Lino Ventura Movies

The carefree life at a decadent cabaret in Paris is overshadowed by the darkening cloud of war in this thrilling drama. Beppo (Roger Hanin) is a club owner with ties to the mob who wages a secret war against the evil forces of fascism who control the local police. Vivian Reed gives a memorable performance as Josephine Baker, while gangsters, Nazis and other thugs wage a nocturnal battle for control of the city of lights. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In many ways, this was a courageous film to make about Carlo Dalla Chiesa (played by Lino Ventura), an Italian general who gave his life trying to eliminate Mafia bosses and their supporters. Dalla Chiesa's wife was also murdered when her husband got too close to exposing the truth about the connections between the Mafia, the state, and the banking world. After Dalla Chiesa organized a campaign against the Red Brigades, he was sent to Sicily to clamp down on Mafia activities and bring some of the worst mob leaders to justice. His wife Emmanuela completely supported him in this dangerous undertaking, and during the course of his investigations, Dalla Chiesa began to check out the banks suspected in laundering money for the mob. That level of inquiry brought him a warning phone call from a government minister, and when he refused to stop his three-month investigation, he and his wife were murdered. In an eloquent statement of support for his efforts to combat the Mafia, a long list of sponsors for this film - including local organizations both inside and outside the government, anti-drug groups, and organizations in the cinematic field among many others, were listed in the closing credits. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Aldo (Lino Ventura) is a worker in a Canadian goldmine who escapes being murdered by a gang of marauding bandits as they kill off everyone in the camp except Aldo and two Native American workers and then nab the gold stores. The three survivors manage to kill off the assassins and discuss dividing the gold between them, but Aldo soon catches on that the other two intend to keep the gold for themselves. Aldo practices a little one-up-manship, escapes with the two heavy cases of gold, and then when his canoe goes over some rapids he loses it all. Not one to give up easily, Aldo recruits a wheelchair-bound friend and the friend's wife to help him retrieve the golden treasure from the turbulent waters of the river. With the additional help of Aldo's love interest (Claudia Cardinale) and another friend, the group salvage the gold -- but then have to face some stalwart competition in the form of the two Native Americans who have returned looking for their share of the treasure and a third party who also wants in on the take. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This screen version of Victor Hugo's classic novel stars Italian actor Lino Ventura as Jean Valjean, a French peasant who -- driven to desperation by poverty -- steals a loaf of bread only to be caught by the police. After serving a long prison term for this petty theft, Valjean is tempted to return to a life of crime upon his release, but an act of mercy by a kindly Bishop gives him a fresh start. Valjean gains a new determination to build a better life for himself, and in time he becomes a respected citizen, a successful businessman, and the mayor of a small town. However, Javert (Michel Bouquet), who was once a guard at the prison where Valjean was held, is now a police captain and knows the truth about the criminal history Valjean prefers not to discuss. Javert is convinced that Valjean is not as honest as he seems, and he obsessively pursues him, determined to one day put him back behind bars. This was the 16th screen adaptation of Les Miserables, and the 11th to be produced since the introduction of sound. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This is a minimalist interrogation drama about a wealthy, influential attorney (Michel Serrault) in a small French town falls under suspicion in a double rape/murder case. The police bring the lawyer in for questioning; at first politely, and then less so, the interrogation team (Lino Venture, Guy Marchand) chips away at the suspect's alibi. An expertly wrought surprise ending makes up for the clumsiness of the English-language dubbing. This French film was based on the British novel Brainwash, by John Wainwright. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roland Fériaud (Lino Ventura), on returning from a seaside vacation, discovers a corpse in a room adjoining his. He is abducted by a mysterious group who take him to a clinic of some kind, where he is interrogated. He is shown a small suitcase he has never seen before, and he tries in vain to understand what it is his captors want. Director Jacques Deray specialized in this kind of thriller, which is a typical specimen of the genre. At this time Lino Ventura was at the peak of his stardom, playing silent, stoical heros after the manner of Jean Gabin. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Romain (Lino Ventura) lost his wife in a forest fire, and his son, who blamed him for the death, left France for Canada. Romain is called to Canada to identify the corpse of a murder victim believed to his son. When the murdered man turns out to be someone else, his son automatically becomes the chief suspect in the murder. Romain decides to try and get the young man to turn himself in and searches through the byway underground and underworld life in Canadian cities with the help of Karen (Angie Dickenson), a lady with an unsavory past. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In truth, there are two French Detectives in this European crime melodrama. Lino Ventura plays an aging, been-around gumshoe, while Patrick Dewaere is his young, callow and cynical associate. The two detectives don't like each other much at first, but this will change. Their current assignment: getting the goods on a corrupt politician. Occasionally more violent than it needs to be, The French Detective has the twin advantages of authenticity and sincerity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Italian film was made for the blaxploitation action niche, but sloppy dubbing and unintentionally funny dialogue kept it from packing the kind of action punch needed for box-office success. Father Charlie (Lino Venturi) is an ex-con who has been granted an exemption from canon law to become a priest. When a friend of his gets into trouble which looks suspiciously like a frame-up, Father Charlie decides to investigate, with or without the blessing of his bishop. His friend Lee Stevens (Isaac Hayes) is looking for the real culprit as well, and Father Charlie and Lee soon join forces. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Proof of the success of French filmmaker Edouard Molinaro is the fact that several of his home-grown hits have been remade as American films. The most recent example of this is 1996's The Birdcage, a highly profitable reworking of Molinaro's La Cage aux Folles (1978). The director's 1973 comedy A Pain in the A... also went the Cage aux Folles route of enjoying worldwide popularity, then undergoing an Americanization process. In the Molinaro original, Lino Ventura plays a friendless hit man who holes up in an Italian hotel room, awaiting the opportunity to knock off his target, a mob witness. No sooner has Ventura drawn a bead on his would-be victim than he is interrupted by the comically suicidal Jacques Brel, who wants to jump from the open window in the assassin's room. The banter and byplay between Ventura and Brel is priceless, especially when veering towards the "sick" humor that Molinaro handles so well. Based on a play by Francis Veber, Pain in the A... was remade by Billy Wilder as Buddy Buddy (1978), with Walter Matthau as the hit man and Jack Lemmon as his unexpected guest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This French spy thriller makes a number of surprising variations on familiar themes. Tibere (Lino Ventura) is a Soviet nuclear scientist who comes to London with a platoon of his colleagues for a conference. When he is injured in an auto accident, he gets separated from them. The accident was a set-up by British MI5 (secret service). It turns out that he is a Frenchman who was kidnapped by the Soviets many years before. The British insist on his returning to the West to helping the British and French spy agencies. They don't look after him any too well, however, and he ends up being chased by everybody under the sun, including the KGB. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This crime action movie is based on Peter Maas' best-selling book The Valachi Papers. That book, in turn, is based on prison conversations and the actual U.S. Senate testimony of Joseph Valachi, a high-ranking figure in the Mafia. The book, which tells precisely who did what to whom, when and why, electrified the nation. This film had to be made in Italy, because attempts to shoot in the U.S. were stymied by mob-arranged "accidents" and protests. The story is told in flashback as Valachi (Charles Bronson) tells a Federal agent about his activities from 1929 to 1961, when he worked for the Capo of Capos, Vito Genovese (Lino Ventura). Though his tale necessarily takes place in a number of episodes, it never fails to have lots of drama and action. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This broad French comedy includes some affectionate parodies of silent film features. Corny (Lino Ventura) is the captain of a rum-running boat during the U.S. Prohibition era, which ended before talking pictures were introduced. In his spare time, he haunts his local cinema, and his favorite actress is the divine Linda (Brigitte Bardot). Through a series of accidents, he finally gets to meet her in the flesh, and woo her. Their romance is obstructed by his bosses and her other suitors, but they keep trying to spend time together. Finally, the demands of stardom intervene. Corny goes back to his boat and sighs over the movie screen as before. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide