Joanna Shimkus Movies
Canadian actress Joanna Shimukus was a European fashion model before launching a film career there in the mid-'60s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1971
- R
A man who can't stop looking at other women finds that it might cost him his marriage in this farcical comedy. William and Lisa Alren (Richard Benjamin and Joanna Shimkus) are a young married couple whose relationship has begun to go stale. Bored and looking for diversion, William begins spying playfully on the sexual habits of their neighbors and watching attractive women passing by; while his voyeurism falls short of criminal activity, it doesn't sit at all well with Lisa. Eventually, she becomes so troubled by William's roving eye that she leaves their home and moves in with her sister Nan (Elizabeth Ashley), a harridan who has verbally browbeaten her attorney husband Chester (Adam West) into submission. At Nan's insistence and with Chester's help, Lisa begins divorce proceedings against William, but he tries to convince her to give him another chance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Benjamin, Joanna Shimkus, (more)
- 1971
A play by Jean Anouilh is the basis for A Time for Loving. In this Gallic blend of La Ronde and Plaza Suite, a single Paris flat is the scene for three separate romantic stories, bookended by a fourth. Star Mel Ferrar also functioned as producer; it must have taken some fast talking to keep him from directing as well. Filmed in 1970, A Time for Loving made the international rounds one year later, after some judicious editing. It has also been released as Paris Was Made For Lovers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This melodrama is taken from a story by D.H. Lawrence. Yvette (Joanna Shimkus) and her sister Lucille (Harriet Harper) are two country girls who return home after attending a provincial school. Yvette is smitten by the sight of a handsome gypsy (Franco Nero). Her stern matriarchal grandmother (Fay Compton) objects, but Yvette continues to see the dashing young man who awakens her sexual curiosity. She is comforted by Mrs. Fawcett (Honor Blackman) and Major Eastwood (Mark Burns), two people living in sin, much to the chagrin of the moralistic townsfolk. Yvette and the gypsy finally engage in a forbidden romantic encounter after weeks of longing gazes and social disapproval from friends and family on both sides. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanna Shimkus, Franco Nero, (more)
- 1969
When she discovers her husband has come home with a mistress, Anne (Joanna Shimkus) leaves her home in Paris and spends the night in her office where she meets Francois (Michel Piccoli), an architect who, without asking any questions, invites her on a trip to the South of France. The two make the trip but become lost in the mountains and are put up for the night by a kindly baker. A visit to a sculptor friend allows Anne to tell her troubles to someone who cares. Francois overhears the conversation but says nothing to her. When they arrive in the South, Anne spies her husband's car, but he is nowhere to be found. Francois and Anne end up at the architect's house where they make love, but in an ironic twist, their romantic liaison is shattered when the man's wife returns home, and Anne considers returning home to her unfaithful husband. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Joanna Shimkus, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Jason Higgs (Sidney Poitier) is an angry black man who plans to rob a factory payroll. With the help of his accomplices Dennis (Al Freeman Jr.) and his white girlfriend Cathy (Joanna Shimkus), a racially motivated demonstration diverts attention from the crooks while they rob the safe. Jason is somewhat of a modern-day Robin Hood who wishes to use the money to help the children of incarcerated soul brothers. He only places his hope in the youth who have not been sullied or scalded by the hatred of racial prejudice. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Zita, portrayed by Katina Paxinou, is a Parisian widow who has suffered a stroke. She is cared for by her niece Joanna Shimkus, who chafes under the responsibility and wanders off. Shimkus falls in with thieves and lowlifes, finally ending up in jail. She is bailed out by her family doctor (Paul Crauchet), but soon she's back in her old seedy nightclub haunts. While making love to jazz musician Jose Maria Flotats, Shimkus begins reminiscing about her childhood with her aunt. Somewhat chastened, a more mature Shimkus returns home to resume her duties--but by this time, Aunt Zita has died. The film's sympathies are squarely with the niece, whose "escape" from her aunt is meant to represent her final break from childish dependency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joanna Shimkus, Katina Paxinou, (more)
- 1968
Ho (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a racecar driver who is sponsored by a colorful gangster. When his friend is involved in an accident that leads to his death, Ho leaves the world of auto racing behind. He joins the mob and becomes a getaway driver for thugs who pull off bank robberies. When the mob boss dies, Ho muscles in and tries to take over the gang. Kidnapping a journalist to cover the story firsthand, he has an affair with a famous model. The police are soon on the trail of the aspiring crime boss as a shootout leaves the beautiful model dead. Ho sees the end of his criminal dreams coming to an end as the authorities and newspaper photographers converge to chronicle his capture. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Joanna Shimkus, (more)
- 1968
Boom is taken from the Tennessee Williams play The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. Flora Goforth (Elizabeth Taylor) is a foul-mouthed, booze-swilling, pill-popping, middle-aged woman near death. She spends her time swearing at the servants and looks forward to the end of it all, until poet Chris Flanders (Richard Burton) comes to her island home. Known in literary circles as the "angel of death," the poet gives the dying woman some measure of comfort in his presence -- while he takes comfort in her liquor cabinet and her jewelry. Often she is visited by the Witch of Capri (Noel Coward), a gossip-minded homosexual who appears to be Flora's only friend. Williams wrote the screenplay, which unfortunately proved ineffectual, as Taylor and Burton were seemingly caught up in their own world of wallowing in self-importance. The feature did little to boost the sagging careers of Burton and Taylor or to alter the public's negative opinions of their personal lives. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, (more)
- 1967
In this adventure, a hotshot pilot loses his license after he attempts to fly through the Arc de Triumph in Paris. Later he and his buddy head for the Congo accompanied by an unsuccessful female artist to locate a crashed plane supposedly filled with a fabulous treasure. Unfortunately, they are followed by greedy crooks who want the treasure for themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Lino Ventura, (more)
- 1965
Michel Piccoli stars as an amorous dentist whose philandering seemingly knows no bounds. He is no sooner shooing such lovelies as Anna Karina and Elsa Martinelli out the back door than he is welcoming such "new blood" as Joanna Shimkus into his living room. When Shimkus demands a commitment, Piccoli runs home movies of his past girlfriends, insisting all the while that he has forgotten them and that Joanna is the only woman in his life. The very next day he's running his movies for still another woman, and the song continues. De L'Amour is based on an 1822 novel by Stendhal (who would have been visionary indeed if he'd included all those home movies!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Jean Sorel, (more)
A sextet of French filmmakers collaborated on Six in Paris (originally Paris vu Par...) Jean Douchet directed the film's first episode, "Saint Germain-des-Pres," the story of the up-and-down relationship between a male model (Jean-Francois Chappey) and an American coed (Barbara Wilkin). Jean Rouch's "Gare du Nord" is a haunting twist-of-fate tale involving a suicidal handsome stranger (Gilles Queant). Written and directed by Jean-Daniel Pollet, "Rue Saint-Denis" unites an experienced prostitute (Micheline Dax) with a garrulous customer (Claude Melki). "Place de l'Etoile," a Chekhovian guilt trip involving salesman Jean-Michael Rouziere and shabby, supposedly dead street person Marcel Gallon, was Eric Rohmer's contribution. Jean-Luc Godard's "Montparnasse-Levallois," photography by American documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, finds Joanne Shimkus in an imaginary menage a trois. Six in Paris is topped off by Claude Chabrol's "La Muette," wherein a family man (played by Chabrol himself) comes to grief when he purchases a pair of earplugs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Chabrol, Micheline Dax, (more)
