Gilbert de Goldschmidt Movies

In this screwball crime comedy, a perfectly innocent computer jockey (Lambert Wilson) becomes the prime suspect in a bank robbery. Among the tribulations he must suffer is that the real culprit is his landlady. Another source of suffering for the poor man is his extremely strong-willed mother, whose wants must be catered to. Meanwhile, he is being rabidly pursued by one of his female coworkers, who has taken a shine to him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Four inventive teachers at a normal French high school act up and act out some of their imaginative ploys to either help kids learn, or to undermine the opposition to their unorthodox teaching. Frederic (Patrick Bruel), Michel (Fabrice Luchini), Gerard Laurent Gamelon), and Francis (Christophe Bourseiller) try valiantly to get their students to hit the books, but their tactics are not always appreciated -- and may seem a little trite to viewers who have been around that block before. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Set in German-occupied France, Rascals concentrates on the trials and tribulations of schoolboys Bernard Brieux and Thomas Chabrol. Rebellious by nature, the boys try to work within the status quo of their Catholic school while simultaneously bucking it. Giving this story its texture is the fact that, by defying their elders, Bernard and Thomas are symbolically striking a patrotic blow against the occupying Nazis. Inasmuch as the film dwells at some length on sexual awakening, it is understandable that Rascals was slapped with an R rating when released in the US, two years after its completion. Director Bernard Revon was once an associate of another specialist in the field of youthful defiance, director Francois Truffaut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young Vietnamese boy's life is thrown into turmoil by the war raging in his country. The ten year old remains with his mother and baby sister as his father goes off to fight for the Viet Cong. During his father's absence, his mother dies from overwork and the inability to find proper medical care for her illness. He cares for his baby sister and struggles to earn a living by shining shoes and doing other odd jobs before his father returns. Both an American soldier and a Viet Cong regular are shown defending their country's political agenda. Also shown are guerilla tactics and bombings in this feature directed by veteran combat photographer Raoul Coutard. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Jacques Demy directed this frothy tribute to the Hollywood musicals of the 1940s, a follow-up to his earlier success The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). Twin sisters Delphine and Solange (played by real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorleac) live in the small coastal town of Rochefort, where they run a school teaching dancing and music. Both feel frustrated in Rochefort, and they dream of travelling to Paris, where they believe romance and opportunity awaits them. Meanwhile, their single mother, Yvonne (Danielle Darrieux), who runs a cafe in town, pines for her lost love, Simon (Michel Piccoli). One day, one of Yvonne's regular customers, a sailor with an artistic bent named Maxence (Jacques Perrin), shows her a painting of the imaginary girl of his dreams, and she looks just like Delphine, whom he's never met. Meanwhile, Simon has returned to Rochefort, bringing with him a close friend, American pianist Andy Miller (Gene Kelly); Simon has made friends with Solange and introduces her to Andy, who immediately falls in love with her. Sadly, Les Demoiselles de Rochefort was Françoise Dorleac's last film; she died in an auto accident shortly after completing the picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This routine film by novice director Jean-Gabriel Albicocco handles the taboo subject of a homosexual relationship between women, though the story still implies that if a man falls in love with a lesbian she can change her sexual orientation. Loosely based on a novel by Honore de Balzac, a skirt-chasing fashion photographer meets a charming young woman who captures his interest immediately. She is not wholly forthcoming, but after a period of time, he realizes that he is in love with her -- she is not just another conquest. It takes awhile before he also realizes that she is the partner of his femme associate who is possessive, at the very least. As it turns out, one corner in this odd triangle is highly unstable. This was one of the early films of Françoise Dorleac, Catherine Deneuve's beautiful sister who was killed in an automobile accident in 1967. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Vom Himmel Gefallen is better known by its American title, Special Delivery. Joseph Cotten plays John Adams, a functionary at the U.S. embassy in a fictional Iron Curtain country. A baby is left on the doorstep of the embassy, sparking an international incident when a high-ranking communist official demands that the child be turned over to him. Much of the humor arises from the efforts of the male embassy staff to care for the scene-stealing youngster. Fortunately for the kid (and, as it turns out, for John Adams), pretty refugee nurse Sonja (Eva Bartok) arrives on the scene. Directed by Hollywood veteran John Brahm, Von Himmel Gefallen was filmed simultaneously in an English and German language version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide