Anouk Aimée Movies
Born into a theatrical family, Anouk Aimee was trained in acting and dancing at the Bauer-Therond school. In films from the age of 14, Ms. Aimee (usually billed merely as Anouk) was elevated to international stardom in 1949's Lovers of Verona, specifically written for her by Jacques Prevert. Possessed of an aloof, haunting beauty, Anouk has given her best performances under the knowing direction of such European masters as Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2) and Jacques Demy (Lola, The Model Shop). She has also worked extensively in English language films; she did her bit for the Resistance in Anatole Litvak's The Journey (1959), essayed the title role in George Cukor's Justine (1969), and portrayed the worldly-wise Simone Lowenthal in Robert Altman's Ready to Wear (1994). Her most famous screen assignment, and the one that earned her an Academy Award nomination, was the role of Anne Gauthier in Claude Lelouch's A Man and a Woman (1966). Looking every bit as alluring as she had in '66, Anouk Aimee reprised this role in 1986's A Man and a Woman: Twenty Years Later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Per its title, Lovers of Verona is an updated adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The film was a joint project of those felicitous collaborators, screenwriter Jacques Prevert and director Andre Cayatte. The star-crossed lovers are portrayed by Serge Reggiani and Anouk Aimee, cast respectively as the poverty-stricken son of a glassblower and the daughter of a disgraced nobleman. While playing bit roles in a stage production of Romeo and Juliet, Angelo (Reggiani) and Georgia (Aimee) are suddenly promoted to the leading parts. Predictably, hero and heroine begin acting out their characters in real life as well as on stage. Not so predictably, their romance is challenged not by modern-day counterparts to the Montagues and the Capulets, but by the lovers' own heightened sensitivities to their social differences. Following the worldwide success of Lovers of Verona (it was released in Italy in 1949, then internationally in 1951), director Andre Cayatte was given what one historian has described as "carte blanche" in the French film industry; put simply, the man could do no wrong. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anouk Aimée, Serge Reggiani, (more)
- 1950
In this adventure, an archaeologist is working at a Tunisian dig and having a passionate affair with a local girl when he finds himself entangled with a murderous band of arms smugglers. The story is based on one of Victor Canning's novels. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trevor Howard, Herbert Lom, (more)
- 1952
The animated feature La Bergere et le Ramoneur (Shepherdess and the Chimneysweep) was one of the most expensive French films of its time. Not exactly a children's story, the film is set in an imaginary kingdom, where the despotic ruler runs roughshod over the populace. The ruler eventually meets his match in the form of a wisecracking bird. Many of the sight gags have a grim and gloomy edge to them, but this doesn't make them any less funny. English-language prints of La Bergere et le Ramoneur boasted such voiceover talents as Peter Ustinov, Claire Bloom and Denham Elliot. The original French version (with voices supplied by the likes of Pierre Brasseur and Anouk Aimee) won an award at the Venice Film Festival, despite protests from animator Pierre (Le Petit Soldat) Grimault, who grumbled that the film had been taken away from him and radically altered before its release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Deux Crimes d'Amour (Two Love Crimes) is comprised of two separate, but thematically linked, short films. "Mina de Vangel," directed by Maurice Clavel and Maurice Barry, is based on a novelette by Stendhal (The Red and the Black), wherein a starry-eyed German lass (Odile Versois), betrayed by a French roue, vainly tries to find happiness with a decent man (Alain Cuny) for whom she works as a domestic. The second film is the award-winning "Le Rideau Cramoisi" ("The Scarlet Curtain"), adapted from a short novel by Barbey D'Aurevilly and directed by Alexandre Astruc. When a Napoleonic soldier (Jean-Claude Pascal) is billeted with a French family, all social proprieties are observed--a first. But a chance physical contact with the enigmatic daughter (Anouk Aimee) of the household leads to a torrid romance, which in turn leads to tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Odile Versois, Alain Cuny, (more)
- 1953
A Georges Simenon novel was the source for the Anglo-American The Man Who Watched Trains Go By. Claude Rains stars as Kees Popinga, chief clerk for a Dutch trading company. Scrupulously honest, Popinga goes off the deep end when he discovers that his employer has been cooking the books to support a mistress. Upon learning that his boss intends to abscond from Brussels to Paris with company funds, Popinga prevents this from happening by stealing the money himself. Through a series of wild coincidences, he winds up entangled with the very woman (Marta Toren) who'd caused his boss' downfall. The Man Who Watched Trains Go By was released in the U.S. as Paris Express. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rains, Märta Torén, (more)
- 1954
Forever My Heart appears to have been fashioned from two half-hour episodes of TV's Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents. Fairbanks produced this 52-minute effort, and appeared in both of the short playlets offered herein. The first story takes place a hundred or so years ago; a male and female prisoner in the Tower of London plot their escape, but when the time comes, only one of them is able to make the break to freedom. In the second story, a woman of loose morals begins to imagine that the ghost of her sister has materialized to condemn her. The biggest "name" in the cast outside of Fairbanks is Anouk Aimee as the heroine of the second story. Forever My Heart was directed by Leslie Arliss and Bernard Knowles, both regular contributors to Fairbanks' TV anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
England's Richard Greene and France's Anouk Aimee (here billed simply as Anouk) star in the fast-paced espionager Contraband Spain. Greene is cast as American federal agent Lee, who is dispatched to the French-Spanish border to break up a smuggling ring. Making things difficult for Lee is the fact that his own brother is one of the smugglers. Aimee plays Elena, a nightclub singer who plays both sides, but who eventually links up with Lee. As British customs official Ricky, Michael Denison virtually reprises his foppish "Algernon Moncrieff" characterization from The Importance of Being Earnest--but his broad behavior is all part of the plot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Greene
- 1955
Anouk Aimee stars as a young woman of humble means who maneuvers her way into the uppermost rungs of French society. How she does it, and the price she has to pay along the way, is unfolded through a series of flashbacks. Since Anouk is recalling her life while in the offices of an abortionist, one suspects that things haven't gone quite as well as she'd hoped. Roland Laudenbach's screenplay was adapted from a novel by Cecil St. Laurent. During its very brief American release, Les Mauvaises Rencontres was known as The Bad Liaisons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Pascal, Anouk Aimée, (more)
- 1957
Tous Peuvent Me Tuer (Anyone Can Kill Me) is one of the many "perfect crime" melodramas which glutted the French film industry in the late '50s. Five crooks participate in a holdup, hide the money, then confess to a lesser crime so that they will receive a bare-minimum prison sentence. Once behind bars, however, the conspirators are killed off one by one. As the suspect list narrows, it appears that one of the bad guys has decimated the others in order to claim all the loot for himself. Can things be this cut-and-dried? Not likely. The salability of Tous Peuvent Me Tuer in the U.S. was improved by the star power of third-billed Anouk Aimée. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anouk Aimée, Eleonora Rossi-Drago, (more)
- 1957
The second of director Julien Duvivier's two cinematic contributions of 1957 was Pot-Bouille (Boiling
Pot). Based on a novel by Emile Zola, the film stars Gerard Philipe as Octave, an opportunistic Parisian youth who hops from bed to bed -- and from bedmate to bedmate. Young or old, plain or beautiful, Octave loves and leaves 'em all. His romantic rovings come to a halt when he meets pragmatic businesswoman Mme. Hedouin (Danielle Darrieux). Apparently impervious to Octave's charms, Mme. Hedouin nonetheless marries the boy and transforms him into a useful (and least to her) member of society. Director Duvivier never misses an opportunity to contrast the respectable facade of Civilization with the unvarnished, often depraved truth beneath the surface. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Pot). Based on a novel by Emile Zola, the film stars Gerard Philipe as Octave, an opportunistic Parisian youth who hops from bed to bed -- and from bedmate to bedmate. Young or old, plain or beautiful, Octave loves and leaves 'em all. His romantic rovings come to a halt when he meets pragmatic businesswoman Mme. Hedouin (Danielle Darrieux). Apparently impervious to Octave's charms, Mme. Hedouin nonetheless marries the boy and transforms him into a useful (and least to her) member of society. Director Duvivier never misses an opportunity to contrast the respectable facade of Civilization with the unvarnished, often depraved truth beneath the surface. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
- 1958
Montparnasse 19 is better known as Modigliani, which is also the name of its protagonist. In broad, melodramatic strokes, screenwriter Max Ophuls and director Jacques Becker offer their spin on the tragic, troubled life of Italian abstract painter Amedeo Modigliani. As played by Gerard Philipe, Modigliani is first seen as the derelict he became during his days as a resident of rundown Montparnasse in 1919. His one chance for redemption through the love of the beautiful Jeanne (Anouk Aimee) is thwarted by his hateful family. Another contributing factor to Modigliani's downfall is debauched English novelist Beatrice Hastings (Lili Palmer). The Modigliani depicted in Montparnasse 19 makes Vincent Van Gogh look like Pat Boone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Anouk Aimée, (more)
- 1958
La Tete Contre Les Muirs (U.S. title: The Keepers) was director Georges Franju's 2nd cinematic offering for 1958, and his first purely fictional film. Franju's prior training in documentaries helps to bring a veneer of reality to this harrowing glimpse within the walls of an insane asylum. Pierre Brasseur plays Marbeau, a traditionalist "head doctor" who takes on the case of young Francois (Jean-Paul Mocky). Though not really insane, Francois has been institutionalized for daring to defy his wealthy father. The story is told from Francois' point of view, as he teeters on the edge of madness during his involuntary internment. The film is essentially a plea for more sensible treatment of the mentally disturbed and the emotionally distressed, calling for much-needed widespread reforms -- something that, alas, was not readily forthcoming in the late 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brasseur, Paul Meurisse, (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
- 1959
The two romantic leads in this standard but well-acted political drama renew a famous pairing that began with The King and I in 1956. Deborah Kerr is Lady Diana Ashmore, caught at the wrong side of the Hungarian-Austrian border in 1956, and Yul Brynner is Major Surov, a Russian commander who works at the border crossing. With the outbreak of the 1956 rebellion, the Budapest airport is shut down and Diana, along with other international travellers, are forced to reach Vienna by bus. Along for the ride is one of the Hungarian dissenters hunted by the police, Paul (Jason Robards, Jr. in his screen debut). Diana and Paul are in love and she is determined to protect his secret. Major Surov suspects a rebel is hidden on the bus, but he does not know which passenger is the guilty one. As interaction continues at the border, Diana is attracted to the Major and his complex character, even against her will. Their developing relationship and strong personalities carry the story from start to finish. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, (more)
- 1959
This is the first film directed by the well-known Jean-Pierre Mocky who at this stage in his young life had something in common with the age group in question -- two youths out on the night circuit, looking for women. Freddy (Jacques Charrier) and Joseph (Charles Aznavour) have high hopes as they set out one evening in search of, if not the perfect woman, at least someone in the ballpark. Alas, most of the women they meet fall short of their minimal expectations, except in one case. It looks as if one of the pair will miss the brass ring again. Mocky has created a great Parisian night scene, adding some sharp nuances in the mating habits of young French men. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Aznavour, Jacques Charrier, (more)
- 1960
In this routine soap opera, a young man is engaged to be married even though he professes not to believe in true love, not at all. He works for the owner of a second-hand store and his fiancée is the owner's daughter. One day he sees a sophisticated, classy woman walk into a fashionable shop and, smitten to the core, he decides to forget his current life and go after her. Even when he gets a job in the shop where she so often appears (she is married to the owner), he cannot seem to face reality or give up his feelings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anouk Aimée, Christian Pezy, (more)
In one of the most widely seen and acclaimed European movies of the 1960s, Federico Fellini featured Marcello Mastrioanni as gossip columnist Marcello Rubini. Having left his dreary provincial existence behind, Marcello wanders through an ultra-modern, ultra-sophisticated, ultra-decadent Rome. He yearns to write seriously, but his inconsequential newspaper pieces bring in more money, and he's too lazy to argue with this setup. He attaches himself to a bored socialite (Anouk Aimée), whose search for thrills brings them in contact with a bisexual prostitute. The next day, Marcello juggles a personal tragedy (the attempted suicide of his mistress (Yvonne Furneaux)) with the demands of his profession (an interview with none-too-deep film star Anita Ekberg). Throughout his adventures, Marcello's dreams, fantasies, and nightmares are mirrored by the hedonism around him. With a shrug, he concludes that, while his lifestyle is shallow and ultimately pointless, there's nothing he can do to change it and so he might as well enjoy it. Fellini's hallucinatory, circus-like depictions of modern life first earned the adjective "Felliniesque" in this celebrated movie, which also traded on the idea of Rome as a hotbed of sex and decadence. A huge worldwide success, La Dolce Vita won several awards, including a New York Film Critics CIrcle award for Best Foreign Film and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Yvonne Furneaux, (more)
- 1960
The joie de vivre of a young Parisian provides the basis for this romantic tale. The hero truly loves everything about life. He is especially fond of young women with he frequently falls in love. The lad lives with his supportive uncle, his brother, and his brother's wife, a former lover of the young man. Also living in the manse is a maid, four enormous dogs, and the man's two illegitimate children whom he adores. His life takes a downward turn when he meets an industrialist's lovely wife and falls in love with her. Unfortunately she does not return his affections. The devastated fellow reacts by playing sad songs on his bassoon while he waits for death. This eccentric behavior charms the woman into changing her mind and running off with him. His restored exuberance is again dampened when he discovers that this beautiful woman is not only a whiner, she is stone cold dead in bed. At the end of the film the fellow is seen flitting off with a new love, a tender young waitress. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anouk Aimée, Jean-Pierre Cassel, (more)
Jacques Demy's auspicious debut -- "a musical without music" set in the port city of Nantes -- stars Anouk Aimée as the title character, a cabaret singer awaiting the return of Michel (Jacques Hardin), her long-absent lover and the father of her child. Michel went to America seven years ago and promised to return when he became rich. In Michel's absence, Lola is being courted by her childhood friend Roland (Marc Michel) and American sailor Frankie (Allan Scott). At some point, it seems that Lola will settle down with one of them, but her heart still belongs to Michel. The film is dedicated to Max Ophüls and the film title obviously alludes to Ophüls' Lola Montes as well as to the heroine of Josef Von Sternberg's The Blue Angel. Marc Michel makes a reference to his unrequited love towards Lola when he reappears in Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anouk Aimée, Marc Michel, (more)
- 1961
L'Improvisto is a suspenseful, effective drama by Alberto Lattuada about the careful planning and execution of a kidnapping. The "ringleader" and instigator of the clever plan is Tomas, a professor from a provincial town. His two cohorts are Claire (Anouk Aimée), his wife, and Juliette (Jeanne Valerie), his mistress. The trio make a rather different ménage à trois with objectives ranging far afield from the romantic. The circumstances of the preparation and carrying out of the deed keep tension coiled throughout. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomas Milian, Anouk Aimée, (more)
