Pierre Louis Movies
- 1961
The title role in the French comedy-fantasy A Martian in Paris is filled by Darry Cowl. The higher-ups in Mars want to learn all about that strange commodity, peculiar to the planet Earth, known as "Love". Darry soon figures out what makes the world go 'round when he meets the gorgeous Nicole Mirel. A Martian in Paris was obviously inspired by the 1960 American comedy A Visit to a Small Planet, which starred Jerry Lewis. Darry Cowl's imitation of Lewis is passable, but it certainly didn't fool the "Le Roi Crazy Jerry" idolators at Cahiers du Cinema and Positif magazine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darry Cowl, Nicole Mirel, (more)
- 1959
- NR
The Cow and I is purportedly based on the wartime experiences of its star, French farceur Fernandel. The horse-faced comedian plays a French farmer stuck in Germany strong-armed into working for the Nazis. Deciding to escape, Fernandel and his faithful cow walk across Deutschland to his home in France. After a series of picaresque adventures, the farmer and his bovine buddy make it to French soil, only to run afoul of collaborators. The Cow and I was originally released as La Vache et le Prisonnier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernandel, Pierre Louis, (more)
Francois Perier, Peter vanEyck, and Anouk Aimee star in this tense tale of five highly skilled thieves who all pool their resources in hopes of pulling off the perfect heist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The title of this French romantic drama refers to a dingy French café, where a less than reputable clientele gathers on a daily basis. Madeleine LeBeau, at one time the wife of French film favorite Marcel Dalio (they both appeared memorably in Casablanca), stars as a larcenous prostitute who shakes down lecherous businessmen by feigning pregnancy. One of her victims is a middle-aged man Henri Vilbert, who instead of offering to pay the girl off wants to do the "honorable thing" by marrying her. Touched by the man's decency and sincerity, the woman considers the possibility of changing her ways. Though frequently corny and obvious, Dupont-Barbes is hard to dislike. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Le Beau, Henri Vilbert, (more)
- 1950
Jean-Louis (Henri Vidal) makes his living by trapping deadly snakes and selling them to zoos. In love with shopgirl Simone (Francoise Arnoul), Jean-Louis gallantly comes to her defense during a minor skirmish with a policeman. Things get out of hand, and before long Jean-Louis is a fugitive from justice, leading the authorities on an appropriately serpentine chase through the streets of Paris. The film's "serpent" motif is further developed when Simone lands a job as a cabaret "snake dancer." If the viewer draws any analogies between Danger is a Woman and the story of Adam and Eve, then screenwriter Jacques Laurent (who adapted his own novel La Mort a Boire) has accomplished what he set out to do. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Françoise Arnoul, Henri Vidal, (more)
- 1948
This French WW II film chronicles the invasion of France by scores of English paratroopers who have come to bedevil the Nazi troops before D-Day. Much of the story centers on the preparation of the troops and upon the planning of the invasion. The rest follows the paratroopers as they team-up with French fighters and fulfill their missions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Blanchar
- 1931
Kameradschaft is set in a mining community on the French/German frontier, where several French miners are trapped in a cave-in. Their only hope for rescue lies in a long-abandoned underground tunnel, buried since the First World War. Ignoring the ethnic and political differences that have long separated the two countries, a group of German miners pick their way through the old tunnel to save the entombed Frenchmen. They do this despite the reluctance of the mine owners, who'd rather keep the nationalistic lines drawn, no matter how many lives it costs. When asked why they're willing to rescue the same people who'd forced their country into bankruptcy after the war, the German workmen reply "Miners are miners." Once the Frenchmen are brought to surface, however, the owners see to it that the borders knocked down by the Germans are quickly replaced; everything has changed, yet nothing has changed. Ironically, the German public, whose decency and humanity is celebrated in Kameradschaft, tended to avoid the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernst Busch, Andrée Ducret, (more)
