André Pousse Movies

A crime comedy that pays sly tribute to spy films of the 1960s, Comme Un Poisson Hors De L'Eau (aka Like a Fish Out of Water concerns Desire (Michel Muller), the nervous and bookish son of a prominent restaurateur. Desire has been corresponding with a lovely Italian woman, Myrtille (Monica Bellucci), who has accepted his offer of marriage. But when she arrives, Desire is surprised to discover that she's brought along a couple of friends, BB (Tcheky Karyo) and Melvin (Dominique Pinon). It seems Desire is an expert on exotic fish, and Myrtille and her friends are actually con artists who draft him into an elaborate scheme to rip off a Turkish gangster with an interest in rare aquatic species. Comme Un Poisson Hors De L'Eau marks the directorial debut of Herve Hadmar, who previously distinguished himself as a graphic artist; Michel Muller, who plays Desire, also co-wrote the film's screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After a daring gold robbery, one man (Henry Silva) is jilted out of his share of the loot. He returns to avenge his loss. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

This comedy follows the misadventures of a group of military goofballs who nonetheless manage to help the Resistance following the brief French war effort against the Nazis. They inadvertently stumble on a Resistance operation while out hunting and are forced to get involved. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The difficulty experienced by a softcore porn film producer, who must somehow transform an academically praised novel into an erotic thrill-fest, is the subject of this comedy. In the film, Claude Brasseur is Manuel, who confronts vain but..incapable..male stars, an inane and silly script, sexually obsessed cameramen and more. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Parisian police commissioner Coleman (Alain Delon) is not a happy man, but he does what he can to get through each day. He has recently started having an affair with Cathy (Catherine Deneuve), and that helps a little. Cathy is also Simon's girlfriend and Simon (Richard Crenna) is Coleman's friend. Unfortunately, Simon is also the head of a gang of criminals. When Coleman's investigation of a drug-smuggling ring closes in, their rivalry comes to a head. One of the highlights of this film is a stunt involving a helicopter and a moving train. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this satirical French comedy, Rosemunde (Annie Girardot) earns her living selling relics to the Catholic church. She manufactures them using a specialized machine made by her grandfather, which transforms corpses into bone. Needless to say, since she must have dead bodies in order to do this, the police take an interest in her affairs. In order to fend off their inquiries, she concocts a scheme using a hippyish Jesus-cultist, who is a dead-ringer for conventional notions of how Jesus looked. To everyone's surprise, he has some supernatural gifts of his own. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This is one of the few films directed by the well-known French dialogue writer Michel Audiard who was best known for his comic wit. This film is distinctive, however, for its sweetness. Victor (Jean Gabin) an old man, is a grocer and an obnoxious boss. He has always told his family tales of sea travel and sailing, even though they believe he never was at sea. When his nephew wins a prize for building a model boat, and gets orders to build the boat he's modelled, uncle Victor knows enough to help supervise the construction, much to the relief of his employees. The nephew's boss stops funding the boat, but Victor takes up the slack and it is finally built. It does no one any good in the nephew's backyard, and after a huge struggle the family gets it into the Seine River, where one thing after another goes wrong. The nephew's son burns the troublesome boat, and Victor goes back to his grocery to one again harass his workers properly. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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

Three social rejects plan an elaborate bank robbery. Ticky (Michael Dunn) is the dwarf and mastermind of the caper who is hopelessly in love with his female accomplice. They plan to murder the daughter of a bank president and replace her with a look-alike at the victim's private school. She manages to get all the keys to the strongboxes, and Ticky and his other accomplice make off with the loot. Ticky kills the man when he suspects he will make off with the money. He stands on shore as the woman masquerading as the banker's daughter swims out to sea. She would rather die than be loved by the hideously malevolent dwarf. Bernard Fresson, Jane Birkin, Claude Brasseur and Andre Pousse also star in this crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A wife and her sculptor husband struggle to get by in this situation comedy. Delphine (Michele Mercier) receives word she will inherit a sizeable fortune provided she is a widow. Her love for her husband Antoine (Claude Rich) is soon overtaken by her lust for money. A Jewish charitable organization will get the money if the husband lives. He goes to a local gangster for protection while his wife contacts a mob hitman to murder the man. In the shadows, the couple consorts with gangsters as they jockey for position to collect the coveted coin. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The English translation of this French film is "It Won't Do To Take God's Children For Wild Geese." A young girl tries to double-cross a gun-toting gangster moll in order to make off with some stolen money. The mood of this feature is an uneven blend of comedy and satire complete with stereotypical underworld characters and an occasional narrative style. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide