Moustache Movies

A down-on-her-luck dreamer finds her fantasies drifting into reality in the second film from actor-turned-director Jean-Louis Trintignant. Marie's (Stefania Sandrelli) dreams seem to have a way of coming true, a fact that she clings to given her onetime vision that she would fall madly in love and gain incredible financial wealth. When she finally meets singer Marcel (Guy Marchand), it seems as if her dreams may finally be coming to fruition; and though the couple are soon living together in poverty, an unexpected job opportunity finds things momentarily looking up. Hired as a pool cleaner by wheelchair-bound billionaire Mr. Zopoulos (Moustache), Marcel soon finds himself drawn into a bizarre game between Zopolous and his personal secretary, Logan (Jean-Claude Brialy). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director Ivan Passer and screenwriter Peter Stone adapted Paul Erdman's novel concerning a group of con men who arrive in Switzerland and end up conning each other. Michael Caine stars as Doc Fletcher, a lackey for gangster Joe Fiore (Martin Balsam), who is sent to Switzerland to purchase a bank for his boss. Prince di Siracusa (Louis Jourdan) is aiding Doc in his purchase but is working on his own scam. They both meet Shireen Firdausi (Stephane Audran) and Agha Firdausi (David Warner), who are working on their own deal concerning an Iranian silver mine. Also arriving in town is Donald Luckman (Tom Smothers) and his wife Debbie (Cybil Shepherd), sent by banker Henry Foreman (Joss Ackland) to buy a bank as a front for Charles Cook (Charles D. Gray), a billionaire who is looking for a way to disguise his profits. With all these schemers in tow, various confidence games play out and characters switch alliances and obligations, while some wind up in jail. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The internationally produced Zorro is set in South America instead of the California locales of the series. Alain Delon stars as the newly appointed governor who immediately butts heads with corrupt Colonel Huerta (Stanley Baker). To rescue the peasants from Huerta's despotry, the governor becomes the caped-and-masked do-gooder Zorro. The film never really takes itself seriously, not even during the final, well-staged duel between Zorro and Huerta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This romantic tragedy concerns the Archduke Rudolf (Omar Sharif) and his mistress, the Baroness Maria Vetsera (Catherine Deneuve), and their untimely demise at Mayerling, the sight of the Austrian royal family's hunting lodge. Rudolf verbally spars with his father Emperor Franz-Josef (James Mason) about wanting to implement progressive policies for his country. Ava Gardner plays his mother Empress Elizabeth. Rudolf also contends with the fallout from a loveless marriage with Princess Stephanie (Andrea Parisy). Respectful of the centuries-old Hapsburg family rule over Austria, Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that will not realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales (James Robertson-Justice), later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides the only comic relief with his dialogue. The deaths remain a mystery, but director Terence Young suggests the two lovers made a suicide pact when they decided they could not live in a world without love where the prospects for peace were dubious at best. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Filmed in Cinerama and Technicolor, Circus World may have drawn the crowds for various reasons -- not the least, perhaps, for the big names. John Wayne stars as circus owner Matt Masters, who takes his show to Europe hoping to save it from financial ruin. Accompanying Matt, is young Toni (Claudia Cardinale), whom Matt had raised since her aerialist mother Lili (Rita Hayworth) left them years before. Just before he departs from New York, Matt is reminded that Lili may be somewhere in Germany. Upon their arrival in Europe, much of the equipment is lost when their ship sinks in a Spanish port. Matt doesn't let that get the best of them, and he is soon up and running with the show, becoming a hit throughout Europe. Against Matt's wishes, Toni trains to become an aerialist like her mother. A quiet figure in the shadows proudly watches Toni rehearse her daring routines. The writing team of Ben Hecht, James Edward Grant and Julian Halevy adapted their screenplay from a story by Philip Yordan and Nicholas Ray. Though this was not a gunslinger role for Wayne, Matt Masters was not a far stretch. This could have been due to the fact that Wayne had previously worked on several projects with director Henry Hathaway and writers Hecht and Grant -- and the part was altered to suit him. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

The second film of director Martin Ritt with both Paul Newmanand Sidney Poitier, it's set in a city that has long been a haven for black musicians eager to escape the racism of the U.S. Newman is Ram Bowen, a trombone player who makes his living in a jazz group, which also includes tenor man Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier), while studying music and aspiring to a career as a "serious" composer. Eddie stays in Paris to bask in the respect that its people feel for his music, a respect rarely accorded him in the States. A pair of tourists, Connie Lampson (Diahann Carroll) and Lillian Corning (Joanne Woodward) arrive in the city for a two-week vacation, and the two musicians lose no time in hooking up. Soon both relationships take a serious turn and the musicians are forced to make some important decisions about the possibility of returning to their native soil. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide

Gary Cooper more or less repeats his international-roue characterization from 1938's Bluebeard's Eighth Wife for the 1957 romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon (both films were co-scripted by Billy Wilder, who also directed the latter picture). Audrey Hepburn co-stars as the daughter of Parisian private eye Maurice Chevalier. Investigating the amorous activities of Cooper, Chevalier relates what he's discovered to cuckolded husband John McGiver, who declares that he's going after Cooper with a pistol. Overhearing this conversation, Hepburn rushes off to rescue Cooper. She keeps him far away from McGiver by adopting a "woman of the world" pose. Cooper quickly sees through this charade; still, she is fascinated by Hepburn and attempts to relocate her after she disappears. Meeting Chevalier one day, Cooper relates the story of the Mystery Woman, never dreaming that he is describing Chevalier's daughter. Equally in the dark, Chevalier offers to locate the elusive Hepburn. Once he's tumbled to the fact that his quarry is his own flesh and blood, Chevalier advises Hepburn against contemplating a relationship with the much-older Cooper. She, of course, fails to heed this warning, setting the stage for an ultraromantic finale. Love in the Afternoon is highlighted by a superb running gag involving a quartet of gypsy violinists, who insist upon dogging Cooper's trail wherever he goes-including a steam bath. Love in the Afternoon was adapted by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond from the novel Ariane by Claude Anet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide