Roger Blin Movies

L'Adolescente (The Adolescent) was the second directorial stint for French film star Jeanne Moreau. This possibly autobiographical piece is set during the early war years. Laetitia Chauveau plays a twelve-year old girl whose future is determined by the events of one long summer holiday in the country in the period just before the outbreak of the Second World War. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sometimes the story that a journalist is assigned lands him with a boring tale. That's what Francois (Jean-Michel Folon) believes when he is given the job of writing about a "worker"'s life. When he meets the man, he discovers that the man's wife has just left him and moved back to her mother's. The newsman and a friend of his take the poor man out on the town to comfort him. The reporter also interviews the woman who is making the worker's life difficult and even finds a way to fix things up between the couple. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The painful life of a mentally unstable but highly gifted woman is unveiled in this film, based on episodes from the life of an actual person. Aloise (Delphine Seyrig) creates a series of haunting drawings while she is incarcerated in an institution for the insane in turn-of-the-century Switzerland. She endures torments as a musically gifted girl and later as a young woman; her developing madness and the barbaric treatments of the time are shown. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A dying desert town becomes a flashpoint for racial violence in this bizarre, over-the-top drama from France. Cicada is a fetid, arid Dogpatch that had been slowly drying up ever since a nearby river was dammed up, sending the town's farmers packing. These days, Cicada has become home to a motley band of alcoholics, petty criminals, and prostitutes, with Bob Stanley (Jacques Richard), the town's solo war veteran, one of the few with any interest in improving himself. Cicada is racially segregated, with the town's black population living under a curfew, but Bob ignores that when he invites Bessie Vance (Toto Bissainthe), an attractive African woman whom he meets at the town's ramshackle school, to join him for a dance in town. Bob is more interested in making time with Bessie than making a case for racial tolerance, but enough of Cicada's rednecks are outraged by his dalliance with a black woman that he's brutally beaten later that night. One of the culprits decides to blame the near-fatal beating on the town's black citizens, and it's not long before Cicada is on the verge of a race war. Also known as Les Tripes au Soleil, Checkerboard was written and directed by Claude Bernard-Aubert, who would later offer a more measured view of race relations with My Baby Is Black. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While visiting a vegetarian restaurant, a young writer finds a corpse in the restroom. When he returns with the police, the body is gone. The writer is left with the unlucky fellow's hat -- which leads a certain beautiful woman to believe that his identity is the same as the dead man's. Not only is his life now at risk, but things get increasingly bizarre as he meets up with a mysterious sect of cannibals and with a group of opium-smuggling gangsters. What's more, the woman herself seems to have a diabolical doppleganger. Aimez-Vous Les Femmes? was adapted by Roman Polanski and Gerard Brach from a book by Georges Bardawil. The distinguished Sacha Vierny contributed his cinematographic talent to this black comedy shortly after his successful collaboration (among many) with director Alain Resnais on Muriel, ou le Temps d'un Retour/Muriel, or the Time of Return (1963). ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

La Taverne de N.O. is the French title for the Franco-American costume drama Adventures of Captain Fabian. As sea captain Michael Fabian, Errol Flynn (who also adapted the screenplay from the Robert Shannon novel Fabulous Ann Madlock) is ostensibly the star. Most of the footage, however, is devoted to Micheline Presle as servant girl Lea Marriote, whose thirst for revenge against the prominent New Orleans family who wronged both her and Fabian motivates the film's plotline. After Fabian defends Lea on a murder charge, she promptly weds George Brissac (Vincent Price), scion of that aforementioned family, thereby laying the groundwork for a spectacularly unhappy finale. Filmed in Paris and Nice, La Taverne de N.O. represented the second film which Errol Flynn made in partnership with producer-director William Marshall; the first was the abortive Hello God. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cinematic poet Jean Cocteau explored the myth of Orpheus on no fewer than three occasions: Le Sang d'Un Poete (Blood of a Poet, 1930), Orphee (Orpheus, 1949) and Le Testament d'Orphee (1960). This second of his "Orpheus" trilogy stars Jean Marais in the title role. Updated to contemporary Paris (albeit a Paris never seen before or since), the story concerns a sensitive young poet named Orpheus, who is married to the lovely Eurydice (Marie Dea). Orpheus' friend Cegeste (Edouard Dermit) is killed in a traffic accident. In the hospital morgue, Cegeste's patroness, The Princess of Death (Maria Casares), revives the young man; then, both Cegeste and Princess pass into the Underworld. Back on earth, Orpheus receives cryptic messages from Cegeste's spirit, as well as nocturnal visitations from the Princess. Meanwhile, Orpheus' wife enters into an affair with Heurtebise (Francois Perier). After seeking advice on her mixed-up love life, Eurydice is herself struck down and killed by the same cyclist who snuffed out Cegeste's life. It appears to Heurtebise that the ghostly Princess has claimed Eurydice so that she, the Princess, can be free to love Orpheus. Heurtebise persuades Orpheus to accompany him into the Underworld in hopes of returning Eurydice to life. By now, however, Orpheus cares little for his wife; he is completely under the Princess' spell. Offered her own liberation from the Underworld by the powers-that-be, the Princess dolefullly agrees to restore Eurydice to life, and to never have anything to do with Orpheus again. Orpheus has weathered much controversy to take its place among the director's most acclaimed works. Originally released at 112 minutes, the film was whittled down to 95 minutes for its American release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The French Hans le Marin secured an American distributor on the strength of its three stars. Jean-Pierre Aumont plays the title character, a Canadian sailor docked in Marseilles. Here he carries on a torrid romance with cabaret owner Dolores (Maria Montez). When he is robbed and left for dead, Hans awakens to discover that Dolores has disappeared. Ever hopeful that she will return, he takes a job as a nightclub bouncer, and dallies with gypsy girl Marie (Lilli Palmer). This little diversion results in even more trouble for the hapless Hans, who ends up on the lam from the law. Marcel Dalio pops up from time to time, espousing Gallic philosophy as only he can. Hans le Marin was also released as The Wicked City. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also known as Pour une Nuit d'Amour, Passionnelle was based on a novel by Emile Zola. On the verge of an arranged marriage with a wealthy rake, convent-bred Theresa (Odette Joyeaux) flirts with postal clerk Julien (Roger Blin), all the while carrying on a more torrid romance with handsome servant Colombel (Raymond Galle). When the latter threatens to tell all to the girl's fiancé (Jacques Catellot), she murders him and persuades Julien to help her dispose of the body. Poor, misguided Julien ends up as the all-around fall guy when Colombel's body is discovered, and not even the 11th-hour confession of Theresa can save him from his inexorable fate. Filmed in 1946, Passionnelle arrived in the U.S. in a discreetly censored version two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally released in 1942 as Les Visiteurs du Soir, The Devil's Envoys is another masterful collaboration between actress Arletty, writer Jacques Prevert and director Marcel Carne, who would team up one year later for the brilliant Les Enfants Du Paradis. The film is predicated on the 15th century French legend, wherein the Devil, disturbed by the encroaching forces of Good, sends his envoys to Earth to drive the citizens to despair. The Devil, played by Jules Berry in a subtly Hitler-like fashion (a chancy artistic decision in the days of the Occupation), is thwarted when his agents are unable to overcome the power of true love. Even after the lovers are turned to stone for defying His Satanic Majesty, their hearts continue to beat for each other. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Entree des Artistes details the lives and loves of several artistically-inclined students at the Paris Conservatory. Wealthy Cecilia (Odette Joyeux) and not-so-wealthy Isabelle (Janine Darcey) vie for the affections of wise-guy Francois (Claude Dauphin). Isabelle finally lands Francois, forcing him to work as a gigolo to support the two of them. Things take a melodramatic turn when Cecilia is murdered, casting suspicion upon the now-chastened Francois. Trying to make sense of all this is Professor Lambert (Louis Jouvet), one of the Conservatory's leading lights, and the Examining Judge (Marcel Dalio). The throbbing musical score by Georges Auric makes Entree des Artistes seem a lot more profound than it really is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide