Roger Pigaut Movies
- 1978
Nominated for an Academy Award, Claude Sautet's A Simple Story (Une Histoire Simple) examines the behavior of its characters as dictated by their environment. Romy Schneider plays Marie, a fortysomething working woman whose tiresome existence has prompted her to inaugurate an affair. Marie eventually parts with her lover, aborting the pregnancy resulting from her liaison. She pauses long enough to take stock of her current situation, and to muse on its possible outcome. Though exuding star quality throughout, Romy Schneider is thoroughly believable as the essentially ordinary, nonspectacular heroine. Her behavior is not that of a wealthy play-actress but a genuine bourgeois woman emotionally hemmed in by her social strata. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Bruno Cremer, (more)
- 1976
In this caper film, two separate individuals become embroiled in a search for a courier's illegal million-dollar haul. They wind up sharing the loot, and during the ensuing chase, the various factions searching for the money kill themselves off, leaving the duo happily well-off. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Brasseur, Marthe Keller, (more)
- 1972
Double and triple crosses complicate the lives of the amiable villains of this French crime-caper film. The story concerns a group of people living in a blue-collar neighborhood which is being demolished for a new office and housing development. In order to save their neighborhood, they get together and decide on a complicated plot involving jewel-theft and insurance fraud. Things get even more complicated when they call on the services of an expert burglar. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Reggiani, Michel Bouquet, (more)
- 1971
Nolan (Serge Reggiani) was set up to take the fall for a crime committed by his whole gang, and as a result, his brother is dead and he is forced to do a stint in prison. Nolan comes out of prison looking for his former compatriots, and not just to shake their hands. He runs into an old girlfriend, Madeleine (Jeanne Moreau), now a respectable doctor's wife. Another woman he encounters, Lea (Simone Signoret), betrays him to an enemy. The remaining cast includes a number of fine French actors who add depth to this suspense thriller (Charles Vanel, Marcel Bozzuffi, Andre Pousse, Michel Bouquet, Amidou and Jean Desailly). This is a French language film, with no dubbing or subtitles. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, (more)
- 1969
Catherine (Olga-George Picot) uses her feminine wiles to survive when enemy hordes attack Paris and kill her lover. The new chief desires her for his own, but she spurns his advances long enough to consort with rebels to plan her escape. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olga Georges-Picot, Roger Van Hool, (more)
- 1968
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
- Starring:
- Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, (more)
- 1968
A pretty lady in waiting from the court of King Louis XIV is sold to an evil Sultan. Angelique (Michele Mercier) is separated from her husband and suffers the indignities of sexual assault. She manages to survive until her husband (Robert Hossein) comes to her rescue. Although the Sultan's encampment is heavily armed, he manages to trick the greedy Sultan by giving him a mythical recipe to change ordinary ore into gold. The ending of the film leads one to believe there will be further adventures starring the beautiful and resourceful Angelique. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michele Mercier, Robert Hossein, (more)
- 1958
Le Ceft-Volant du Rout du Monde (The Kite From Across the World) strikes a blow for East-West détente. When a fancy Chinese kite lands in Paris, two street gangs fight over its possession. In the ensuing melee, the kite's tail is detached, falling into the hands of a wide-eyed young urchin. Tied to the tail is a note from a Chinese boy, who expresses a wish to make friends with an occidental. The French lad then dreams about travelling to Peking, where much of the film was location-shot (imagine an American film of the 1950s being permitted access to the Chinese capital!). A 60-minute version of Le Cerf-Volant du Rout du Monde was prepared for American television in the early 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Showing no signs of slowing down in his 70th year, Sacha Guitry served as director and writer of the lavish historical epic Napoleon, and also costarred as Talleyrand. It is now hard to assess the quality of the film, since most American prints are severely edited, and the color photography appallingly washed out. Reviewers in 1955 admired the effort that went into this $1,800,000 production, but complained that the viewer left the film with no deeper understanding of Napoleon Bonaparte than the viewer had had when coming in. Daniel Gelin poses impressively as the young Bonaparte, registering emotion only when things go wrong in his conquest of Europe, while Raymond Pellegrin is somewhat better as the older, more jaded Napoleon (the transition between the two actors is handled in a near-comic fashion). The Revolution is reduced to a few fleeting scenes, while the rest of the film is devoted to political infighting and betrayal. The huge supporting cast includes Michele Morgan as Josephine and Lana Marconi and Dany Robin, respectively, as Napoleon's mistresses Waleska and Desiree. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Pellegrin, Daniel Gélin, (more)
- 1954
The English-language title of this European costume epic alternated between Theodora, Byzantine Empress and Theodora, Slave Empress. Gianna-Maria Canale stars as Theodora, the Egyptian dancing girl who wins the heart of Roman emperor Justinian (Georges Marchal). Many historical accounts indicate that Theodora was not the most pleasant and agreeable of empresses. According to this film, however, she rules fairly and justly, and even protects her husband against evil plotters. Spectacle abounds in Theodora, though the American distributors emphasized the scanty costumes worn by the lovely Gianna-Maria Canale in their ad campaign. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Georges Marchal, Gianna Maria Canale, (more)
- 1954
The title of this French drama translates to The Most Beautiful Life. That "life" is the teaching profession, as practiced by the film's protagonist, played by Jean-Pierre Kerien. In the company of his wife Claire Maffei, Kerien decides to accept a government-financed position in French West Africa. The first part of the film deals with the difficulties encountered by the couple en route to their new home. The second half finds Kerien reassessing his dedication to his duties when it seems as though his wife has inaugurated a romance with handsome young engineer Roger Pigaut. The couple faces an even more daunting crisis when their only child succumbs to disease. At 120 minutes, Le Plus Belles des Vies unfolds its story at a leisurely, unforced pace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Pigaut
- 1954
Jacqueline Audry, the director of the 1948 hit Gigi, called the shots on 1954's La Caraque Blonde (The Blonde Gypsy). Tilda Thamar plays the title character, a voluptuous golden-haired gypsy lass named Myra. Rising to fame as a dancer, Myra soon finds herself trapped by her celebrity. She decides to don a brunette wig and travel about incognito -- but just for a while. While thus disguised, Myra falls head over tambourine in love with handsome rice planter Antoine (Roger Pigaut). Their future happiness is threatened by the mean-spirited Pedro (Gerard Landry), Myra's blackmailing ex-lover. La Caraque Blonde was filmed in the Camarque district, the French equivalent to Chatsworth, California in terms of its overuse on the screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tilda Thamar, Roger Pigaut, (more)
- 1954
This French/Italian adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo began as a two-part film, the entire project running well over three hours. Only the second portion of the film was seen in America, and it is this half that currently carries the title of the Dumas original. Safely escaped from the Chateau D'If, the wronged Edmond Dantes (Jean Marais) returns to his old haunts, thirsting for revenge. In the guise of the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes manages to drive all his old persecutors to ruin, or death, or both. He finally relents when he realizes that his long-ago sweetheart Mercedes (or "Mercedes-is-it?") is still in love with him. Director Robert Vernay coadapted the screenplay with Georges Neveaux. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Marais, Lia Amanda, (more)
- 1954
Brigitte Bardot is the sensual gamine once more in Light Across the Street. She pouts and purrs her way through a romantic triangle involving herself, her injured truck driver husband, and a handsome interloper. The fun comes crashing to a halt when murder is committed. Released in France as La Lumiere d'en Face, this film was first issued to the US as The Flame and the Flesh. But this caused confusion with a 1954 Lana Turner vehicle of that name, hence the more antiseptic cognomen The Light Across the Street. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Pellegrin, Roger Pigaut, (more)
- 1951
Roger Pigaut plays Sylvain, a tobacco smuggler working the border between France and Belgium. Sylvain lives with sexy bar hostess Germaine, played by the formidable Ginette Leclerc. Trouble begins brewing when a customs inspector, bound and determined to catch Sylvain in the act, falls in love with Germaine. It looks bad for Sylvain, but at least he finds spiritual redemption in the arms of virginal young Pa Scaline (Claire Olivia). Like many French films of the early 1950s, La Maison dans la Dune was in for a rough time when it fell into the hands of the American censors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginette Leclerc, Jean Chevrier, (more)
- 1950
Un Sourire dans la Tempete was filmed in the snowy wastes of Alaska. The "dramatis personae" consists of three men (J. P. Kerien, Richard Ney and Roger Pigaut) and one woman (Michelle Martin). Rivalry over the woman's affections leads to a potentially explosive situation. The tension does not dissipate when the woman's husband joins her admirers in a search for buried gold. What follows is a quick-frozen variation of themes previously explored in films like Greed and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Reportedly, the actors themselves ponied up the budget money for Un Sourire dans la Tempete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Ney, Roger Pigaut, (more)
- 1948
One suspects that the torrid melodrama The Wench had a somewhat stronger title when it was first released in France. The title character, played by Maria Casares, is a cook/housemaid named Carmelle. Hired by wealthy, unmarried farmer Rabasse (Jean Brochard), Carmelle keeps her employer at arm's length until he promises to name her as sole beneficiary in his will. Upon Rabasse's death, Carmelle takes advantage of her new-found wealth and prestige by sleeping with practically every male in town. This being a French film, Carmelle is not required to pay for her sins, as she would have in a Hollywood production. One subplot involving an implicit incestuous relationship would, of course, have been vetoed from the get-go by the American censors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Casarés, Orane Demazis, (more)
