Jean Lefebvre Movies
- 1965
The first film directed by Costa-Gavras, The Sleeping Car Murders was based on a novel by Sebastien Japrisot. During a Marseilles-to-Paris overnight train trip, a girl is found dead in a sleeping car. As Paris detective Yves Montand steps up his investigation, more and more passengers turn up murdered. The unlikely climax is the only sore point of this otherwise well-wrought mystery. Bereft of the politicizing of Costa-Gavras' later works, The Sleeping Car Murders exhibits the director's fondness for American "film noir" thrillers. The film first hit Parisian movie screens under the title Compartiment Tueurs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, (more)
- 1965
A former gangster (Lino Ventura) comes out of retirement to help a petty thief (Jean Lefevbre) in this Gallic gangster comedy. Lino and his friend are confronted by a gang of long-haired British bikers who are after the money. Gadgets that are reminiscent of Bond-style spy films are used effectively as sight gags. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Mireille Darc, (more)
- 1965
In this French comedy, a clever fellow proves himself smarter than the gangsters who would exploit him. The trouble begins in Paris when the vacationing hero accidentally gets into an auto accident with a smuggler. The crook is most apologetic for the mishap and kindly offers to let him drive his Cadillac to Bordeaux and continue with his holiday. The poor traveler doesn't know that the vehicle is a black market on wheels carrying everything from jewels to heroine. He is pursued by the smuggler and by a rival gang. He is so busy enjoying himself that he doesn't bother to look back at the gun battles raging behind him. He ends up picking up two hitchhiking women and continuing his leisurely journey. When he finally realizes that they are using him, he drives the crooks right to the police station. Later he discovers that the steering wheel of the car contains the largest diamond in the world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis de Funès, Bourvil, (more)
- 1964
Inspector Cruchot takes his daughter to visit beautiful St. Tropez to celebrate his recent promotion to sergeant and ends up trying to arrest a beach full of nudists. Meanwhile, his daughter has her own problems when she, ashamed of her social status pretends to be an heiress and ends up getting involved with art thieves. This lively entry in the French "Gendarme" series follows what happens next. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis de Funès, Michel Galabru, (more)
- 1964
French comedian Louis de Funes stars as Garnier, a shopkeeper who gets taken advantage of by a local banker. He decides to retaliate by planning a bank robbery. Rather than going about it in a more conventional manner, Garnier begins digging a tunnel from his store, intending to reach the bank vault across the street. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis de Funès, Georges Wilson, (more)
- 1963
The French-made Of Flesh and Blood plays like "Dostoyevsky Meets Roger Corman." Robert Hossein finances his participation in a card game by stealing parts from a jeep. He cheats at cards, and has his hands broken as a consequence. Understandably unnerved by all this, Hossein murders an old woman. THEN...he becomes involved with passerby Renato Salvatori, who is fresh from an affair with Anouk Aimee. Three gold stars to anyone who can figure out the significance of all this. Maybe Of Flesh and Blood made more sense in its original French-language version Les Grands Chemins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Hossein, Anouk Aimée, (more)
- 1963
This crime comedy finds ex-gangster Fernand (Lino Ventura) receiving a call from a dying friend, a mob boss nicknamed "The Mexican" (Jacques Dumesnil). The doomed mobster talks Fernand into taking care of some criminal business and looking after his soon-to-be-married daughter (Sabine Sinjen). When a longtime mobster heavy, Volfoni (Bernard Blier) takes exception to Fernand for being an outsider, they come after Fernand who is equal to the task. He defends himself in a series of comical killings from the onslaught of the mob. Writer Albert Simonin adapted this comedy from his book Grisby or Not Grisby, with sharp dialogue written by Michel Audiard. Both Simonin and Audiard would later work on director Georges Lautner's Les Barbouzes/The Great Spy Chase which, along with Les Tontons Flingueurs, would again feature actors Francis Blanche, Lino Ventura and Bernard Blier. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, (more)
- 1963
Bebert (Martin Lartigue) is a five-year-old boy who gets separated from his older brother on a train. Comedy ensues as the precocious moppet observes the less-than-grown-up activities of the adults as he seeks to be reunited with his family. Panic-stricken adults continue the search for the missing boy in this delightful comedy directed by Yves Robert. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Higelin, Blanchette Brunoy, (more)
- 1963
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
- Starring:
- Robert Hossein, Catherine Rouvel, (more)
- 1962
Jackie Gleason plays Gigot, a lumbering but lovable mute Parisian derelict. Shunned by the "respectable" people around him, Gigot is beloved by the children. One of the kids, a little girl, is the melancholy daughter of an insensitive prostitute. Gigot befriends the lonely child and protects her against her wicked parent and the local constabulary. Gigot was heavily edited by 20th Century Fox prior to its release, and subsequently disowned by its director, Gene Kelly. Still, a few hilarious and genuinely poignant moments shine through in this Chaplinesque tour de force for Jackie Gleason, who not only starred but wrote the script and the musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Gleason, Katherine Kath, (more)
- 1962
Three screenwriters pooled their talents for the French racetrack drama Duke of the Derby. Jean Gabin plays a handicapper who's been living high on the hog (or horse) for years. While playing the ponies at Britain's Epson Downs, Gabin finally outsmarts himself. The rest of the story concerns his feverish efforts to recoup his former glory. Originally Le Gentleman D'Epsom, the film is also known as Grandes Seigneurs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Madeleine Robinson, (more)
- 1962
The former Belgian Congo was a popular topic for French-speaking filmmakers in the early '60s since the country was in the process of consolidating an independent government. Unfortunately, decades later the country (Zaire for a long time), was still unstable. In this routine drama two Congolese men, two European men, and one Euro woman are thrown together as they all try to escape the areas of fighting. The Europeans are torn between going back home or staying. One fellow lost his business in the upheavals and though he and the woman are involved with each other, she is not so certain that the Congo is an ideal place to try to re-establish a livelihood. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Courcel, Jean Lefebvre, (more)
- 1960
In this tragedy, a sailor heads to Hamburg to search for the girl who became his friend a decade before when he had been a POW in Germany. He finds her in the red-light district, the Reeperbahn, where she works as a mud-wrestler in a crummy dive. She hates her job, and she hates the seedy clientele. When she meets the sailor, her hopes of a better life rise. Even though he is already married, the two fall in love. He promises to return that very night, but he is later knifed to death by a mugger. The unknowing woman, assuming he has abandoned her, is crushed and commits suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Un Drole de Dimanche (What a Sunday) stars Danielle Darrieux as Catherine and Bourvil as her ex-husband Jean. By chance, Catherine and Jean are reunited five years after she walked out of his life. In a fit of romantic nostalgia, Jean mentally reconstructs the events that led up to their separation. He then determines to win her back, certain that he'll never, ever make the same mistakes again? or will he? Listed fifth in the cast of Un Drole de Dimanche is a young sprout named Jean Belmondo, who as Jean-Paul Belmondo would burst onto the international film scene in Godard's Breathless. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Darrieux, Bourvil, (more)
- 1958
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
- Starring:
- Daniel Gélin, Hildegarde Neff, (more)
- 1958
This Gallic costume farce is set in the 18th century. The plot concerns a group of fun-loving French soldiers who manage to circumvent a band of cutthroat pirates and win the undying loyalty of a tribal potentate. In so doing, our heroes secure possession of a group of unclaimed islands for the French Crown. Considering the ongoing problems in Indochina and Algeria, one would think that the history of French colonization would be the last subject any producer would pick for a film, let alone a comedy like La Bigorne, Caporal de France. For the record, the film's romantic throughline is carried by Francois Perier and Rosanna Podesta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Perier, Rossana Podestà, (more)
- 1958
When Jacques Decret (Gérard Oury) discovers that his wife Gloria (Jeanne Moreau) has been unfaithful, he devises an all-too-clever scheme of revenge in Edouard Molinaro's Le Dos au Mur (Back to the Wall): he sends her an anonymous blackmail letter. After she ignores the threat, he cranks up the pressure and sends incriminating photographs. While Gloria does send him the money, she and her lover Yves (Philippe Nicaud) try to fight back. But Jacques outsmarts them by turning the lovers against each other. Not surprisingly, the plan spirals out of control, and the results are even more sordid than Jacques had intended. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Oury, (more)
