Jacques Sernas Movies

Set in ancient Rome, this film follows the struggle of Roman triplets as they battle their Alban arch-enemies to prevent Rome from being annexed to Alba. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In one of the most widely seen and acclaimed European movies of the 1960s, Federico Fellini featured Marcello Mastrioanni as gossip columnist Marcello Rubini. Having left his dreary provincial existence behind, Marcello wanders through an ultra-modern, ultra-sophisticated, ultra-decadent Rome. He yearns to write seriously, but his inconsequential newspaper pieces bring in more money, and he's too lazy to argue with this setup. He attaches himself to a bored socialite (Anouk Aimée), whose search for thrills brings them in contact with a bisexual prostitute. The next day, Marcello juggles a personal tragedy (the attempted suicide of his mistress (Yvonne Furneaux)) with the demands of his profession (an interview with none-too-deep film star Anita Ekberg). Throughout his adventures, Marcello's dreams, fantasies, and nightmares are mirrored by the hedonism around him. With a shrug, he concludes that, while his lifestyle is shallow and ultimately pointless, there's nothing he can do to change it and so he might as well enjoy it. Fellini's hallucinatory, circus-like depictions of modern life first earned the adjective "Felliniesque" in this celebrated movie, which also traded on the idea of Rome as a hotbed of sex and decadence. A huge worldwide success, La Dolce Vita won several awards, including a New York Film Critics CIrcle award for Best Foreign Film and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

British sex symbol Belinda Lee stars in the overheated Italian costume melodrama La Venere di Cheronea (The Venus of Cheronea). Lee is cast as Afrodite, the girl who allegedly inspired the greatest works of famed Greek sculptor Praxiletes (Massimo Girotti). According to the screenplay, Afrodite was also the romantic bone of contention between Praxiletes and fugitive warrior Claudio (Jacques Sernas). Naturally, the plotline requires the curvaceous Lee to disrobe at the slightest provocation, and just as naturally, the censors had a hissy-fit every time she bared her knee or shoulder. The principal attribute of La Venere di Cheronea is the excellent color cinematography of Arturo Galles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Per its title, C'est La Faute D'Adam (It's Adam's Fault) is a comedy about romance. En route to his wedding, the hero picks up a pretty hitchhiker who is suffering from amnesia. Naturally, his fiancee takes a dim view of this, and the marriage is promptly called off. But that's not the end of the protagonist's problems: it seems that a gang of crooks believes that the amnesiac girl is a gun moll, with all sorts of "trade secrets" floating around in her pretty head. Dany Robin plays the forgetful heroine, while the luckless bridegroom (who, of course, will fall in love with Robin before the final fadeout) is essayed by Jacques Sernas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jump into Hell is one of the first films to deal with the ongoing conflict in Vietnam or, as it was still known in 1955, French IndoChina. The 56-day battle of Dien Ben Phu is herein reenacted, with several French volunteers emerging as the heroes. Arriving in IndoChina by parachute, Captain Guy Bertrand (Jacques Sernas, here billed as "Jack") and his comrades make a courageous stand against the Communist forces. Before their inevitable doom, the men conjure up visions of the mademoiselles they left behind. Jump into Hell was scripted by novelist Irving Wallace, whose attitudes towards Western intervention in Vietnam would undergo a radical change within the next 15 years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barrier of the Law is an Italian crime meller with an above-average cast. Italy's Rosanno Brazzi and France's Jacques Sernas are top-billed in this tense little effort. The plot concerns an undercover operation, wherein a honest cop infiltrates a gang of clever crooks. Complications ensue when a pretty young girl falls for the cop, threatening to blow his cover or compromise his mission. Virtually unreleased in the US, Barrier of the Law has is currently available in a handful of public-domain video catalogues. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The misleadingly titled Italian comedy Luxury Girls is set in an exclusive Swiss finishing school. Rambunctious American lass Lorna Whitmore Susan Stephan is enrolled in the school by her wealthy parents. Before long, Laura has set the institution on its ear with her precocious behavior. Her female partners-in-"crime" spend their waking hours thinking of men and how to trap them, rather than concentrating on their schoolwork. There are a few attempts along the way to inject a note of seriousness now and then, but for the most part Luxury Girls is a chucklesome romp. While the cast is largely comprised of unknowns, Jacques Sernas does box-office duty as a commoner passing himself off as an aristocrat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gioventu Perduta (Lost Youth) represented Pietro Germi's second directorial effort. Jacques Sernas stars as Stefano, the charismatic head of a youthful bandit gang. Successfully leading a double life, Stefano poses as a pillar of postwar society, all the while plotting a robbery with his fellow college students. Suspicious detective Marcello (Massimo Giroti) tries to get the goods on Stefano by feigning a romance with the boy's sister Luisa (Carlo del Poggio), eventually falling in love with the girl for real. At this point in his career, Pietro Germi was still emulating his idol John Ford, spending more time with characterization and atmosphere than with plot or logic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide