1957. Vadim remade his own film in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bluebeard is the retelling of the now familiar story of a wealthy aristocrat who marries and murders and marries again. Baron Von Sepper (Richard Burton), the BlueBeard of the story, meets and marries Anne (Joey Heatherton) who becomes suspicious of Von Sepper when she finds evidence of his murders shortly after their wedding. Van Sepper then, in graphic detail, tells Anne the stories of his former wives' lives and deaths. The movie, directed with ham-handed archness by Edward Dmytryk, attempts to tell the story as a black comedy. Despite an array of beautiful women, including (Virna Lisi), (Nathalie Delon) and (Raquel Welch), nothing can distract from the abysmal performances of Burton and Heatherton. The film has some nice costumes and is beautifully photographed by cinematographer Gabor Pogany, but all the humor is unintentional and the actors, particularly Richard Burton all seem to wish they were elsewhere. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In this French crime drama, two safe-crackers are breaking into a safe when they are caught in the act by a guard. One of the crooks kills the guard and flees leaving his partner behind. The abandoned accomplice is captured and convicted. One year passes before the convict is able to escape from prison and set out to exact his revenge. As he flees, he becomes friends with a gas station owner married to a gold-digging ex-hooker. When the wife learns that the hero is a fugitive she blackmails him into cracking her husband's safe. Unfortunately, they are captured by the owner who is killed in the ensuing scuffle by his wife. The fugitive hero then buries the body. He refuses to open the safe. As fate would have it, the fugitive's ex-partner happens upon the scene, but he too will not open the save. A short time later, the wife leaves. The partners then attempt to open it, but are surprised when the murderous wife returns with a shotgun. The fugitive's partner kills the girl, but as he tries to flee the police, his car careens into the gas pumps and explodes in a tremendous ball of fire. Fortunately, the hero escapes at the very last second. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The greatest film that Alfred Hitchcock never made, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Diabolique is set in a provincial boarding school run by headmaster Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse). A ruthless lothario, he becomes the target of a murder plot concocted by his long-suffering invalid wife Christina (Vera Clouzot, the director's own spouse) and his latest mistress, an icy teacher played by Simone Signoret. A dark, dank thriller with a much-imitated "shock" ending, Diabolique is a masterpiece of Grand Guignol suspense. The simple murder plot goes haywire, and Michel's corpse disappears, prompting strange rumors of his reappearance which grow more and more substantial as the film careens wildly towards its breathless conclusion. Later remade as a greatly inferior 1996 Hollywood feature with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

An artist fending off his detractors (more imagined than real) ends up making things more difficult for himself in this satiric comedy. Kevin Kazanovitch (Mike Marshall) is a theatrical director whose latest production, a farcical comedy, has become a resounding success. But Kazanovitch is by his nature high-strung and has a pronounced streak of paranoia, and when he's informed that he's to receive a highly coveted award for his work, Kazanovitch is certain it's part of a plot by his detractors to discredit him. The director is so thoroughly convinced of this that he decides to rewrite a few scenes of his play to comment on those he believes are trying to ruin him; he calls his cast to a special rehearsal of the material one afternoon, but Yves Lempereur (Yves Afonso), the show's leading man, gets in an auto accident while rushing to the theater from shooting a television commercial. As chance would have it, the man who hit Lempereur's car was Gaston (Jean Lefebvre), who happens to be dating Fifi Flores (Lili Vonderfield), an actress in the show. Lempereur is injured in the accident and will not be able to tread the boards for a few weeks; Kazanovitch is in a panic, until he discovers Gaston has a photographic memory and can learn Lempereur's lines in a flash (and plays the role nearly as well as the more experienced actor). However, after Gaston is cast in the play, Kazanovitch discovers his new star has a secret life, including a long-standing addiction to gambling. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

During a vacation to a remote tropical hideaway on the African Maurice Islands, two Parisians (Jean Lefebvre and Henri Guybet), rather the worse for wear, urinate on a sacred totem statue. This irreverent act brings them to the attention of the local gods, who punish them by making them invisible in mirrors, giving them telekinetic gifts, and causing them to levitate at odd times. As they grow accustomed to their strange condition, they find ways to take advantage of it to straighten out their problems. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Nowhere is the sharp divide between the English and French-speaking Canadians more clearly brought home than in this Canadian/French comedy. The filmmakers are clearly on the pro-French side of the Canadian language wars. A couple from Quebec decide to take a vacation with their two children all the way west through Canada, to the city of Vancouver. The husband is from France, and does not understand the tensions and difficulties the wife expects to face. By the end of the journey, however, he takes the witless incomprehension of English speakers sufficiently for granted to freely join his wife in insulting his Vancouver hosts in French. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This French film updates a classic tale by Voltaire and uses it as an allegory in which divisions of race and class are explored. In the film, Ingenu (Renaud Verly) is a native of India, working in another country. His charms beguile the youngest daughter of an upper-class family, and she falls in love with him and wants to marry him. This upsets the family for several reasons: he is not wealthy, he is dark-skinned, and he is not of their class. Indeed, before he came along, the daughter was slated to marry a wealthy business tycoon who, even though he was not of the "right" class, at least had money and the right skin color. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Yves Allegret's 3DLa Fille de Hambourg3D (literally 3DThe Girl of Hambourg3D) was released stateside as 3DPort of Desire3D. The film focuses on a former French POW named Pierre (Daniel Gelin) who returns to Germany after the war to seek out a fraulein named Maria (Hildegarde Knef), who extended the hand of kindness to him during his incarceration. Despite the fact that he is married, Pierre hopes to inagurate a romance with Maria, who now works in a seedy Hamburg nightclub. When Pierre is killed by a two-bit thief, Maria brokenheartedly assumes she's been deserted, a misapprehension that leads to tragedy. As was his wont, Allegret piles symbolism upon symbolism throughout 3DLa Fille de Hambourg3D. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy follows the misadventures of a group of military goofballs who nonetheless manage to help the Resistance following the brief French war effort against the Nazis. They inadvertently stumble on a Resistance operation while out hunting and are forced to get involved. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Tunisia is a rough placed to be trapped in, especially if you are an Israeli spy (Jean-Pierre Marielle) on the run. Fortunately, the French embassy gives the ill-fated fellow a place to hide. Unfortunately, they can't smuggle him out, because there is an airline strike. Fortunately, he finds love and comfort with a young Frenchwoman (Mireille Darc) working at the embassy. Eventually, she convinces a French friend of hers (Michel Constantin) to help them escape. This comedy/spy movie is in French. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide