Simone Renant Movies
- 1980
Michel Gerfaut (Alain Delon) makes his living playing poker. But when he stops to help an injured motorist on the side of the road one night, he unwittingly gets involved in a sinister arms deal cover-up. The capable Gerfaut goes on holiday, bringing his longtime girlfriend, Béa (Dalila Di Lazzaro), to Trouville to meet his mother (Simone Renant). He soon finds himself the target of killers hired by the pompous Emmerich (Pierre Dux) and his ruthless underling, Leprince (Michel Auclair), who suspect he's working for their competitors. Gerfaut unsuccessfully tries to get help from a policeman friend, but the police are tied in with the crooked military aeronautics company. Backed into a corner, Gerfaut strikes back against his attackers, eventually taking the fight right to Emmerich's doorstep. Three Men to Kill, based on the well-regarded novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette, was directed by Jacques Deray, who also co-wrote the script with frequent collaborator (Borsalino et al) Delon, who also produced, and Christopher Frank. Delon and Frank later adapted Manchette's Pour la peau d'un flic for the actor's directorial debut. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Dalila di Lazzaro, (more)
- 1977
Dear Inspector and Dear Detective were the English-language titles of Philippe De Broca's Tendre Poulet. Annie Girardot plays the old flame of Greek professor Philippe Noiret. The prof tries to rekindle the flames of passion, but Girardot seems curiously preoccupied. It turns out that she's a detective on the trail of a murderer. The film served as the basis for the 1979 American made-for-TV movie Dear Detective, starring Brenda Vaccaro and Arlen Dean Snyder. A DeBroca-directed sequel, Jupiter's Thigh, was filmed in 1979, again with Annie Girardot and Philippe Noiret. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Girardot, Philippe Noiret, (more)
- 1969
- PG
In this romance, a composer and a French film star, both of whom are married to others, meet and fall in love while shooting a film in the United States. The two illicit lovers begin touring the country together and enjoying the sights with particular emphasis on Monument Valley and Las Vegas. The actress begins to feel guilty and confesses all to her husband on the phone. She and the composer then decide to end the affair. Later they reunite and decide that they will rendezvous in Nice. She goes there, but her lover never arrives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Annie Girardot, (more)
- 1964
An eight-day pass, a kidnapping, and a greedy group of South American Indians provide the basic ingredients of this madcap adventure. A French air force pilot has the pass and plans to use it to see his girl friend in Paris. He gets there just in time to see a gang of South American Indians, who believe the girl knows the location of a set of statues that can pinpoint the location of a fabulous jungle treasure, kidnapping her. He follows them to the Brazilian jungle and many riotous adventures ensue. Eventually the lovers manage to escape and return to France just before the pilot's pass expires. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Françoise Dorléac, (more)
Love and the Frenchwoman (La Francaise et L'Amour) concentrates on the nature of love by illustrating seven separate aspects of the emotion. In "Childhood," 9-year old Pierre-Jean Vaillard suffers a traumatic experience when he takes his parents' "cabbage patch" theory of conception too literally. In "Adolescence," a little girl (Annie Sinigalla) constructs an elaborate fantasy world on the occasion of her first kiss. "Virginity" is a study in frustration, as betrothed couple Valerie Lagrange and Pierre Michel agonizingly await their wedding-night consummation of their ardor. "Marriage" finds a union ending almost before it begins as a pair of newlyweds (Marie-Jose Nat and Claude Rich) bicker all the way to their honeymoon rendezvous. "Adultery" allows husband Paul Meurisse the opportunity to calmly provide an object lesson to his wife's lover Jean-Paul Belmondo. In "Divorce", a couple (Annie Girardot and Francois Pierer) find that it's impossible to have a "civilized" breakup. And in "A Woman Alone," bigamist Robert Lamoreaux meets his Waterloo in the forms of Martine Carol and Sylvia Montfort. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darry Cowl, Sophie Desmarets, (more)
- 1959
Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderlos de Laclos's 18th century novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses was filmed several times. In Roger Vadim's version, Jeanne Moreau coerces her husband Gerard Philippe into ruining the reputation of pious Annette Vadim (the director's wife at the time). Philippe spoils Moreau's nasty little plan by falling in love with his intended victim. While the novel merely humiliated Moreau's character for her misdeeds, Vadim comes up with a far more painful and permanent punishment. Since the release of the 1988 Dangerous Liaisons, Vadim's film has travelled under the title Dangerous Liaisons 1960 (even though it was technically completed in 1959, and released to the U.S. in 1961). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Philipe, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
- 1959
Three Murderesses stars Alain Delon as a French playboy who gets more than he bargained for when he begins romancing three women at once. All three ladies (Mylene Demongeot, Pascale Petit and Jacqueline Sassard) are sisters, of wildly divergent personalities. Eventually all three tire of Delon toying with their emotions and plot a wry revenge. Director Michel Boisrone can't completely avoid the healthy vulgarity that is his trademark, but Three Murderesses strives to please without unduly offending. Released in France in 1957 as Faibles Femmes, Three Murderesses was initially distributed in the US under the title Women are Weak. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mylène Demongeot, Pascale Petit, (more)
- 1957
Les Ouefs de L'Autruche translates to The Ostrich Eggs, a description of the offspring of bourgeois paterfamilias Hippo (Pierre Fresnay). For Hippo is indeed a human ostrich, remaining blind to the true natures of his wife and children until it is too late. Prizing his eldest son as a prime example of French manhood, Hippo is shocked to learn that the boy is an unhappy homosexual. His other son, assumed to be self-reliant, allows himself to be the kept man of a wealthy Japanese woman. As for his wife, whom he has underestimated and browbeaten all her life, Hippo discovers that she once planned to leave him for his best friend. Hardly a candidate for "Family Hour" television, Les Oeufs de L'Autruche was adapted from a stage play by Roussin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Fresnay, Simone Renant, (more)
- 1956
Producer/director Sacha Guitry's contribution to the 1956 film season was the free-flowing historical pageant Si Paris Nous Etait Conte (If Paris Were Told to Us). Guitry himself appears as the ghost of King Louis XI, who relates the story of Paris to a group of fascinated modern-day students. As usual, Guitry manages to "humanize" history by depicting the great men and women of France in amusing warts-and-all fashion. Symbolizing the indomitable spirit of Paris is Robert Lamoureaux as Latude, a prisoner of the Bastille who repeatedly tries to escape, and just as repeatedly is captured and thrown back in jail. A note of pathos is provided by Jacques de Feraudy as the dying Voltaire. Though Sacha Guitry suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair throughout much of the filming of Si Paris Nous Etait Conte, he still had two more films left in him before his death in 1957--just 10 days after Bastille Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sacha Guitry, Jean Marais, (more)
- 1955
In this dark drama, a young American is on his way to take his final vows as a priest when he encounters a troubled nightclub singer with a checkered past. He honestly wants to help her and soon falls for her and finds himself tempted by her seductive ways. But giving in to temptation could have more serious repercussions than the damnation of his immortal soul, as she is a murderess. The story was filmed in Paris. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Baxter, Steve Forrest, (more)
- 1950
Pas De Pitie Pour Les Femmes is a tricky French-filmed murder mystery. It is so tricky, in fact, that it defied the efforts by contemporary reviewers to synopsize the plot! Most observers agreed on this much: At stake in the proceedings is a vast inheritance, fought over by a group of remarkably unsympathetic stock characters. Michel Auclair and Simone Renant head the stellar cast. Director Christian Stengel seemed more interested in his villainous characters than in simply telling the story at hand. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Renant, Geneviève Page, (more)
- 1949
In Le Bal Cupidon, an amusing comedy-mystery in the Thin Man tradition, Pierre Blanchar plays Dominique-Phillippe, a suave private detective, and Simone Renant plays Isabelle, the best friend of a murder suspect. Isabelle cannot believe that her friend Anne-Marie (Maria Mauban) murdered her wealthy, crippled husband, and insists that Dominique-Phillippe track down the genuine culprit. Trouble is, the detective wants nothing to do with Isabelle, who has caused him no end of difficulty in the past. Adhering to formula, hero and heroine eventually patch up their differences and team up to solve the mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Renant, Maria Mauban, (more)
- 1948
The troubled turn-of-the-century marriage of a Nobel Prize winner provides the basis of this complex French domestic drama. Neither husband nor wife have been faithful to each other. She is currently having a blatant affair with a drunken news reporter while the writer once had a mistress himself. Unfortunately, she is now dead. His wife discovers that the mistress bore a child and she decides to adopt the orphan herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Renant, Gisèle Pascal, (more)
Following a three-year suspension from filmmaking after his Le Corbeau (1943) was judged too critical of his native France, director Henri-Georges Clouzot returned with this thriller that's equal parts crime drama and character study. Suzy Delair stars as Jenny Lamour, an ambitious music hall singer who wants to be a star and is willing to befriend the lecherous old men who ogle her act, inspiring the jealousy of Jenny's husband Maurice Martineau (Bernard Blier). One particular fan of Jenny's is a wealthy financial backer who extends repeated invitations to the entertainer to join him at fine restaurants and his expansive mansion. Armed with a gun, Maurice goes to the estate to confront his rival one night but discovers that the master of the house is already dead, his wife having smashed a bottle of champagne over his head to stave off a sexual advance. Soon, a gruff but dedicated detective, Inspector Antoine (Louis Jouvet) is on the case, with Maurice taking the heat for Jenny. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Jouvet, Bernard Blier, (more)
- 1945
La Tentation de Barbizon is a romantic fantasy, a genre quite popular in postwar France. Daniel Gelin and Juliette Faber star as a blissfully happy honeymooning couple. They are so happy, in fact, that they arouse the jealous attentions of Satan. Intending to break up the romance, the Dark Prince sends an emissary to do the deed. The devil's advocate is promptly challenged by a representative from "up above". Engagingly written and well acted, La Tentation de Barbizon is laid low by the listless direction of
ean Stelli. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Renant, François Perier, (more)
