Magali Noël Movies
Turkish actress Magali Noel began appearing in European films in 1952. Among her more prestigious 1950's credits were Dassin's Rififi (1955) and Renoir's Paris Does Strange Things (1957). She was also prominently featured in the films of Federico Fellini, most memorably La Dolce Vita (1961), Satyricon (1970), and Amarcord (1974), appearing in the latter as the "rite of passage" whore who'd been a recurring character in Fellini's best works. Magali Noel was still active in television well into the 1990s, appearing in the American cable-TV series The Ray Bradbury Theater, among other projects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1958
Le Piege (The Trap) top-bills Raf Vallone as a likeable fugitive from justice. Protected from arrest by big-hearted waitress Magali Noel, Vallone manages to elude the law long enough to begin a legit job as a truckdriver. When Noel's boss learns the truth about Vallone's past, he blackmails the couple to ensure his silence. Any character who thinks he can get away with extortion in a film noir of this nature all but has "MURDER VICTIM" tattooed on his forehead. Compactly produced and consummately acted, Le Piege is a satisfying second-echelon thriller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raf Vallone, Magali Noël, (more)
- 1957
Assassins et Voleurs (Killers and Thieves) was the penultimate offering from French filmmaker Sacha Guitry. Though seriously ill and confined to a wheelchair, Guitry was still able to invest a great deal of energy in the project. Surprised by a burglar (Michel Serrault), the doleful Philippe (Jean Poiret) regains his composure, then asks the thief for his assistance. It seems that Philippe wants to commit suicide but hasn't the nerve to pull off the deed himself. In flashback, Philippe recounts the events that led up to this critical and anxious moment. As it turns out, our "hero" is a bigger criminal, both actual and moral, than the nonplused burglar could ever be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Jean Poiret, (more)
- 1956
In the 1950s, French films were considered the ne plus ultra in naughtiness by certain impressionable filmgoers. It was to these movie fans that the American distributor of Jean Renoir's Elena et les Hommes (Elena and the Men) catered when it provocatively retitled the picture Paris Does Strange Things As further grist to the mill for American publicity hacks, the film starred Ingrid Bergman, who had recently returned to Hollywood after her career was nearly ruined by a marital scandal. Actually there was nothing overtly erotic about Paris Does Strange Things. The film was a sweet romantic comedy wherein Bergman plays a poverty-stricken Polish princess, who is wooed by eligible admirers Mel Ferrer and Jean Marais. Will she marry for love, or merely to restore her wealth? The suspense is bearable. Inexpertly cut to 86 minutes for its American showings, Paris Does Strange Things was restored to its full 98 minutes in 1986 and its title reverted to Elena et les Hommes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, (more)
- 1956
Ugo Betti's allegorical play The Island of Goats served as the basis for the French melodrama Les Possedees. Raf Vallone heads the cast as a man who looks, and acts, like a goat. Vallone wreaks havoc upon a houseful of females, who cannot seem to resist his charms despite his ugliness. Madeline Robinson co-stars as the head of the household, whose fascination with Vallone results in near-disaster. A few of the film's sexier scenes were trimmed for American consumption, but the story, such as it is, remains intact. Also known as The Possessed, this quirky little film was given its biggest showing at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Robinson, Raf Vallone, (more)
- 1955
Raid on the Drug Ring is the English-language title of this Jean Gabin vehicle. The venerable French leading man plays the curiously sympathetic head of an international narcotics ring, invited from across the Atlantic to oversee the European branch of his operation. Using a fancy restaurant as a cover, the drug lord keeps his fingers in several crooked pies. One questionable sequence suggests that black singers and dancers can only "swing" when high on drugs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Marcel Dalio, (more)
Le Fils de Caroline Cherie is the third in a series of bodice-ripping Gallic romantic adventures. Replacing Martine Carol as 19th century heroine Caroline is Micheline Grey, who is out of the picture early on as her son Juan Jean-Claude Pascal picks up the plotline. Like his mother, Juan cuts quite a sexual swath through Europe, almost completely oblivious to the Napoleonic wars raging all about him. One of our hero's conquests is played by Brigitte Bardot, who receives top billing. Like its predecessors, Le Fils de Caroline Cherie was heavily censored before its arrival on American shores. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Pascal, Jacques Dacqmine, (more)
- 1955
Rene Clair's Grand Maneuver was originally titled Les Grandes Manoeuvres, which should surprise no one. Gerard Phillipe plays a dashing dragoons officer, vintage 1913, who wagers his friends that he can make the next woman who enters the room fall in love with him. In strides drop-dead gorgeous Michele Morgan, and the rest writes itself. Phillipe plans a slow seduction and a quick goodbye; Morgan, need we say, is no "goodbye girl." For all its lavish sets and meticulously detailed period costumers, Grand Maneuver is at base the old American farce Sailor Beware with a French accent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Gérard Philipe, (more)
Jules Dassin -- in his second European film after being driven out of the United States during the years of the house Un-American Activities Committee hearings -- directed this landmark caper film about the planning and execution of a nighttime robbery at a swanky English jewelry shop in the Rue de Rivoli. The story concerns a collection of thieves who band together to commit a seemingly impossible robbery. The gang consists of a tough, straight-talker named Tony Stephanois (Jean Servais); a young man under Tony's tutelage named Jo (Carl Mohner; a happy-go-lucky Italian by the name of Mario Farrati (Robert Manuel); and a safecracker named Cesar (the director Jules Dassin under the pseudonym of Perlo Vita) who likes to jiggle the combinations of women in his off hours. The set piece of the film is an intricate 28-minute sequence that depicts the robbery in detail -- all filmed silently without dialogue or music. After the success of the robbery, the gang barely has time to celebrate when a rival gangster, Pierre Gruuter (Marcel Lupovici), decides that he wants a cut of the take. When Tony's gang refuses to cooperate, Pierre kidnaps Jo's son, and the gang has to get tough with their nemesis. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, (more)
- 1954
Mourez -- Nous Ferrons le Reste (Die -- We'll Do the Rest) gets under way when Parisian publicist Roger Nicolas is mistaken for an American millionaire while visiting a tiny rural village. Initially protesting the error, Nicolas comes to enjoy all the courtesies extended him. It turns out that the locals want Nicolas' permission to transform "his" ancestral home into a tourist trap. Nicolas does them one better, suggesting a week-long pro-USA festival. He then hits upon the brilliant notion of converting the local graveyard into a "cemetery of the rich and famous." That's right: pretty soon, people are just dying to get in on this deal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Magali Noël, Noël Roquevert, (more)
