Bernard Blier Movies

This offbeat satirical comedy finds a beautiful and talkative housekeeper (Annie Girardot) working for several colorful employers. One is a former prostitute living with a prominent politician. Also included is a ribald bank teller and a strange man who helps out at a church for wayward boys and sings at a homosexual nightclub. The housekeeper's verbose nature leads to blackmail for her clients, with the two men meeting their deaths and the ex-prostitute wedding plans put in jeopardy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Benjamin (Jacques Brel) is a country doctor who has a way with women with the exception of his fianceé. While other women yearn to play doctor with the handsome physician, his intended intends on saving herself for their wedding night. When the local Marquis feels he is snubbed by the wise cracking medico, he demands revenge. Benjamin is forced to place his puckered lips on the posterior of the pompous Marquis (Bernard Blier). He gets revenge by making love to the Marquis' wife. Benjamin even saves the choking nobleman, but not before he plants a kiss on the doctor's derriere. Swashbuckling swordplay and nudity appear throughout the film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The English translation of this French film is "It Won't Do To Take God's Children For Wild Geese." A young girl tries to double-cross a gun-toting gangster moll in order to make off with some stolen money. The mood of this feature is an uneven blend of comedy and satire complete with stereotypical underworld characters and an occasional narrative style. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Coplan (Claudio Brook) is a free-lance undercover agent who offers his services to the highest bidder. He receives a phone call from an old girlfriend in Turkey imploring him to see her immediately. The panic-stricken woman gives sketchy details of a plot that threatens world security. When Coplan arrives, he is told the woman has been killed, and the trail of the murderer leads to her brother (a mad scientist driven insane by radioactive fallout from a failed experiment). The mad scientist tries to hunt down Coplan with a bow and arrow. Coplan believes he sees his girlfriend alive, or is it her sister? The secret agent uses all of his resources to survive long enough to save the world from the brother's evil plan. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This talkative and unevenly paced feature finds Fou (Jean Lefebvre) the inventor of a gas that makes the users fall in love. He is chased by his boss, the police, and spies, who seek to secure the secret recipe for their own selfish purposes. A shadowy American underworld figure tries to intimidate the inventor. A half-hearted attempt at comedy tries to go along with the double dealing and trickery of the thin plot of the film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The Stranger is a literal (but still very cinematic) adaptation of the novel by Albert Camus. Marcello Mastrioanni stars as Meursault, a man who feels utterly isolated from everyone and everything around him. This alienation results in sudden, inexplicable bursts of violence, culminating in murder. The subsequent trial of Meursault manages to convey the oppressive heat of its Algerian setting with director Luchino Visconti's usual veneer of elegant decadence. Though set in the 1930s, the sensibilities of the film were very much attuned to the 1960s: the problem was that Camus' sentiments had been adopted by so many other filmmakers of the period that The Stranger seemed rather commonplace. The film was originally released in Italy as Lo Staniero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Septime (Louis De Funes) is the owner of a posh French restaurant in Paris who is afraid of his temperamental cooks but who takes his frustrations out on his other employees. When a visiting ambassador is kidnapped from the restaurant, Septime is accused of being an accomplice in the abduction. This sets the scene for some well-staged auto chases over snow-covered mountains. One car flips over but is able to make it down the mountain because skis are attached to the rooftop rack of the vehicle. De Funes adds his own flair of irascible, self-depreciating humor that is the highlight of this comedy spy adventure. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this offbeat black comedy, Efisio Ugo Tognazzi is smuggled into Sardinia to kill a man for his insulting remarks about another family. While he is with his wife in Milan, the intended victim is killed by another man and Efisio gets credit for the hit. When his wife becomes pregnant, rumors in town circulate that Efisio is not the father because he was supposedly in Sardinia at the time. Efisio becomes the target of a disapproving mob and must shoot his own wife to defend the honor of his family. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This uninhibited Italian comedy was originally titled Il Magnifico Cornuto. Ugo Tognazzi plays a philandering businessman, inordinately proud of his hyperactive libido. Claudia Cardinale is his sexy wife, which makes one wonder why Tognazzi would ever want to stray. Be that as it may, Cardinale decides to take revenge on her roving hubby by launching an affair of her own. The beauty part is that she's almost able to get away with her hanky-panky without her self-absorbed husband ever catching on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy anthology, the sex-capades of several Italian couples are chronicled. In "The Scandal," a dull and insensitive husband is unaware that his lonely wife has been flirting with a young buck at a vacation resort. When the husband finally finds out, he gets jealous and the marriage is renewed. In "Sin in the Afternoon," a movie producer is frustrated because his wife refuses to touch him, and so he winds up picking up a comely woman off the street and taking her to a motel. "The Victim" chronicles the relationship between an insanely jealousy woman and her beleaguered husband, whom she drives away. She, seeking revenge, begins an affair with his best friend. In the final episode, "Modern People," a deeply indebted cheese maker is given the option of paying the debt in cash or allowing the debtor an evening of lovemaking with his gorgeous wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide