Francis Blanche Movies
French actor Francis Blanche played comic leads and supporting roles on stage, screen, and television. He is the son of stage and screen actor Louis Blanche, and began his film career in the late 1940s. In film he has primarily played character roles. When not appearing in films, Blanche frequently performed live in music halls and cabarets. He also occasionally wrote theatrical farces, revues, songs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Brigitte Bardot was at the height of her fame when she starred in this engagingly silly military comedy. Babette (Bardot) is a beautiful but unfortunately clueless young French woman who, in 1940, becomes a refugee when she seeks safe haven in England as the Germans move in to occupy her land. Babette is recruited as part of a scheme to help British military intelligence foil a German plot to invade England. The idea is for Babette to use her good looks to win the confidence of German officers and learn their secrets; however, despite her enthusiasm, Babette's striking ineptitude when it comes to military espionage makes her as much of a threat as an asset to Allied forces. Babette s'en va-t-en Guerre (released in the United States as Babette Goes To War) also stars Ronald Howard, Jacques Charrier, and Michael Cramer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Jacques Charrier, (more)
Belle de Jour dramatizes the collision between depravity and elegance, one of the favorite themes of director Luis Buñuel. Catherine Deneuve stars as a wealthy but bored newlywed, eager to taste life to the fullest. She seemingly gets her wish early in the film when she is kidnapped, tied to a tree, and gang-raped. It turns out that this is only a daydream, but her subsequent visits to a neighboring brothel, where she offers her services, certainly seem to be real. This illusion/reality dichotomy extends to the final scenes, in which we are offered two possible endings. Thanks to a question of copyright and ownership, Belle de Jour disappeared from view shortly after its 1967 release, not even resurfacing on videotape. When it was reissued theatrically in 1994, many critics placed the perplexing but mesmerizing film on their lists of that year's best films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, (more)
- 1974
In this bizarre psychological thriller, a handsome young boy (John Mouder-Brown), who is marred by a strange birthmark on his face, tells a disturbing tale about how his family died. The family had been living for some time in a villa which was overgrown with flowering vines. Some of the vines even penetrate to the inside of the house. It seems that the boy's father, (Fernando Rey), was part of a conspiracy to kill Hitler, and when the plot failed, he was forced to kill his family in order to prevent them from suffering horrible torture. Unable for some reason to kill himself, he escaped but became the victim of amnesia after a motorcycle accident. When a German governess came to stay, his father's memory is revived. The boy travels to Germany in pursuit of the governess and learns that her family seeks vengeance from his father. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Delphine Seyrig, John Moulder-Brown, (more)
- 1963
Director Jacques Baratier's Sweet and Sour is an independently produced project with a surprising amount of European movie-industry input. Guy Bedos, a Brando wannabe, plays one of several young French cineastes who take to the streets to make improvisational movies. The "cinema verite" quality of the film is somewhat undercut by the presence of major stars: Anna Karina, Simone Signoret, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Monica Vitti, Claude Brasseur, and many others. After several "spontaneous" vignettes -- a street tennis game, a striptease lesson, a West Side Story style gang rumble -- Guy Bedos announces he will go to Hollywood to film the life of Voltaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Bedos, Sophie Daumier, (more)
- 1969
A married woman in her 30s tries to spice up her sex life with her distracted husband. Annie (Annie Girardot) buys clothes to entice her husband Philippe (Jean Yanne) who is preoccupied with an upcoming tax audit. Even the presence of a beautiful fashion model who visits with Phillipe's brother fails to divert his attention. The title is taken from one of several advertisements seen by Annie who is desperate to regain her husband's attention. This feature is the official French entry at the 1969 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Girardot, Jean Yanne, (more)
- 1970
Blanchard (Jean Yanne) is the colorless civil servant working for the French Culture Ministry. He works to support his nagging wife (Francoise Fabian) and their two children. He is called in on the carpet by his superior when a statistical report reflects his personal objection to growing censorship in France. He leaves home after his wife discovers his boss' secretary makes a play for her husband. When his children run away, Blanchard and his wife reunite to find the missing moppets and bring them home. For now, his plans to leave his wife and mistress for the secretary are temporarily put on hold. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Yanne, Françoise Fabian, (more)
Francois Perier, Peter vanEyck, and Anouk Aimee star in this tense tale of five highly skilled thieves who all pool their resources in hopes of pulling off the perfect heist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In this crime drama, filmed in Paris and Lebanon, a petty thief visits Beirut and gets involved with an old pal's plan to rob a high-stakes gambler. He also encounters a beautiful woman. He and she head for the mountains after he discovers that his enemy is out to get him. He later phones his pal and learns that his enemy is not going to kill him, instead he wants to assist with the robbery. The thief goes back to Beirut, but then decides not to do the caper. He then goes to the casino, observes the gambler, returns to his friends with the news that their mark has won it big, and leaves them. He and the woman leave to live a crime-free life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
An undistinguished, low-budget costume drama about a classical topic in Roman history, L'Enlevement des Sabines, by Richard Pottier, chronicles the problem of the men in early Rome. In fact, that is the problem -- there are only men in early Rome. Their leader is the son of the war god Mars and so the tendency is to fight first and ask questions later. But among the Sabine women who do not live so far away are some very attractive females. Needless to say, the Romans see the answer to their problem, though in the end the answer does avert a war between the two sites. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mylène Demongeot, Roger Moore, (more)
- 1973
In this French historical epic/farce, Colinot (Francis Huster) has had a hard time. First, his fiancee was kidnapped by a group of woman-sellers, and after a very long and dangerous search through 15th-century France, during which he earns the name of "Skirt Puller Upper," he finally finds his intended. Alas, although he has remained chaste (and not without some difficulty), she has not, and she has also married and given her heart to a nobleman. The all-too innocent lad is heartbroken. Fortunately an older woman, Arabelle (Brigitte Bardot), takes pity on him, and teaches him the ways of life and love . ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Natalie Delon, Bernadette Lafont, (more)
