Henri Virlojeux Movies
- 1961
Roberto La Rocca (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is an ex-gangster whose friend Xavier (Pierre Vaneck) has been unjustly thrown in prison. Indeed, local gang leader Villanova is the one who framed Xavier. La Rocca confronts the mobster and kills him. Later, while helping his mistress (Beatrice Altariba) to fight off an American gang of racketeers, Roberto is caught by the police and is put in the same prison with Xavier. Then the two volunteer to clear land mines left from the last war, hoping to receive a pardon and to buy a quiet farm. The same novel by José Giovanni was later filmed by the author himself as La Scoumoune, again starring Belmondo. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Pierre Vaneck, (more)
- 1963
Jean Gabin plays Charles, an aging gangster, newly released from prison. In fine Bogart tradition, the unrepentant Charles immediately sets to work planning a major casino heist in Cannes. His go-between for this endeavor is a chorus girl, whom Charles's associate Francis (Alain Delon) beds in order to win her confidence. This rapidly-paced suspenser was based on a novel by John Trinian. When first distributed in the US, the film travelled under the title Any Number Can Win. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, (more)
- 1961
Georges Lautner, a popular French director of comedies and romantic dramas, tries his hand at a war film in this routine tale set in a small French town during the German Occupation. A microcosm of the country as a whole, the town is divided between the resistance fighters and those who turn a blind eye to the occupying forces. The mayor (Bernard Blier) at first appears to be just a leisurely yet effective, middle-aged man who is willing to help people out when the need arises. But as circumstances take a more serious turn, the mayor shows that he is also capable of heroic action. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Blier, Lucille Saint-Simon, (more)
- 1964
In this Italian mystery-adventure, a government agent is assigned to look into a mysterious outbreak of a deadly virus in Southeast Asia. While attending a party, he meets an enemy agent and his pretty sister. Later the enemy captures the agent and his own sister who has fallen for the American. Soon the Yankee operative discovers that the evil agent is planning the genocide of all races he deems inferior. In their place, he is trying to engineer a race of superhumans. Fortunately, the American and the sister escape. He eventually finds the lab where the virus is cultivated and is again captured. This time, the sister and her friend save him and set the lab afire. The woman's friend is killed. Later her brother accidently falls into a pit filled with infected rats. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerwin Mathews, Robert Hossein, (more)
- 1963
An overly ambitious young man hopes to rise to the top of the advertising business. When he feels his progress is being impeded, he conspires to murder his way up the corporate ladder. He uses the bodies of his victims as rungs to climb to the top in this macabre comedy of errors. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Serrault, (more)
- 1983
This undistinguished, cardboard-character action-thriller has a team of super-cops, four men and one woman, tracking down a black-leather biker who kills off young women in a prostitution ring who are trying to escape their miserable life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Massimi, Chantal Nobel, (more)
- 1980
This French comedy stars Michel Serrault as a bland corporation functionary who'll never get ahead so long as he remains a dull little man. Unable to be a success on his own terms, Serrault invents an "assistant", the dynamic, go-getting "Mr. Davis". Pretending to be Mr. Davis' intermediary, Serrault at last makes it big in the business world. A crisis develops when Serrault's investors demand to meet Mr. Davis in person--and when several covetous young ladies show up, claiming to be the mothers of Mr. Davis' children! We aren't about to tell you how Serrault wriggles out of his dilemma: we want you to enjoy The Associate yourself. An American version of the same story, released in 1996, stars Whoopie Goldberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Claudine Auger, (more)
- 1986
The clash in this Philippe De Broca comedy between a bored middle-class stiff and a much more exciting, lawless female offers no new insights into the genre. Hubert Durieux (Claude Brassuer) works in a staid bank job and has to put up with demands from his ex-wife and a daughter who may not have made the right choice in a husband. Other females plague him, but the one who turns him around is a gypsy (Valerie Kaprisky) who first gets his attention by stealing his car. Once she has captured his manly interest, she tricks and cons him into a daring adventure that shatters the moralistic four walls he has built around himself. Some of the Romany (gypsy) population may not be too happy with this stereotypical portrayal, no matter how charming the thief. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Brasseur, Valérie Kaprisky, (more)
- 1993
Monsieur Charme (Michel Bouquet) is an old man, and the love of his life passed away some years ago. Despite being wealthy and in relatively good health, he finds that life without her is no longer supportable. Determined to end it all, he approaches Reine (Gwennola Bothorel), a home-care nurse known for her willingness to bend the rules, and asks her if, in return for receiving his apartment, she will kill him. She readily agrees, and now the fun in this black comedy can begin. It seems that the old man has a nephew (Patrick Catalifo) who is determined to thwart this scheme at all costs. A battle royal is joined between the ingenuity of the nurse and her willing victim, and the determination of his equally ingenious nephew. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Bouquet, Patrick Catalifo, (more)
- 1985
In this argumentative, fractious drama about a warped sense of male-female love, Bruno (Jacques Bonnafe) who is clearly not playing with a full deck, devises a means to test the love of his girlfriend Isabelle (Ann Gisel Glass). Since Isabelle had been in love with Alain (Xavier Deluc) in the past, Bruno invites Alain to a surprise birthday party for her at a hotel -- what better way to judge her feelings than to get them together? Alain arrives with his current girlfriend Lio (Fanny Bastien) to find that the "party" is only a foursome. Soon after the two couples start the evening off, their polite exteriors deteriorate as they bicker on, and on, and on. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Gisele Glass, Fanny Bastien, (more)
- 1963
The "vice and virtue" of the title of this wartime drama directed by Roger Vadim are exemplified in the personae of two very attractive women: Juliette (Annie Girardot) and Justine (Catherine Deneuve). Juliette is a collaborator and Justine supports the resistance movement, yet when her husband is arrested on her wedding day, she goes to Juliette to ask for help. That simple plan is nixed by a series of unfortunate circumstances that send Justine to a brothel for German soldiers and make Juliette the mistress of a brutal Nazi officer. The symbolism in this tale harks back to two stories by the Marquis de Sade, one titled "Juliette" and the other, "Justine." Vadim seems to have been caught between creating symbolic characters versus creating believable women since as the story unfolds, Juliette is not exactly vice incarnate, nor is Justine a model of pristine virtue. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Annie Girardot, Robert Hossein, (more)
- 1965
In this French comedy, a clever fellow proves himself smarter than the gangsters who would exploit him. The trouble begins in Paris when the vacationing hero accidentally gets into an auto accident with a smuggler. The crook is most apologetic for the mishap and kindly offers to let him drive his Cadillac to Bordeaux and continue with his holiday. The poor traveler doesn't know that the vehicle is a black market on wheels carrying everything from jewels to heroine. He is pursued by the smuggler and by a rival gang. He is so busy enjoying himself that he doesn't bother to look back at the gun battles raging behind him. He ends up picking up two hitchhiking women and continuing his leisurely journey. When he finally realizes that they are using him, he drives the crooks right to the police station. Later he discovers that the steering wheel of the car contains the largest diamond in the world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis de Funès, Bourvil, (more)
- 1966
The Saint (Jean Marais) and his dim-witted sidekick Uniatz (Jess Hahn) spring in to action in this slapstick comedy spy actioner. The duo goes after a cache of American cash left over from World War II used in an undercover operation. The two battle rival international agents also after the sizeable sum. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Marais, Henri Virlojeux, (more)
- 1969
In this story of obsession and tragedy, set in wartime France, Pierre Perret plays Clovis, a farmer so driven by hunger that he dares to plant potatoes on a plot of land which, though unoccupied, is forbidden to him by the Germans. Despite the film's tragic tone, occasional flashes of satire and pure bawdiness enhance its watchability considerably. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Perret, Henri Virlojeux, (more)
- 1962
The seven major sins receive treatment from some of France's greatest directors in this lively portmanteau. "Anger" by Dhomme, chronicles a single horrific day when every bowl of soup in France is found to contain a fly. This causes a devastating nationwide revolt. "Envy" by Molinaro tells the story of a chambermaid whose dream of sleeping with a millionaire comes true. Unfortunately, she goes back to work and finds herself still consumed with jealousy. De Broca's "Gluttony" provides one of the film's most enjoyable episodes as it follows the exploits of a voracious family heading off for a funeral. "Lust" by Demy is set at a Parisian sidewalk cafe and eavesdrops upon the lusty conversation between two young men, one of whom has x-ray eyes that enable him to see through women's clothing. "Laziness" by Godard features real life matinee idol Constantine as a movie star who finds himself too sluggish to respond to the starlet trying so hard to seduce him. "Pride" by Roger Vadim tells the satirical tale of a philandering wife who changes her mind and stays with her husband after learning that her happy home is being threatened by another woman. Finally in Chabrol's "Greed," young men who have pooled their meager resources to buy a prostitute, fight for the chance to be with her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Charrier, Marie-José Nat, (more)
- 1980
In this quirky drama, a young man gets involved with an eccentric, elderly man attempting to build a one-man flying machine in his garage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trevor Howard, Mick Ford, (more)
- 1962
In this melodrama, a prominent Parisian businessman's wife finds her life incredibly boring until she has an affair with a greasy garage mechanic who is only after her money. Her husband is suspicious of his wife, but he doesn't know the lover's identity; he suspects he brother and business partner. Trouble ensues when the malicious mechanic tampers with the car he assumes the husband will drive and inadvertently kills the brother instead. The guilt-ridden wife then confesses her infidelity, the husband forgives her, and the wicked lover is arrested. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Xavier Marechal (Alain Delon) is a businessman whose long-time business partner and friend is Philippe Dubaye (Maurice Ronet) a member of the French parliamentary assembly. In the film, Philippe has just killed Cerrano, a fellow assemblyman who threatened to disclose Philippe's involvement in political corruption. After killing the man, he steals his notebook which contains blackmail information implicating many members of the government. Philippe comes to Xavier afterward for help but only has time to tell him where the notebook is hidden before he is killed. Xavier and Philippe's girlfriend Valerie (Ornella Muti) become the objects of a manhunt by the worried politicians and their henchmen. Mort d'Un Pourri was basically an Alain Delon project; he funded the production of this action thriller, lent his name to it, and invited well-known action- and comedy-director Georges Lautner to direct it. This virtually guaranteed enough money for a polished production, with an all-star cast. Alain Delon here remains faithful to his image as a lone wolf, proud warrior and "samurai" devoted to friendship. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1966
Vincent (George Chakiris) is a gentleman thief who steals the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. He falls in love with the pretty young maid Nicole (Marina Vlady), whose main goal in life is to marry a wealthy man, but Vincent is unable to tell Nicole what his vocation is or that he is financially stable if not rich. The police begin to follow the duo, beginning the chase scene that takes up the major part of the film. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Chakiris, Marina Vlady, (more)
- 1964
In this French comedy, a toy inventor travels to the factory of his childhood friend, now an industrial magnate, and tries to persuade him to lend financial backing to his newest invention. Unfortunately their reunion is marred by the reopening of old emotional wounds, but fortunately, the inventor's wife smooths things over. Later she discovers love letters written to her adolescent daughter. Trouble ensues when the toymaker begins suspecting his old pal, the industrialist, of writing the letters. He then blackmails his pal with the letters. When his daughter finds a new boyfriend, the inventor abandons his extortion scheme. The two old pals then reconcile and go into business together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Marais, Danielle Darrieux, (more)
For his feature-film debut, critic-turned-director François Truffaut drew inspiration from his own troubled childhood. The 400 Blows stars Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel, Truffaut's preteen alter ego. Misunderstood at home by his parents and tormented in school by his insensitive teacher (Guy Decomble), Antoine frequently runs away from both places. The boy finally quits school after being accused of plagiarism by his teacher. He steals a typewriter from his father (Albert Remy) to finance his plans to leave home. The father angrily turns Antoine over to the police, who lock the boy up with hardened criminals. A psychiatrist at a delinquency center probes Antoine's unhappiness, which he reveals in a fragmented series of monologues. Originally intended as a 20-minute short, The 400 Blows was expanded into a feature when Truffaut decided to elaborate on his self-analysis. For the benefit of Truffaut's fellow film buffs, The 400 Blows is full of brief references to favorite directors, notably Truffaut's then-idol Jean Vigo. The film won the 1959 Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, even though Truffaut had been declared persona non grata the year before for his inflammatory comments about the festival's commercialism. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Léaud, Robert Beauvais, (more)
