Blanchette Brunoy Movies

Pierre Salvadori, who made The Apprentices (1995) and Wild Target (1993), returned for his third feature with this quirky comedy filmed in Paris and Corsica. After an argument with her fiancé, Jeanne (Marie Trintignant) flies to Paris, talks her way into someone else's chauffeured limo, sleeps with a guy she picks up, is hired to deliver pizzas, works as a tea-salon waitress, creates lies about her wealthy family, and goes home with elderly Madeleine (Blanchette Brunoy), who accepts her as an au pair. Clean-cut crook Antoine (Guillaume Depardieu) takes both women to dinner, while burglar Barnaby (Serge Riaboukine) robs Madeleine's house. Madeleine mentions Jeanne's rich parents, prompting Antoine to join with Marcel (Jean-Francois Stevenin) in a scheme to collect a ransom on Jeanne. But the plan begins to collapse when Jeanne and Antoine find they are attracted to each other. The original French title is part of the French phrase "elle ment comme elle respire" ("lying comes to her as naturally as breathing"). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, a middle-aged gambler tells a casino croupier her life story. The story is told in flashback and chronicles the woman's romantic exploits with men. Though she was involved with many men, only one really touched her heart. He was a bartender who was tragically shot and killed during an attempted robbery. She later marries and has a daughter. Unfortunately she alienates herself from her daughter when she has an affair with her daughter's fiance. Her remorse is short lived. The film jumps back to the present with the woman leaving the casino on the arm of a handsome millionaire. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This is another standard romantic drama geared toward the talents of popular French actor Jean Gabin who plays the lead, a Baron bereft of everything except his title, his inventive mind, and his ability to charm women. The lucky Baron wins a boat in a card game and takes off with his former lover to find new adventures. Adverse circumstances land them in a small town, where the Baron's seafaring companion leaves for more attractive scenery offered by a wealthy local man. Meanwhile, there is a certain charming cafe owner that the Baron finds irresistible -- at least for awhile. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Monsieur Fernandel plays the sheep-shearer, who makes a decision to say goodbye to the little lambs and to concentrate on the beautiful mademoiselles. Sacre bleu! It is tres funny (almost like the Jerry Lewis film, yes?) when Fernandel becomes the hairdresser, and begins clipping the ladies much in the manner of the sheep. And Fernandel's wife, she is not so happy over the many ladies that Fernandel is shearing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Pierre Fresnay heads the cast of Vient de Paraitre as Moscat, a mean-spirited, thoroughly untrustworthy publisher. Possessed of a messianic complex, Moscat thinks nothing of toying with the lives and destinies of his authors, as long as such behavior boosts book sales. Right now he is endeavoring to win a coveted literary award, using a young, self-effacing novelist as his conduit. When the novelist chooses another publisher, Moscat's revenge is swift, terrible, and ultimately self-defeating. Still, this is one picture where virtue doesn't triumph. Vient de Paraitre must have been quite an eye-opener for American filmgoers who knew Pierre Fresnay only for his saintly portrayal of the title character in Monsieur Vincent (1946). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Le Café du Cadran was released in the U.S. as Clockface Café. The title refers to a real-life nitery on Paris' Avenue de l'Opera, which is herein somewhat shabbily re-created on a movie soundstage. Bernard Blier plays the proprietor of Le Café du Cadran, while Blanchette Brunoy portrays his plain, provincial wife. Attempting to make his bride more "Parisian," Blier bankrolls a complete cosmetic and wardrobe makeover. Thus, he has only himself to blame when Brunoy inaugurates an affair with one of the Café's musicians (Aime Clairimond). Though he tries to maintain a "c'est la vie" pose, Blier's jealousy eventually gets the better of him, with tragic results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally Goupi Mains Rogues, this was the first new French feature film to be shown in the US since the end of WW2-though "new" was a relative term, inasmuch as the film was completed in 1943. The scene is a remote, rustic inn, managed by a scruffy family of peasants known as the Goupis. Practicing their own special brand of larceny, the Goupis fancy themselves as Runyonesque rogues, going so far as to bestow colorful nicknames upon themselves. The official head of the band is "Red Hands", played by Fernand Ledoux, but even he is answerable to the Goupis' patriarch, a 106-year-old named "The Emperor" (Maurice Schulz). Nearly plotless, Goupi Mains Rogues offers an unforgettable cast of characters and an abundance of authentic Gallic atmosphere. Picked up for American distribution by MGM, the film inexplicably disappeared from view within a few months; director Jacques Becker later claimed that MGM destroyed all the prints so that the film wouldn't compete with the studio's American-made productions, though this hardly seems to be the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide