Jacques Marin Movies

It's love at first spark plug for Herbie, the spunky Disney Volkswagen, in Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo. Herbie reunites with Jim Douglas (Dean Jones), his driver from the original The Love Bug, as they participate in the annual Monte Carlo road rally. Herbie holds his own in the qualifying races, but he blows a gasket over a lovely powder-blue Lancia named Giselle. Jim also catches the eye of the attractive driver of Giselle, the fresh-faced Diane Darcy (Julie Sommars). With the love bug biting again, the romantic infatuations of man and metal end up interfering with the auto race. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Doc Levy (Roy Scheider) is an American secret agent who has been running interference between the U.S. government and escaped Nazi war criminal Szell (Laurence Olivier). Believing that Doc has stolen a valuable cache of gems, Szell emerges from his South American hiding place and heads for New York. He has Doc killed, then kidnaps Doc's in-the-dark brother, Babe (Dustin Hoffman). Repeating the phrase "Is it safe?" over and over, Szell, a onetime concentration camp dentist, tries to extract information from Babe by performing sadistic "oral surgery" upon him. Babe, who still doesn't know about the gems, escapes, breaking his own self-imposed rule of nonviolence to defend himself against his pursuers and gearing up for sadistic revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jane Birkin stars in this sex farce as a young British prostitute in Paris who, after her soft-core business fails, decides to go big-time and incorporate herself, selling stock to four disparate investors. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In 1974, flanked by such filmic monuments to paranoia and corruption as Chinatown and The Parallax View, Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland tried to re-create the screwball nonchalance of their earlier M*A*S*H performances in this lightweight spy spoof, directed by Irvin Kershner. Gould and Sutherland play two CIA agents -- Griff and Bruland -- who are marked for death by their own agency after botching the defection of a Russian ballet dancer (Michael Petrovich). As they repeatedly mess up their assignments and wriggle out of tight corners, they not only find themselves pursued by the CIA, but also by the KGB, the Chinese Communists, and a terrorist group that wants to destroy the CIA. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this characteristic French farce, Louis De Funes in the role of Antoine spoofs the 1959 American classic black comedy, Gazebo. In Jo, De Funes is being investigated by the police because his name was on a list kept by a missing blackmailer who is presumed to be dead. Antoine has good reason to know, as he was there when the fellow died; in the moment he almost managed to shoot the man, someone else kills him. He is stuck with the body, and he keeps having to move it while the police are watching him. Fortunately for him, they are somewhat inept. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Also known as La Fiancée du Pirate and Dirty Mary, this French comedy noir stars Bernadette Lafont as Marie, the title character. Early in the game, Marie learns how to use sex as a means to an end. She enjoys the favors of several of her town's leading citizens, not-too-subtly suggesting that her silence can be bought. Nearly driven out of town by the local moral arbiters, Marie strikes a blow against hypocrisy with a deliciously creative revenge. A Very Curious Girl is the sort of harmless French fare that used to pop up on your local Late Late Late Show in-between the Vegomatic ads and the "Live Better Electrically" public-service spots. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Taken from the popular play by Jean Giraudoux, The Madwoman Of Chaillot has an international all-star cast, but the final result falls short despite the talents of the celebrated thespians. The madwoman in question is the extremely eccentric Countess Aurelia (Katherine Hepburn). Roderick (Richard Chamberlain) is the peace-loving activist who, along with a local rag picker (Danny Kaye), warns the Countess of a plot to destroy the city. A quartet of villains led by the Chairman (Yul Brynner) are after the oil reserves that bubble under the water supply. Along with the Broker (Charles Boyer), the Commissar (Oscar Homolka), and the Prospector (Donald Pleasence), the evil developers plan to secure the oil rights to the region with or without the consent of the unsuspecting public. The Countess invites Josephine (Dame Edith Evans) to judge the villains, who are locked in the Countess's cellar for their crimes against the people of Paris in this lethargic film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the novel by C. Virgil Gheorghiu, this satirical concentration-camp drama from Turkish-born French director Henri Verneuil stars Anthony Quinn as Johann Moritz, a Romanian peasant who experiences the horrors of World War II when the Nazis invade his country. Because local police chief Dobresco (Gregoire Aslan) is anamorous towards Moritz's wife Suzanna (Virna Lisi), he has the lowly fieldhand falsely labeled a Jew and sent to a work camp. Moritz's troubles continue to mount, as his wife is threatened with losing their property unless she divorces him. Also starring Michael Redgrave, La Vingt-cinquième heure is also known as The 25th Hour, though it should not be confused with and bears no resemblance to the 2002 Spike Lee film of the same name. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In this wartime melodrama, Lieutenant Colonel Raspeguy (Anthony Quinn) is a French peasant who has worked his way up the military ladder during the French involvement in Indochina. Sent to Algeria, Raspeguy must mold a group of raw recruits into a competent fighting unit. He calls on Esclavier (Alain Delon), his sensitive assistant who eventually deserts the military out of frustration over the pointlessness of war. Raspeguy's other assistant is Boisfeuras (Maurice Ronet), the affable officer whose outside demeanor hides the heart of a vicious killer who loves the bloodlust of battle. Raspeguy takes up with Countess De Clairefons (Michele Morgan), the widow of a respected general. She promises Raspeguy she will marry him if he comes back from the conflict as a general. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In the second installment of the parodic Fantomas series, the title arch criminal and master of disguise kidnaps prominent scientist Prof. Marchand in order to develop a new powerful weapon to threaten the world. Fantomas is also planning to kidnap another scientist, Prof. Lefebvre. Journalist Fandor (Jean Marais, who also plays Fantomas and Prof. Lefebvre) decides to set a trap for the elusive villain. He disguises himself as Lefebvre and attends a scientific conference in Rome expecting Fantomas to kidnap him. As always, Fandor's ingenious plan backfires due to the interference of the bumbling police commissioner Juve (Louis de Funès). ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide

Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn star in this stylish comedy-thriller directed by Stanley Donen, very much in a Hitchcock vein. Grant plays Peter Joshua, who meets Reggie Lampert (Hepburn) in Paris and later offers to help her when she discovers that her husband has been murdered. After the funeral, Reggie is summoned to the embassy and warned by agent/friend Bartholemew (Walter Matthau) that her late husband helped steal 250,000 dollars during the war and that the rest of the gang is after the money as well. When three of the men who attended her husband's funeral begin to harass her, Reggie goes to Joshua for help, at which time Joshua confesses that his name is actually Alexander Dyle, the brother of a fourth accomplice in the gold theft. The three men from the funeral are revealed to be the three other accomplices in the crime, and though she knows next to nothing of the heist, Reggie is caught in a ring of suspense as she is followed by the shadowy trio, all after the money. Apparently, the only person she can trust is Joshua/Dyle -- until Bartholomew tells Reggie that the fourth accomplice had no brother, and Joshua/Dyle reveals that he is, in fact, a crook named Adam Canfield. Now Reggie doesn't know where to turn. The musical score by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini was nominated for an Academy Award. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide