Jean Poiret Movies

Jean-Pierre Cassel is ideally cast as the hopelessly optimistic Candide in this noir updating of Voltaire's classic 18th-century social satire. Candide has been assured by his ivory-tower professor (Pierre Brasseur) that whatever fate befalls him, he will be all the better for it. Armed with the confidence of the ignorant, Candide is abused by practically everyone he comes across (he has a particularly rough time in a German POW camp), but somehow emerges with his faith in humanity unscathed. His picaresque adventures take him all the way to the Americas, both North and South. Just as in most stage versions of Candide, some of the supporting actors play double and triple roles: Robert Manuel, for example, portrays all the German officers Candide meets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This routine sex comedy by director Michel Boisrond stars Jean Poiret as Bernard, a young, up-and-coming publisher who has inexplicably fallen in love with Sophie (Dany Saval) a woman working with a 25-watt bulb, when it is turned on at all. Sophie is as well-grounded as daisy fluff and just as serious, yet Bernard goes after her with all the determination of a man blinded by love. After a wild and crazy courtship, the couple marry, but Sophie's personality does not change and she gets him into trouble -- to the point where he almost loses his job. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Stephane (Jean-Paul Belmondo) has a predilection for being unfaithful, and when he is caught by his wife with the charming Julie (Sophie Marceau) in his bed, he passes Julie off as his daughter by a former marriage -- someone he had forgotten to mention before. Julie, of course, is not thrilled with the situation, nor is Stephane's wife -- and so the adventure begins in this ribald comedy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

An international comedy sensation based on a successful French stage play, La Cage aux Folles depicts the farcical chaos that results when a gay man attempts to pose as straight for the benefit of his son's future in-laws. Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) owns a popular nightclub and is the long-time lover of Zaza (Michel Serrault), a female impersonator who is the club's main attraction. Unfortunately, Renato's son Laurent (Remy Laurent) has told none of this to his future father-in-law, an important figure in a morally conservative political organization. Not wanting to ruin his son's chance of happiness, Renato agrees to pose as a straight man, but he finds his familiar habits, and those of the even more flamboyant Zaza, getting in the way at every turn. Zaza is the one who comes up with what he thinks is an ideal solution: he'll dress in drag and pose as Renato's wife. Naturally, the plan does not pan out as expected. La Cage aux Folles' pleasant, unthreatening comic sensibility attracted a large mainstream audience in both Europe and the United States, which was at the time unusual for a film with a homosexual theme. Indeed, the film was popular enough to inspire two remakes: a stage musical and, nearly two decades later, the Hollywood comedy The Birdcage with Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, and Gene Hackman. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Michel Serrault), the internationally popular homosexual couple from La Cage Aux Folles, return in this sequel directed by Edouard Molinaro. In this go-round, Renato and Albin find themselves innocent victims of an espionage ring and become involved with killers when several corpses begin to turn up. They are sought for some missing microfilm and through a series of convoluted circumstances are forced to flee, hiding out with Renato's family on their farm. Once there, Albin becomes an object of lust for a group of lonely farmhands. Benny Luke and Michel Galabru also reprise their roles from the first film. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A young girl leaves her home in a small country town for the big city life in Paris. Her dreams of a career and her search for true love are exploited by a tabloid newspaper who publicize her search for Prince Charming. Comedy ensues when a local boy falls in love with the girl and is affected by the sensationalistic slants depicted by the girl's search for true love. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This slapstick comedy concerns a college professor who stages a one-man vendetta against television. A hare-brained inventor has produced an aerosol spray that when applied effectively renders television antennae useless. Armand (Bourvil) enlists the help of a gymnast who scales heights to apply the spray to the receivers of his students to keep them from being polluted by the senseless medium. Soon the stuffy network executives launch an all-out search for the perpetrator as television revenues plummet. The police are soon called in to solve the mystery as the professor and his crew slowly move towards their ultimate goal of spraying the Eiffel tower. Armand demands an audience with the President and uses his threat to cut off all television to insure the meeting will take place. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide