Viviane Romance Movies

Also known as Nada, The Nada Gang is a lesser effort from director Claude Chabrol. A group of European terrorists calling themselves the Nada kidnaps an American ambassador. Their hideout is besieged by a sadistic police official and his minions. Thanks to the official's eagerness to pull the trigger, everyone winds up dead, including the ambassador. The Nada Gang was based on a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this French melodrama, a gigolo makes money by selling the expensive gifts bestowed upon him by his wealthy lovers. One of the women sees the darker side of the man when she tells him she is pregnant and hopes he will settled down with her. He brutally rejects her; she then has a miscarriage. Meanwhile, at a local bar, the gigolo is challenged by a stranger to seduce Romance, a gorgeous woman who usually has a number of lovers simultaneously. Sure enough, he succeeds and an affair begins, but soon he begins to feel possessive and jealous when she continues to see others without apology. In the end, she gets bored with his jealousy and dumps him. The despondent gigolo the reflects upon the pain his similar actions have caused to his women. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

La Chair et le Diable (The Devil and the Pulpit) is a serviceable vehicle for the magnificent Vivienne Romance. The star plays the sensuous wife of farm-owner Peter Van Eyck, who has recently hired itinerant laborer Rossano Brazzi. Sure enough, Vivienne and Brazzi inaugurate a torrid affair, with Vivienne as the aggressor. Shortly afterward, Van Eyck disappears, and when a mangled body turns up, the illicit lovers are accused of the crime. When Van Eyck does show up, it is to late to prevent a tragedy of near-apocalyptic dimensions. Oddly enough, this "outdoors" melodrama is largely filmed within the walls of a studio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Seven Deadly Sins is a portmanteau film (a la Quartet and O. Henry's Full House) assembled by some of the biggest talents in the Italian and French film industry. The film's six sections (one containing two sins) are designed by separate titles, which should be self-explanatory. "Avarice and Anger" stars its director, Eduardo DeFilippo, as a miser who comes to grief. "Lust," directed by Yves Allegret, contrasts minor flirtation with major sexual passion. "Pride," directed by Claude Autant-Lara, details the fall from grace of a snooty mother and daughter. The other episodes include "Sloth," directed by Jean Dreville; "Envy," directed by Roberto Rosselini; and "Gluttony," directed by Carlo Rim. An eighth sin, directed by Georges Lacombe and starring Gerard Philipe, is thrown in as a comic bonus. Seven Deadly Sins is a lot of fun, though each of the individual episodes could use a little work in the continuity department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The beautiful and versatile French film star Viviane Romance was also popular in America, as much for her revealing wardrobe as her acting ability. Filmed in 1947, Romance's Maya earned a U.S. release two years later. Based on a venerable Legend of the Sea, the story concerns a pliable prostitute named Bella (Romance) who is all things to all men. No matter what sort of woman her client wants, she will become that woman -- at least for the night. When a middle-aged man named Jean (Marcel Dalio) insists that Bella is his long-lost sweetheart, she plays along, hoping to escape her sordid lifestyle. The emotional tragedy that follows is meant to explain how Bella became "Maya," the living embodiment of Lost Souls. The film's symbolism is a bit overpowering at times, but Viviane Romance is always worth watching. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rita is a curious crime melodrama with mystical overtones. Facing the guillotine, condemned murderer Sylvain (Clement Duhour) is given the opportunity to undo the damage he's caused. Sylvain is transported back to a few days before the murder. Perhaps he can avoid his previous mistakes and save himself from execution. Ah, but they don't call Fate "cruel" for nothing. Billed over nominal leading man Clement Duhour is the popular Vivien Romance, going through her usual paces as a femme fatale who is literally "to die for." American prints of Rita run an abrupt 71 minutes, suggesting that the film was given a thorough going-over by the censors before it was deemed suitable for stateside consumption. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No "story by" credit is bestowed in the 1942 French filmization of Carmen, though its debt to novelist Prosper Merimee and composer George Bizet is more than implicit. Filmed in Spain by a largely French cast and crew, Carmen stars Gallic heartthrob Vivien Romance in the title role, and the equally attractive Jean Marais as Don Jose. Director Christian-Jaque was quite outspoken in his admiration of the western films of John Ford, so it's no surprise that Carmen is staged like a western, with plenty of deep-focus landscape shots of smugglers and soldiers galloping across the horizon. Even the basic story, of Don Jose's dissolution at the hands of the seductive Carmen, lends itself to the western approach, if one thinks of the hero as a federal marshal gone bad through the influence of a clever saloon gal. Carmen received very little play when released in America in 1946, due in part to the 1947 Columbia Technicolor adaptation The Loves of Carmen, which starred Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide