Noël-Noël Movies

A doctor joins a group opposed to Napoleon in this drama. The physician believes the Emperor is a tyrant and must be eliminated. When he learns that the terrorists would sacrifice innocent victims in order to carry out the bloody mission, the doctor balks at helping the cause. A twist of fate has the Emperor scheduled to stop at the doctor's house on his march to Russia, but the doctor has second thoughts about his involvement in the assassination attempt. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The original "grumpy old men," Jean-Marie (Jean Gabin), Baptiste (Pierre Fresnay), and Blaise (Noel-Noel) raise havoc in this entertaining comedy by director Gilles Grangier. The trio of irritable, temperamental grouchy men abandon their village to go take up residence in a senior citizens' home. They have a great time playing tricks on others and venting about the inadequacies of modern youth. Each elderly eccentric has his moment in the spotlight, as their story unfolds in an episodic manner. In the end, the retirement-home staff become convinced that taking care of these characters lies above and beyond the call of duty. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this French family-oriented comedy, a man with a passion for all animals takes on the Russians to protect a mouse and a dog from being sent up into space, via a satellite. He obtains them after the creatures escape and all the prompting from French and Russian scientists is to little avail, compelling them to try even stronger measures that lead to merry mix-ups. The film is also known as A Dog, a Mouse and a Sputnik. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

There's a bit of Charley Chase and Buster Keaton in Noel-Noel's portrayal of a status-conscious husband in Pied, a Chevel et en Volure. The bourgeois protagonist and his wife (Denise Grey) make it their mission to match the sumptuous lifestyle of their prospective in-laws. To do this, the couple purchases an expensive automobile. The next step: learning to drive. What follows is a series of unrelated but undeniably hilarious gags, perhaps better suited to a 2-reel comedy than a feature film, but still well worth having. The title, by the way, translates to By Foot, By Horse and By Car. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hi, Doc! was the flippant English-language title bestowed upon the French seriocomedy Bonjour Toubib. That splendid comic actor Noel-Noel stars as a seemingly bumptious physician, regarded as an object of ridicule by his superiors, and not a few of his patients. In true Capraesque fashion, it turns out that the doctor has a lot more on the ball than his so-called brilliant colleagues. A subplot concerns the leading character's son, who has the qualifications but none of the desire to follow in his father's footsteps. Bonjour Toubib was a curiously lightweight choice for the Cannes Film Festival of 1957. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Noel-Noel is the nonplused star of the aptly titled Le Terreur des Dames (The Terror of Women). The film's central character is a mild-mannered provincial soul who goes off on a drunken toot in Paris. The next morning, our hung-over hero discovers that he's somehow earned the reputation as a sex maniac! He spends the rest of the film searching for the women he's supposedly "disgraced," hoping to make profuse apologies. Yves Robert co-stars as a worldly-wise Parisian who observes Noel-Noel's plight with detached amusement. Le Terreur des Dames was adapted from a story by Guy de Maupassant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of this French bedroom farce translates to A Fly in the Ointment. That "fly" is music-hall performer Lucette (Suzy Delair), the current girlfriend of rakish roue Bois D'Enghien (Noel-Noel). Preparing to marry into a wealthy and honorable family, Boris is bedeviled by Lucette, who refuses to break up their relationship. Her tune changes abruptly when a handsome millionaire enters the picture. Adapted from the stage play by George Feydeau, Un Fil a La Patte is all slamming doors, bedroom tete-a-tetes, and lines like "But mon cherie, I can explain everything!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally La Cage aux Rossignois, A Case of Nightingales could just as well have been titled "The Noel-Noel Show," inasmuch as the famed French actor is both star and co-screenwriter. Having completed a book about his experiences as a reform-school teacher, Clement Mathieu (Noel-Noel) is unable to interest a publisher in the project. To make ends meet, he takes a promotional job with toy-airplane manufacturer Raymond (Georges Biscot), who as a gesture of friendship serializes Mathieu's memoirs in the Paris Telegram. Astonished by the story, Mathieu's girlfriend Martine (Michel Francey) wants to know more -- whereupon Mathieu recalls how he was able to organize a group of the most incorrigible reform-school inmates into an angelic-voiced boys' choir (hence the film's title). His tale told, Mathieu is himself astonished to discover that Martine is the cousin of one of his former pupils! An overly melodramatic finale mars this otherwise sensitive comedy-drama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jules Berry stars as a radio writer in search of a concept for a new program. Happening to drop into the home of Noel-Noel and his large brood, Berry determines that the dinner-table gossip of Noel-Noel's family would provide enough material for an entire years' worth of radio shows. Our hero sneaks a microphone into the household, and the result is the entirely ad-libbed weekly series The Duraton Family at Dinner. Trouble brews when Noel-Noel's friends and neighbors don't take kindly to having their dirty laundry aired in public. With a few emendations, La Famille Duraton was reworked in 1943 as the Hollywood comedy True to Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide