René Blancard Movies

A social worker endeavors to rehabilitate Parisian streetwalkers in this drama. Two men later meet a pair of these reformed women and fall in love. When one of the women's old friend's is murdered, one of the girl's become a prime suspect. Actually the dead woman was slain by the ex-hooker's former employer, a gangster. Unfortunately the gangster dies in an auto wreck. Meanwhile, the social worker tries to clear the girl by telling police that she had been with her lover. The truth about the girls eventually comes out, and only one of their lovers is understanding. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sly and greedy young people endeavor to use l'amour to get their hands on a fortune in this French comedy. The story begins when an aspiring young artist falls hopelessly in love with his model Julie, an extraordinarily beautiful redhead. He desperately wants to marry her, but his father insists that he abandon the foolishness of art and take over the family business. The dutiful young son does so, but deep down regrets not pursuing his dream. He marries another and produces a son. Eventually he dies, leaving his son only one third of his empire. The rest he bequeathed to the beautiful, long-gone Julie. The son is anxious to find this enigmatic woman so he can buy her out. Unfortunately, she too has died and left the money to her daughter, also a Julie. To get at the fortune, he launches a whirlwind courtship. Unfortunately, things don't quite work out as planned. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Franco-Spanish Calle Mayor (aka Main Street and The Lovemaker) is an excellent showcase for the underrated and brilliant American actress Betsy Blair. In a reprise of her characterization in Marty, Blair plays Isabelle, a repressed, unmarried 35-year-old. As a cruel joke, a group of middle-aged men persuade a handsome but thick-headed hunk named Juan (Jose Suarez) to romance the reclusive Isabelle. When it becomes clear that she is hopelessly in love with him, the pangs of conscience begin exercising their prerogative on Juan. He is able to extricate himself from this awkward emotional entanglement, but the price that he and Isabelle are forced to pay is precious indeed. Calle Mayor was able to secure American bookings on the strength of the success of director Juan Antonio Bardem's previous film Death of a Cyclist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A jewel thief is at large on the Riviera, and all evidence points to retired cat burglar Cary Grant. Escaping the law, Grant heads to the Cote D'Azur, where he is greeted with hostility by his old partners in crime. All of them had been pardoned due to their courageous activities in the wartime Resistance, and all are in danger of arrest thanks to this new crime wave. But Grant pleads innocence, and vows to find out who's been copying his distinctive style. With the reluctant aid of detective John Williams, Grant launches his investigation by keeping tabs on the wealthiest vacationers on the Riviera. One such person is heavily bejeweled Jessie Royce Landis, who is as brash and outspoken as her daughter Grace Kelly is quiet and demure. But "still waters run deep," as they say, and soon Kelly is amorously pursuing the far-from-resistant Grant. Part of Kelly's attraction to Grant is the possibility that he is the thief; the prospect of danger really turns this gal on. Being Cary Grant, of course, he can't possibly be guilty, which is proven in due time. But by film's end, it's obvious that Kelly has fallen hard for Grant, crook or no crook. Occasionally written off as a lesser Alfred Hitchcock film (did we really need that third-act fashion show?), To Catch a Thief is actually as enjoyable and engaging now as it was 40 years ago. Though the Riviera location photography is pleasing, our favorite scene takes place in a Paramount Studios mockup of a luxury hotel suite, where Grant and Kelly make love while a fireworks display orgasmically erupts outside their window. And who could forget the scene where Jessie Royce Landis disdainfully stubs out a cigarette in an expensive plate of eggs? Adapted by frequent Hitchcock collaborator John Michael Hayes from a novel by David Dodge To Catch a Thief won an Academy Award for cinematographer Robert Burks. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The life story of famed French aviatrix Helene Boucher is detailed in Horizons san Fin (Endless Horizons). Giselle Pascal stars as Boucher, who is first seen in 1930, leaving her millinery shop behind in favor of the wild blue yonder. Though the world of aviation was still essentially an all-male one (despite England's Amy Johnson and America's Amelia Earhart), Boucher perseveres, eventually breaking all existing male and female speed and height records. A bit slow on the uptake in the dramatic scenes, the film soars (no pun intended) during the aerial sequences. Horizons san Fin was the winner of the Catholic Award at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Suivez cet Homme (Follow That Man) is, as indicated by its title, a crime drama. While celebrating his birthday, police inspector Basquier (Bernard Blier) recalls two of his most-celebrated cases. The first involves duplicitous moneylender Olga (Suzy Prin). The second concerns the brutal broad-daylight murder of innocent young Yvonne (Veronique Deschamps). The film's narrative is divided neatly into two halves, prompting some observers to conclude that Suivez cet Homme was designed as a television pilot. Suivez cet Homme was adroitly scripted by the dependable Jacques Remy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Originally La Cage aux Rossignois, A Case of Nightingales could just as well have been titled "The Noel-Noel Show," inasmuch as the famed French actor is both star and co-screenwriter. Having completed a book about his experiences as a reform-school teacher, Clement Mathieu (Noel-Noel) is unable to interest a publisher in the project. To make ends meet, he takes a promotional job with toy-airplane manufacturer Raymond (Georges Biscot), who as a gesture of friendship serializes Mathieu's memoirs in the Paris Telegram. Astonished by the story, Mathieu's girlfriend Martine (Michel Francey) wants to know more -- whereupon Mathieu recalls how he was able to organize a group of the most incorrigible reform-school inmates into an angelic-voiced boys' choir (hence the film's title). His tale told, Mathieu is himself astonished to discover that Martine is the cousin of one of his former pupils! An overly melodramatic finale mars this otherwise sensitive comedy-drama. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Marcel Carne's 1946 production La Porte de la Nuit was released in the U.S. four years later as Gates of the Night. Scripted by Carne's longtime collaborator Jacques Prevert, the film is set in Paris just after its liberation from the Nazis. The script points out that this was not only a time for rejoicing, but a period of guilt and remorse, especially for those who cooperated with the Nazis, overtly or otherwise. In one of his first starring roles, Yves Montand plays a former member of the French underground who carries on a furtive romance with the wife (Nathalie Nattier) of a wealthy man. Others essential to the action are Sergi Reggiani as a snivelly informer and Christian Simon as a ubiquitous (and obviously symbolic) street musician. A box-office disappointment in France, Gates of the Night did somewhat better abroad. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Despite the exigencies of the Nazi occupation of France, veteran filmmaker Maurice Tourneur managed to turn out a classic psychological horror film, La Main du Diable (The Devil's Hand). A variation of the Faust legend, the film's "Mephistopheles" is a smarmy Vichy-government civil servant, brilliantly played by Palau. When struggling artist Pierre Fresnay sells his soul, Palau binds the bargain by giving the artist a severed, withered, yet "living" human hand. Years later, Pierre, on the verge of death, is forced to learn the identity of the man from whom the hand was stolen, lest he burn in eternal damnation. The film's highlight is a nocturnal gathering of all the previous owners of the hand who unfold their tales of woe to the beleaguered Pierre. Eventually, the hand is returned to its rightful owner, an ending that is at once happy and tragic. Like most of Tourneur's best works, The Devil's Hand is far better seen than described (prints are available, though most are in deplorable condition). Completed in 1942, the film finally made it to the U.S. several years later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi