Monique Van Vooren Movies

A twisted sexual power-trip game goes too far, and adult film director Max Vavell (George Shannon) causes the violent death of his leading lady, Alta Lee (Lynn Lowry). The motion picture community is convinced that she took her own life, though Max's casting agent Camilla (Mary Woronov) knows better. Camilla and Alta had been lovers in the past, so she secretly plots an elaborate revenge. After auditioning dozens of would-be actresses, Camilla discovers a perfect lookalike for Alta in the naive, inexperienced Julie (also played by Lynn Lowry). She takes the fledgling starlet under her wing, buying her clothes, giving her acting tips, and eventually seducing her. Julie falls in love and is completely dominated by the strong-willed Camilla, who dresses her in Alta's clothes and turns Max's dark fantasies against him in a deadly freak scene. Sugar Cookies was an early production credit for both Oscar-winner Oliver Stone and Troma Entertainment honcho Lloyd Kaufman, and features supporting roles from cult figures Monique van Vooren, Ondineand Jennifer Welles. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi

A woman undergoes a surgeon's scalpel in a last-ditch attempt to win back her husband in this drama. Barbara Sawyer (Elizabeth Taylor) has been married to her husband, Mark (Henry Fonda), for 30 years, and she's afraid the spark has gone out of their relationship. Barbara is convinced the problem is her appearance -- the years have taken a heavy toll on her, and her haggard, saggy appearance is a far cry from the beauty she possessed in her youth. Determined to save her marriage, Barbara checks into a clinic in Switzerland for extensive plastic surgery, and arranges to meet Mark at a nearby ski lodge once she's recovered. After having her face, breasts, and bottom lifted, Barbara leaves the hospital looking as beautiful as Elizabeth Taylor, and as she waits for Mark to arrive in Switzerland, she allows herself to be seduced by Erich (Helmut Berger), a handsome young playboy, to prove to herself she has regained her allure. However, her new face and figure isn't enough to save her marriage when Mark informs her he's decided to leave her for another woman. Ash Wednesday features detailed footage of actual plastic surgical procedures, some of which were far too bloody for the comfort of most audiences. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this eccentric independent comedy filmed in Chicago, Frank (Jon Voight) is a hayseed who heads north to the big city of Chicago, only to run afoul of gangsters and wind up murdered. Frank soon finds himself resurrected as a virtuous superhero, Fearless Frank, but a mad scientist (Severn Darden) soon crafts an evil twin, False Frank, to do his sinister bidding. Monique Van Vooren plays Plethora, one of the gangster's molls, and novelist Nelson Algren appears as Needles; much of the supporting cast was drawn from the Second City comedy troupe, including David Steinberg and Ben Carruthers. Frank's Greatest Adventure was the first solo directorial credit for Philip Kaufman and the screen debut for Jon Voight, though it would not receive wide distribution until after his breakthrough role in Midnight Cowboy. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Leslie Caron plays Gigi, a young girl raised by two veteran Parisian courtesans (Hermione Gingold and Isabel Jeans) to be the mistress of wealthy young Gaston (Louis Jourdan). When Gaston falls in love with Gigi and asks her to be his wife, Jeans is appalled: never has anyone in their family ever stooped to anything so bourgeois as marriage! Weaving in and out of the story is Maurice Chevalier as an aging boulevardier who, years earlier, had been in love with Gingold's character. Chevalier gets most of the best Lerner & Loewe tunes, including Thank Heaven for Little Girls, I'm Glad I'm Not Young Any More, and his matchless duet with Gingold, I Remember it Well. Caron's best number (dubbed by Betty Wand) is The Night They Invented Champagne while Jourdan gets the honor of introducing the title song. Filmed on location in Paris, Gigi won several Oscars, including Best Picture; it also represented the successful American movie comeback of Chevalier, who thanks to this film was "forgiven" for his reputed collaboration with the Nazis during World War II. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Serie Noire (Black Edition) is an acceptable Gallic imitation of America's hard-boiled detective genre. Henri Vidal plays the anti-hero, who moves with ease through the Parisian underworld. The action highlights are paced a bit too far apart, though with judicious cutting the film looks rather better on TV. Of special interest is the presence in the cast of Erich Von Stroheim in a minor role. The girl in the case is played by Monique Van Vooren. Serie Noire was based on a series of popular paperback adventures of the same title (though the publishing firm responsible for the books renounced the film version). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi