Lino Ventura Movies

Raid on the Drug Ring is the English-language title of this Jean Gabin vehicle. The venerable French leading man plays the curiously sympathetic head of an international narcotics ring, invited from across the Atlantic to oversee the European branch of his operation. Using a fancy restaurant as a cover, the drug lord keeps his fingers in several crooked pies. One questionable sequence suggests that black singers and dancers can only "swing" when high on drugs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The feature-film debut of famed director Louis Malle is an interesting, modern film noir with the classic theme of lovers plotting to kill the husband and make it look like suicide (reminiscent of The Postman Always Rings Twice). Jeanne Moreau, as Florence Carala, gives an astonishing performance, perverse but naive as she leads her young lover down a path that can only lead to doom for both of them. Malle and his cinematographer Henri Decae make extensive use of Paris at night, giving the film the feel of claustrophobia and desperation reminiscent of the classic noir films. The excellent score by Miles Davis adds to the entire effect of this mystery thriller. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Its title notwithstanding, Le Rouge est Mis (The Red Light is On) is not a drama about prostitution. Instead, the story concentrates on the humdrum, workaday world of the professional criminal. Jean Gabin plays garage-owner Louis, whose establishment is a front for a robbery gang. Louis and his confederates are careful to keep up a normal, bourgeois veneer by day, indulging in crooked activities only when "the red light is on" at night. This status quo is upset when one of the gang members becomes convinced that Louis' younger brother is a squealer. Le Rouge est Mis was adapted from a novel by Auguste Le Breton, of Rififi fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "mambo craze"of the late 1950s was hardly confined to the Western hemisphere, as proven by the French adventure flick Ces Dames Preferent le Mambo. In truth, there's not much singing or dancing in this Eddie Constantine vehicle. Instead, two-fisted Eddie gets involved with a treasure hunt in the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, he smashes a narcotics ring, which wins him a reinstatement in the U.S. Navy. And of course, Constantine enjoys the attentions of a bevy of beautiful ladies (Veronique Zuber, Lise Bourdrin et. al.) wearing very little indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The French-made Inspector Maigret offers one of the best-ever Maigrets in the form of veteran tough guy Jean Gabin, who played the character three times throughout the 1950s. In Maigret Sets a Trap, the inspector tackles the case of a psychopathic serial killer. The female victims have all been stripped and stabbed but none of the women was raped. Putting two and two together, Maigret determines that the killer was motivated by rage and frustration rather than sex. Maigret Sets a Trap avoids sensationalism in favor of slow-building suspense. Originally released in the U.S. as Inspector Maigret, the movie was retitled Woman-Bait. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this film based on an earlier German silent serial, a Swedish scientist (Gino Cervi) has invented a device which can alter the control of gravity. Soon after, Chinese spies intervene and try to swipe the machine, while the Swedish government sends help in the form of two agents (Lino Ventura, Carlos Thompson). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

This drama chronicles the exploits of two criminal brothers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A wife attempts to help her escaped convict husband and his two cohorts evade capture, but is stopped by love and several twists of fate. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A criminal on the run finds going home after a decade is harder than he expects in this drama from French filmmaker Claude Sautet. Gangster Abel Davos (Lino Ventura) is wanted for murder in France, and has been living underground in Italy for ten years. Since then, Abel has married Therese (Simone France) and fathered two sons, and he's decided it's time to come home. Abel has planed an elaborate scheme in which he'll steal a fortune to finance his journey and head home with Therese and the boys, but little goes as planned, and he arrives in Paris without his wife and running from the law with two kids in tow. An underworld boss who owes Abel some favors helps him put together a plan to travel across France in an ambulance to avoid suspicion, and recruits a headstrong young gangster, Eric (Jean-Paul Belmondo), to serve as Abel's driver and right-hand-man. En route, Abel tries to settle some old score with criminal associates who betrayed him. Based on a novel by Jose Giovanni, Classe Tous Risques was the first feature film from Sautet, who previously had worked as an assistant director for some of France's most prestigious filmmakers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An episodic, funny, though uneven spoof of human manners and foibles, this comedy by Vittorio de Sica begins in Naples when a disembodied voice announces to the city's residents "The Last Judgment will begin at 6:00 p.m." Naturally, not all are immediately willing to accept this statement -- but not for long. As comic vignettes unfold, the good citizens soon become even better as they try to undo past and present sins, just in case. There is a long list of top actors that show up briefly in the story, everyone from Alberto Sordi to Jimmy Durante, Melina Mercouri, Anouk Aimée, Vittorio Gassmann, and many, many others. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide