Maurice Jarre Movies
A hugely prolific composer best known for his multiple collaborations with director David Lean, Maurice Jarre is one of the most well-respected personalities in the film industry. A student of the Paris Conservatoire, Jarre, who was born in Lyons on September 13, 1924, was the musical director at Paris' Theatre National Populaire in the early 1950s, when he became intrigued with film work. His first movie assignment was the Georges Franju-directed short subject, Hotel des Invalides (1952). Here, as in future projects, Jarre preferred to avoid the obvious in his scores, opting for muted and romantic effects where other film musicians might rely upon bombast. He gained worldwide prominence and three Oscars, for his collaborations with director Lean on Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984). The composer's Zhivago leitmotif "Lara's Theme" became a best-selling single, though it caused a brief rift with Lean, who disapproved of hit songs that detracted from the films themselves. Jarre has also scored the films of directors as diverse as Alfred Hitchcock (Topaz, 1969), John Huston (The Man Who Would Be King, 1975), Peter Weir (The Year of Living Dangerously, 1982, Witness, 1985) and even satirist Jerry Zucker (Top Secret!, 1984). When Zucker decided to forego parody for romantic fantasy in 1990's Ghost, he engaged Jarre for the score -- and the composer had yet another hit (with the help of Alex North's "Unchained Melody"). Jarre is the father of Jean-Michel Jarre, a popular composer in his own right. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 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
- 1962
One of the rare Western films to take advantage of the spectacular setting of the temples at Angkor in Cambodia, L'Oiseau de Paradis is directed by Marcel Camus. The French ruled Cambodia until 1954 and are well-aware of its attractions -- and so Camus was prepared when he went in to film the annual boat races in Phnom Penh, the boxing matches, and the royal dancers that are incorporated into the story. The tale itself is relatively simple. A beautiful dancer has two admirers -- one is a young worker whom she has only met by accident, and the other is an unscrupulous businessman. The worker had been training as a Buddhist monk and as his interest in the dancer and the businessman's pursuit of the woman develop, the dancer and the former monk end up at the archaeological site of Angkor. There, Buddhists still worship in the temples and it is in this setting that the businessman kills them both. Reincarnation being accepted as truth in Cambodia, the story implies that the ill-fated young couple would be joined together in the future. This film was made only six or seven years before fighting began in Angkor and the French were forced out of the area. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Sundays and Cybele (original French title: Les Dimanches de Ville D'Avray) stars Hardy Kruger as a former bomber pilot. Emotionally shattered by a tragic wartime incident, Kruger goes into semi-seclusion in a small Parisian suburb. He is drawn out of his shell by 12-year-old orphan girl Patricia Gozzi. The nuns in charge of Patricia bless the relationship, assuming that Kruger is the girl's father. A warm, chaste friendship develops between the older man and the bright-eyed girl, culminating in their mutual decision to spend Christmas together in a nearby woods. Unfortunately, nurse Nicole Courcel, suspecting that Kruger is a pedophile, calls the police--a move that can only result in disaster for all concerned. Based on a novel by Bernard Eschasseriaux, the exquisitely photographed Sundays and Cybele won the 1962 Best Foreign Film Academy Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hardy Kruger, Nicole Courcel, (more)
This sweeping, highly literate historical epic covers the Allies' mideastern campaign during World War I as seen through the eyes of the enigmatic T. E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole, in the role that made him a star). After a prologue showing us Lawrence's ultimate fate, we flash back to Cairo in 1917. A bored general staffer, Lawrence talks his way into a transfer to Arabia. Once in the desert, he befriends Sherif Ali Ben El Kharish (Omar Sharif, making one of the most spectacular entrances in movie history) and draws up plans to aid the Arabs in their rebellion against the Turks. No one is ever able to discern Lawrence's motives in this matter: Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness) dismisses him as yet another "desert-loving Englishman," and his British superiors assume that he's either arrogant or mad. Using a combination of diplomacy and bribery, Lawrence unites the rival Arab factions of Feisal and Auda Abu Tayi (Anthony Quinn). After successfully completing his mission, Lawrence becomes an unwitting pawn of the Allies, as represented by Gen. Allenby (Jack Hawkins) and Dryden (Claude Rains), who decide to keep using Lawrence to secure Arab cooperation against the Imperial Powers. While on a spying mission to Deraa, Lawrence is captured and tortured by a sadistic Turkish Bey (Jose Ferrer). In the heat of the next battle, a wild-eyed Lawrence screams "No prisoners!" and fights more ruthlessly than ever. Screenwriters Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson used T. E. Lawrence's own self-published memoir The Seven Pillars of Wisdom as their principal source, although some of the characters are composites, and many of the "historical" incidents are of unconfirmed origin. Two years in the making (you can see O'Toole's weight fluctuate from scene to scene), the movie, lensed in Spain and Jordan, ended up costing a then-staggering $13 million and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The 1962 Royal Premiere in London was virtually the last time that David Lean's director's cut was seen: 20 minutes were edited from the film's general release, and 15 more from the 1971 reissue. This abbreviated version was all that was available for public exhibition until a massive 1989 restoration, at 216 minutes that returned several of Lean's favorite scenes while removing others with which he had never been satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, (more)
- 1961
This adventure melodrama concerns Vic Brennan (Stephen Boyd), who persuades his family to put up money for him to leave Dublin for the remote African town of Jebanda in order to start up a truck-hauling business. The family agrees to give Vic the money under the stipulation that his cousin Samuel (David Wayne), a bank clerk, go with him to protect their investment. Vic and Samuel arrive in the Ivory Coast along with Vic's bride Marie (Juliette Greco). Samuel loses their customs papers, and Vic's truck is impounded. Luckily, Marie recognizes a friend, a French naval captain, and he gets Vic's truck released. They then proceed onward toward Jebanda, but they have nothing but bad luck along the way --their truck crashes into a tree, and Vic has to bribe the natives with some beer to get the tree removed; a German guide tries to steal their cargo; and the African sun makes Samuel delirious, and he declares his love for Marie. Finally, the truck reaches a raging river. They try to cross it, and Vic is knocked unconscious by a log. Samuel must now find the courage to rescue Vic and continue on to Jebanda. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Boyd, Juliette Greco, (more)
- 1961
Skimming the surface of characterization, this romance-tragedy by François Villiers is based on a novel by Jean-Jacques Gautier and concerns the relationship between Laurent (Jean-Claude Brialy), a painter, and Renée (Michele Morgan) and her daughter Daniele (Catherine Spaak). Just when Renée and Laurent are ready to make their love affair official, Renée's daughter shows up and there are immediate sparks of attraction that fly between her and the painter. Sure enough, the fickle artist drops the mom and marries the daughter -- and then they make the mistake of moving in with Renée. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michèle Morgan, Jean-Claude Brialy, (more)
- 1961
Jean Gabin carries this conventional political drama set in pre-World War II France. He is Emile, a retired politico with a long memory, a curmudgeon who is not yet prepared to stand on the sidelines and watch others wield power. Flashbacks fill in the details about his earlier career -- and why he wants to block the new cabinet proposed by a politician he knew in his former days of government service. A bit long at almost two hours, director Henri Verneuil worked often enough with Gabin in his films to elicit a strong portrayal. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Gabin, Bernard Blier, (more)
French director Georges Franju's Eyes Without a Face (Les Yeux Sans Visage) is an unsettling, sometimes poetic horror film. Pierre Brasseur plays a brilliant plastic surgeon, Prof. Genessier, who has vowed to restore the face of his daughter, Christiane (Edith Scob), who was mutilated in an automobile accident. With the help of his assistant (Alida Valli), he kidnaps young women, surgically removes their facial features, and attempts to graft their beauty onto his daughter's hideous countenance. This naturally has an adverse effect on the "donors," some of whom commit suicide rather than go through life faceless. Franju's haunting, muted handling of basic horror material is what lifts Eyes Without a Face out of the ordinary and into the realm of near-classic. When the film failed to draw crowds under its original title, however, the distributors decided to exploit it as a two-bit "scare" flick with the new title The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, (more)
- 1960
Three stars appear in two separate but intertwined stories of romantic triangles gone wrong in this ambitious drama. In the first segment, Hagolin (Orson Welles) is a loutish construction worker with an unhappy wife, Eponine (Juliette Greco). The wife becomes involved with a swarthy working man, Larnier (Bradford Dillman), and their passion knows no boundaries of caution or safety. Eventually, Eponine's and Larnier's lust drives them to madness, and they murder Hagolin. The second tale concerns an up-and-coming young lawyer, Claude (Dillman), whose mentor is a highly successful veteran attorney, Lamerciere (Welles), with a beautiful young wife named Florence (Greco). Claude finds himself defending Larnier and Eponine, while Lamerciere dies of a heart attack after he discovers that Florence has been unfaithful to him with Claude. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck also wrote the screenplay, under the pen name Mark Canfield. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orson Welles, Juliette Greco, (more)
- 1958
La Tete Contre Les Muirs (U.S. title: The Keepers) was director Georges Franju's 2nd cinematic offering for 1958, and his first purely fictional film. Franju's prior training in documentaries helps to bring a veneer of reality to this harrowing glimpse within the walls of an insane asylum. Pierre Brasseur plays Marbeau, a traditionalist "head doctor" who takes on the case of young Francois (Jean-Paul Mocky). Though not really insane, Francois has been institutionalized for daring to defy his wealthy father. The story is told from Francois' point of view, as he teeters on the edge of madness during his involuntary internment. The film is essentially a plea for more sensible treatment of the mentally disturbed and the emotionally distressed, calling for much-needed widespread reforms -- something that, alas, was not readily forthcoming in the late 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Brasseur, Paul Meurisse, (more)
In this music release, film composer Maurice Jarre (The Tin Drum, Resurrection) conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in symphonic performances of music from several films by director David Lean (which Jarre scored). The concert includes selections from A Passage to India (1984), Ryan's Daughter (1970), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maurice Jarre, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, (more)
