Serge Reggiani Movies
Born in Italy but raised in France since the age of four, supporting and leading actor Serge Reggiani's prolific film career spans five decades. Often appearing in international productions, he made his film debut in Etoile sans Lumiere (1946). He went on to specialize in tragic roles. Highlights of his career include Casque D'Or (Golden Helmet) (1952), Le Doulos (1962), and Vincent, François, Paul et les Autres (1974). Reggiani was also a popular singer during the 1960s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1970
This documentary examines the year 1936 and the political turmoil in France. The French Popular Front of the socialist and communist parties were joined by other radical factions and gained a short-lived victory. The organization was one of very few in France to denounce the Nazi and fascist regimes of Germany and Italy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
In this war drama set during the French Resistance of WW II, a courageous fighter escapes Gestapo headquarters and returns to Marseille. There he and his gang capture a traitor and throttle him. They then try to rescue a Resistance fighter in Lyons. As they do so, the hero is again captured and his partner killed. Again the hero escapes just before he is executed. He then finds that a female partner has been captured. To avoid having her daughter forced to work in a Nazi brothel, the woman has informed upon the others. She is then released and subsequently killed by another Resistance fighter for revenge. The screenplay is based on Joseph Kessel's novel and became filmmaker Jean Pierre Melville's magnum opus. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, (more)
- 1949
French filmmaker Julien Duvivier had trouble regaining his popularity after the war; thus, he tried all sorts of subject matter, hoping to land the one plotline that would reap box-office success. In Au Royaume des Cieux, Duvivier aims his sights at a girl's reformatory. Falsely imprisoned after resisting the advances of a wealthy man, Maria (Suzanne Cloutier) is subjected to the spiteful behavior of unbalanced reform-school headmistress Mlle. Chamblas (Suzy Prim). When Maria's true love Pierre (Serge Reggiani) arrives with an escape plan at the ready, the other inmates try to help the couple elude the authorities. A tense, fog-laden climax caps this well-crafted melodrama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Reggiani, Suzanne Cloutier, (more)
- 1953
Camicie Rosse (Red Shirts) was released in most markets as Anita Garibaldi, in deference to the star status of Anna Magnani. The actress plays the wife of the great Italian patriot Garibaldi, who at the beginning of the film hovers on the brink of death, harking back to past glories. Most of the story deals with the European political upheavals of 1848-49, and Garibaldi's participation in these earth-shattering events. Raf Vallone stars as Garibaldi, while the stellar supporting cast includes Alain Cuny, Jacques Sernas, Serge Reggiani and Michel Auclair. According to some reports, Auclair was supposed to have played Garibaldi, but was replaced by Vallone when the film's initial director, Goffriedo Allesandri, was put out of commission by an auto accident (Allesandrishares screen credit with Franco Rosi, who completed the film). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Magnani, Raf Vallone, (more)
The Paris demimonde of 1900 is the setting for Casque d'Or. Georges Manda (Serge Reggiani), an honest woodworker, falls in love with Marie (Simone Signoret), the "moll" of minor crook Roland (William Sabatier). Gangster boss Felix Leca (Claude Dauphin) orders Georges and Roland to fight a duel to the death over the girl, as prescribed by the "code of the apache." Felix then pins the blame for Roland's death on Georges' boyhood chum, Raymond (Raymond Bussières), knowing that the woodworker will nobly accept the blame; this will leave Marie alone, which is what the lustful Felix has wanted all along. When Georges learns he's been set up as a dupe, he escapes from the police and kills Felix. Casque D'Or was based on the true-life Leca-Manda scandal, wherein an otherwise decent man was guillotined for shooting down a gangster boss in broad daylight. Since the scandal was common knowledge in France, the downbeat ending of this film was hardly unexpected but still extremely moving. Completed in 1951, Casque D'Or was a failure on its first release but then built up an excellent word-of-mouth reputation abroad. The film was released in the U.S. in 1956 as Golden Marie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, (more)
- 1944
French director Leo Joannon, the man who made such a mess of the valedictory Laurel & Hardy vehicle Atoll K, proved that he could direct after all in Children of Chaos. Essentially a Gallic variation on Boys Town, the film concentrates on a boy's reformatory. Jean-Victor (Rene Darcy), himself a reform-school alumnus, is put in charge of a rehabilitation center. It is Jean-Victor's hope that he can give his charges the breaks he never received. His toughest reclamation job is Jorisse (Serge Reggiani), a seemingly ungovernable delinquent. When distributed in the U.S., Children of Chaos was marred by several censorial deletions which wreaked havoc on the film's continuity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janine Darcey, Serge Reggiani, (more)
- 1971
Nolan (Serge Reggiani) was set up to take the fall for a crime committed by his whole gang, and as a result, his brother is dead and he is forced to do a stint in prison. Nolan comes out of prison looking for his former compatriots, and not just to shake their hands. He runs into an old girlfriend, Madeleine (Jeanne Moreau), now a respectable doctor's wife. Another woman he encounters, Lea (Simone Signoret), betrays him to an enemy. The remaining cast includes a number of fine French actors who add depth to this suspense thriller (Charles Vanel, Marcel Bozzuffi, Andre Pousse, Michel Bouquet, Amidou and Jean Desailly). This is a French language film, with no dubbing or subtitles. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, (more)
- 1989
Francois (Pierre-Loup Rajot) has just moved into a small community in the French Pyrenees mountains. He applies for work at a small logging mill, run with great craftsmanship but indifferent business skill by Favier (Guy Marchand), the son-in-law of the owner, Mathieu (Serge Reggiani). Francois has an ally in another man who works at the mill, Cyuri (Wotjek Pszoniak), who had formerly been his mother's lover. With his help, he easily settles into his job. He also quickly becomes the lover of his boss's wife Marie (Julie Jezequel). This leads to complications for all concerned, but as decent people, they find themselves at something of a standoff and are unable to resolve the situation easily. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Reggiani, Julie Jezequel, (more)
- 1993
In real life, filmmaker Simon Reggiani's father, Serge Reggiani, was a desperately ill elderly alcoholic and also a renowned singer and cinematic leading man (mostly in France). In an effort to sustain his father's interest in life, he cast him in the central role in a biographical pseudo-documentary. In the story, Simon convinces his father to join him on a journey to Italy, where he can meet the man who can ease the guilt he has carried for almost seventy years; he believes he was responsible for the death of his infant brother. Reviewers indicate that Serge's performance was extraordinarily magnetic and skillful. Furthermore, the caring son reported that the film served its purpose of keeping his father lively and interested in life; indeed, he has gone on to take major roles in several more films. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Reggiani, Elsa Zylberstein, (more)
Marcello Mastroianni stars in this French farce, an absurd "western" set in Paris, with Mastroianni as the incurably vain General George Armstrong Custer. Richard Nixon is the American president, but everyone is costumed appropriately for the previous century. Buffalo Bill (Michel Piccoli), the famous scout, is here portrayed as a limp-wristed bungler. Ugo Tognazzi plays one of Custer's Native American opponents; he runs a curio shop selling Native artifacts made in sweatshops by white women. The climactic battle is held in a large construction excavation where Les Halles market used to be. The language the two sides use to justify their conflict is lifted from that used in the then-current Vietnam War. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1958
Echec au Porteur (Not Delivered) is a nail-biting suspense tale in the Hitchcock manner. The disgruntled protagonist decides to kill an old enemy with a bomb concealed in a football. The bomb is misdelivered, ending up in the hands of a young boy. The rest of the picture is a race against time as the boy innocently plays with his pigskin booby trap. Co-adapted by Noel Calaf from his own novel, Echec au Porteur boasts excellent performances from Jeanne Moreau, Serge Reggiani, Paul Meurisse and Gert Froebe; incredibly, Variety felt that the cast lacked "name value." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Serge Reggiani, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
- 1998
Mario Gas directed this music-themed Spanish drama set in Barcelona of the mid-'80s. When famed composer Lluis Doria (Laurent Terzieff) visits a transvestite club, he learns his lifelong friend Albert Rossell (Serge Reggiani) is the house pianist. A flashback takes the tale four decades into the past where the younger Rossell (Pere Ponce) rejoins Teresa (Paulina Galvez) after having spent years in prison for helping anti-Franco anarchists. The story continues into Paris of the '30s, the period when Doria and Rossell first met, sharing a mutual interest in music and Teresa, before civil war sent them in different directions. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jordi Mollà, Pere Ponce, (more)
- 1986
With no other apparent purpose than simply recording the making of The Beekeeper by director Theo Angelopoulos, this documentary is a very slight offering. Maria Hatzimichali Papliou follows the shooting schedule of the film from northern Greece to the Peloponnesus, and captures director Angelopoulos teaching Greek to Marcello Mastroianni when not engaged in directing his other actors. Interviews with Mastroianni, Angelopoulos, and a few other actors in the drama round out the documentary. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Theo Angelopoulos, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1946
Etoile Sans Lumiere (Star Without Light) represents a rare screen appearance by French singing sensation Edith Piaf. The plot is something of a predecessor to Hollywood's Singin' in the Rain (1952), albeit with a less happy denouement. Piaf plays an aspiring singer who tries to break into films during the early talkie era. She is hired to dub the singing and speaking voice of a silent-movie favorite (Mila Parely). Sworn to secrecy, the fill-in must stand by in silence as the star receives all the praises and plaudits. When the truth is revealed, the result is disastrous for everyone concerned. Etoile Sans Lumiere is chiefly memorable as the screen debut of Edith Piaf's protégé Yves Montand. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edith Piaf, Mila Parély, (more)
- 1980
In this drama, an actress in a traveling musical revue is involved with the show's director until she meets and falls for an aging ecological activist. He too is drawn to her, and together they try to stop a factory from being built over an old-growth forest. The ecologist suddenly runs away, frightened by his emotions for the woman. Broken-hearted but undaunted, the woman continues their fight. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Laure, Lewis Furey, (more)
- 1945
Most film versions of the life and times of 15th-century Parisian "beggar poet" Francois Villon are derived from the old theatrical chestnut The Vagabond King. Not so the French Francois Villon, an original for the screen penned by director Andre Zwobada and scenarist Pierre MacOrlan. Serge Riannini plays the title character along more serious lines than such previous screen Villons as John Barrymore and Ronald Colman. Surprisingly, King Louis XVI, Villon's friendly enemy, is nowhere to be found: instead, the film dwells on the poet's many romantic entanglements. While American censors were surprisingly lenient when dealing with the amount of cleavage displayed by such zaftig actresses as Claudine Dupuis and Helene Sauvaneix, it was obvious that the love scenes in Francois Villon were heavily trimmed for U.S. consumption. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renée Faure, Micheline Francey, (more)
- 1997
This French drama, adapted from the novel Playback by Didier Daeninckx, centers on small-town girl Johanna (Virginie Ledoyen) who dreams of becoming a rock star. Johanna and her shy friend Jeanne (Maidi Roth) perform in a small mining town when Parisian Luc (Marc Duret), on a visit to close the mine, catches their act. When Luc loses his job, he becomes their representative. At a talent show for solo performers, Jeanne sings backstage while Johanna lip-syncs onstage. Fame follows, but Johanna's promiscuous activities and drug use create frictions with her friends. As Pierre Montgolfier, a friend of Jeanne's mother, veteran performer Serge Reggiani offers a rendition of the 1943 tune "Douce France." Shown at the 1997 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginie Ledoyen, Maïdi Roth, (more)
- 1990
In this Finnish comedy, which features all-English dialogue and nary a Scandanavian in it, Henri Boulanger (Jean-Pierre Leaud), is a colorless English civil servant, who was given a speedy retirement when his agency was "privatized," complete with a gold watch. His life is so barren that removing even the empty activities of his job makes it not worth living, so he attempts suicide by sticking his head in a gas oven - just as a gas service strike gets underway. Frustrated, he takes his savings from the bank and heads off to hire a contract killer to take his life from him. Then he really begins to enjoy life - so much so, that now he wants to avoid his imminent demise. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Pierre Léaud, Margi Clarke, (more)
- 1968
Set in Sicily, this violent crime drama tells the tale of an Italian cop who heads to a small island town to look into the death of a construction supplier. Once there he is shocked by the influence the Mafia has over the people and even himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Cardinale, Franco Nero, (more)
- 1990
In this somewhat odd exploration of human romantic difficulties, the people in the film are all put under extra stress by the fact that on the day in question, they have lost an hour to daylight savings time. In addition, it is a full moon. Neither factor improves their response to the mild stresses they experience, which have been building up for several years. The beginning of the film shows a number of couples getting married, and follows them and a few others a few years later, on the day of the time change. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Patrick Chesnais, (more)
- 1979
Director Robert Enrico has attempted to adapt a novel, by Hortense Dufour, of larger-than-life figures to a larger-than-life screen. The drama in the novel has not translated well. It is a rather routine story of men at a highway construction site in 1965 who guide huge machinery around by day and in the end, have difficulties with their nomadic lifestyle. The work and its conditions are demanding, yet the men and their families do not extend beyond a set series of stereotypes that would be familiar territory to most audiences. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zoe Chauveau, Mario Adorf, (more)
- 1957
Dany Carrel essays the title role in Elisa. Set in 19th-century Paris, the film details the friendship between likeable streetwalker Elisa and a blind street organist, played by Serge Reggiani. Things take a melodramatic turn early on when Elisa is arrested because of her mother's illegal abortion racket. Too "soiled" for any respectable lover, Elisa turns to Reggiani, who is unaware of her profession. Alas, when he learns the truth, his baser instincts overtake him, and tragedy results. Elisa was based on a novel by Edomond de Goncourt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dany Carrel, Serge Reggiani, (more)
- 1950
An exercise in style, La Ronde was one of the few films of the 1950s to contain overtly sexual themes. The story is a series of character vignettes, set in Vienna in the early 1900s and held together by a narrator (Anton Walbrook). As the title implies, both the story and the film's visual motifs are circular. Director Max Ophuls uses an old-fashioned merry-go-round to foreshadow the film's events, in which each segment introduces a new character, who has an affair with a character from the previous scene. The film demands that the audience pay attention to the structure, to the interplay among the characters, and to the opulent visual elements; and the effect is synergistic delight, in which the viewer is engaged both visually and intellectually. Because it was filmed in black-and-white, La Ronde does not have the garish look of some of Ophuls' other films, notably Lola Montès. La Ronde is among the few foreign language films to receive multiple Oscar nominations, for Black & White Art Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anton Walbrook, Simone Signoret, (more)
- 1979
Perhaps a little over-ambitious for the casual audience unfamiliar with the Italian world of entertainment and politics, La Terrazza involves a total of eight main protagonists and how they have changed or are changing. All eight are sitting on a terrace talking, while flashbacks and flashforwards fill in their past, present, and future relationships. Enrico (Jean-Louis Tritignant) is a burnt-out screenwriter, Amedeo (Ugo Tognazzi) is a self-made producer, Mario (Vittorio Gassman) is a communist member of parliament who is having an affair with the married Giovanna (Stefania Sandrelli) and is otherwise having a hard time trying to tow the tough, virtuous line the party demands. Giovanna, as well as the other women on the terrace, have all the spirit of people looking forward to the future while the men have been there and found it wanting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ugo Tognazzi, Vittorio Gassman, (more)
