Roger Coggio Movies

Before was made into the famous Mozart opera, Le Mariage de Figaro was an incredibly famous French comedy and political satire by Beaumarchais (1732-1799). Beaumarchais was at least as interesting a character as any in his plays; among other things, he was a litigious watchmaker, a playwright, and spy who was also one of the fundraisers for the American Revolution. Even though this otherwise completely silly and very popular story was written by a man who was (at the time) spying for the monarchy, it was also considered seditious, and Louis XVI tried (unsuccessfully) to have it banned. So much for the powers of an absolute monarch. This filmed production of the play is most notable for having been financed by ticket subscriptions. The familiar story concerns the trials and tribulations of the duplicitious Count Almaviva (Claude Giraud), as he tries to have his cake (marriage to the lovely Suzanne, played here by Fanny Cottencon) and eat it, too, by avoiding a contracted marriage to Marceline (Line Renaud), to whom he owes a lot of money. The figures in the story scheme and plot for and against one another in the most vigorous manner possible, and they eventually discover some unlikely truths. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The protagonists in this drama are caught in the sleaze of the lower echelons of Paris life and are trying to get out. Clara (Ann-Gisel Glass) arrives in the underbelly of the city after escaping a dysfunctional middle-class family, and moves in with Mimi (Christine Boisson), a prostitute. Clara also meets Paul (Francois Cluzet) an escaped convict, and a romantic relationship starts to simmer. Only two major hurdles stand in their way of escaping to a better life in another city. Paul is determined to avenge the death of his father which might make it easier for the police to find him, and Mimi's pimp is equally determined to coerce Clara into a life of prostitution. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Molière's play about a "bourgeois gentleman" was the basis for this cinematic interpretation of the same story, which illustrates the differences between theater performances and the silver screen. The play has interludes of music, it is performed as a ballet, and stage sets tend to remain right where they are for the duration of a long scene or an act, or more. In contrast, this film is not a ballet, though music is interwoven with the scenes, the action is emphasized more than on a static stage set, and the "gentleman" of the title, Monsieur Jourdain, is played by Michel Galabru with facial expressions necessary for the stage, though a bit much for the close-up shots of a camera. Monsieur Jourdain is a wealthy man who wants to rise up the social ladder but only succeeds in giving away his lack of sensibility at every turn, and soon he has some of the impoverished nobility wanting to use his lucre as a springboard back into the good life. He is easily fooled, as when the marriage of his daughter is arranged behind his back -- if only he would listen to his wife (Rosy Varte), who has so much more common sense. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A clever adaptation of Moliere's play Les Fourberies de Scapin, this cinematic re-creation was directed by Roger Coggio who also plays the lead, Scapin -- a tramp who thrives on mischief. In this version, however, Coggio interprets Scapin's antics as clever put-ons, meant to help him obtain his objectives. The story starts out as a stage performance which Coggio then transforms into cinema, as though transforming the story from the "fiction" of play-acting to the "verite" of cinematic realism. That is a neat 20th-century trick that Scapin himself may have appreciated. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

When he gets out of prison, Sam (Georges Gerret) seeks to track down his little girl, now a grown woman (Juliet Berto). After a series of violent encounters, he discovers that she has been sold into prostitution -- and likes it. She marries one of her procurers, and that would seem to be that. However, when she is killed, the father has the opportunity to exact his revenge on at least some of the people responsible for the deplorable condition he found his daughter in. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Patterning himself after the American gangster John Dillinger, the criminal (Robert Hossein) is tracked by the inspector (Charles Aznavour), a former childhood friend. Plenty of gunplay and psychology is used to trap the killer. His only tender moments are spent with his girlfriend Stella (Virna Lisi). Dillinger is cornered by the police and kills several innocent victims in a crowd during the shootout. The mob decides to take things into their own hands as they approach the doomed man with a noose when he runs out of bullets. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Immortal Story was directed by Orson Welles, who also stars as a fabulously wealthy, but bitter and dictatorial, European merchant. Soured on life, Mr. Clay (Welles) decides to play games with the lives of others. He decides to make the "immortal" legend of a sailor seducing a rich man's wife come true and even picks the sailor (Roger Coggio) himself. Through Mr. Clay's machinations, the sailor beds a beautiful younger woman (Jeanne Moreau) whom Clay pays to pose as his own wife. There's little more to the story than that, but Welles weaves his short tale with an economy and expertise which proves he hadn't lost his touch by 1969. Based on a story by Isaak Dinesen, The Immortal Story was originally made for French television; it was also the only Orson Welles-directed film to be released in color. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Soledad Emmanuelle Riva is a revolutionary in an mythical Latin American country who is captured by government police agents. When she is released, she discovers it is because her sister is having an affair with one of the police chiefs. Soledad is suspected of being a government informant and shoots her accuser in order to escape with her sad but wiser sister. Poor editing, dubbing, and other technical deficiencies plague this plodding drama that suffers from undeveloped characterizations of the principle performers. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Jean-Luc Godard directed this brutal and purposefully harsh satire (adapted from a play by Benjamino Joppolo) which explores the grim folly of war. Ulysses (Marino Masé) and Michel Ange (Albert Juross) are a pair of thickheaded peasants living in a nameless country who receive a visit from a pair of military recruiters informing them the king wants a favor of them. Impressed that the king regards them as friends, Ulysses and Michel Ange join the army and set out to see the world's battlefields, having been told they can claim any spoils as their own and live a lawless life on the nation's behalf. Ulysses and Michel Ange often write their equally dim girlfriends, Venus (Geneviève Galéa) and Cleopatre (Catherine Riberio), with tales of the places they've seen and the people they've killed, but when the soldiers return home, their women discover the riches they were promised are not quite what they imagined. Filmed and recorded in a deliberately harsh and murky style, Les Carabiniers (aka The Riflemen and The Soldiers) features a brief appearance from Barbet Schroeder, years before he would become an acclaimed director, as a car salesman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide