Jean Martin
Biography: Jean Martin (6 March 1922 - 2 February 2009) was a French actor. Coming from a Berry family, he spent part of his childhood in Biarritz, where his father worked for a furrier. During the Second World War, he hid to escape the Forced Labor Service. Staying in Paris, he appeared in two films by Maurice Tourneur: "The Devil's Hand" (1942) then "Cécile Est Mort" (1943). At the twilight of the forties, he started doing theater. In 1953, Jean Martin gained notoriety by playing the new play by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, "Waiting for Godot", under the direction of Roger Blin, becoming the first to take on the role of Lucky. The same Roger Blin produced “End of the Game” (1957), by the same Beckett, a few years later, and entrusted the same Jean Martin with the role of Clov. In 1960, Jean Martin staged his first play, “Letter Dead”, by Robert Pinget. In 1962, he again staged a play, “The Representatives”, by Aglaé and Mona Mitropoulos, adapted by Michel Arnaud. Alongside this theatrical career which would prove to be rich, Jean Martin returned to cinema: “Notre-Dame de Paris” (1956), by Jean Delannoy, “Paris belongs to us” (1958), by Jacques Rivette, “Ballade for a thug " (1962), by Jean-Claude Bonnardot, "La foire aux dunces" (1963), by Louis Daquin and "À toi de fait mignon" (1963), by Bernard Borderie. In 1960, he was a signatory of the Manifesto of the 121 entitled “Declaration on the right to insubordination in the Algerian war”. In 1965, a role marked his career, that of Colonel Mathieu, in a film retracing the struggle in 1957 for control of the Casbah district of Algiers between FLN militants and French soldiers: "The Battle of Algiers" . Three years after the end of the Algerian War, the subject is still sensitive on each side of the Mediterranean; the film was banned in France upon its release, then censored until 2004. Jean Martin, very convincing in this role of division commander (historically, the commander is General Massu, but the character is inspired by Colonel Bigeard), is the only professional actor in the film. His large stature, his strong personality and his imperious face predispose him to notable roles generally showing authority: chief doctor, police commissioner, high-ranking military officer, ecclesiastical dignitary...; one of the most impressive will undoubtedly be that of a doctor vehemently expelling from his hospital a judge Fayard, Patrick Dewaere, a bit of a cavalier in "Le Juge Fayard Dit Le Shérif" (1976). Claude Zidi mocks these roles in his comedies: principal in “La moutarde monte au nose” (1974), bank director in “La Course À L'Échalote” (1975), chief doctor in “L'aile ou la thigh” (1976), principal inspector in “Bête mais disciplined” (1979) and examiner in “Inspecteur la Bavure” (1980). Alongside Jean-Paul Belmondo, he is… cardinal in “L’Hériter” (1972) and… divisional commissioner in “Peur Sur La ville” (1975)! But also alongside Terence Hill in “My Name is Nobody” (1973) in the role of Sullivan, or “One Genius, Two Associates, One Bell (1975). After devoting a large part of his career to the theater, appearing in around fifty films, Jean Martin died on February 2, 2009, in Paris.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: March 06, 1922
Deathday: February 02, 2009
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Known For
A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot
1975-12-16
A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot
Overview: Expert conman Joe Thanks teams up with half-breed Bill and naive Lucy to steal $300,000 from the Indian-hating Major Cabot. Their elaborate plan is full of disguises, double-crosses, and chases, but Joe always seems to know what he's doing.
Genres: Comedy Western
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1975-12-16
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The Day of the Jackal
1973-05-16
The Day of the Jackal
Overview: An international assassin known as ‘The Jackal’ is employed by disgruntled French generals to kill President Charles de Gaulle, with a dedicated gendarme on the assassin’s trail.
Genres: Action Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-05-16
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A Woman at Her Window
1976-11-10
A Woman at Her Window
Overview: Greece, 1936. An aristocratic woman engages in a series of loveless affairs before finding herself falling for a political activist.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1976-11-10
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The King and the Mockingbird
1980-03-19
The King and the Mockingbird
Overview: A young shepherdess and a chimneysweep plan to get married and escape the clutches of a tyrannical king in love with her, assisted by the guile of a cheeky mockingbird, the king's archenemy.
Genres: Animation Family Fantasy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1980-03-19
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The Messiah
1975-10-24
The Messiah
Overview: Rossellini takes numerous liberties with the original source material, rearranging and omitting events at will, presenting everything in a highly undramatic fashion. The film begins in the time of the Old Testament, allowing Rossellini to present the story of Jesus in its ancient, historic context.
Genres: History Drama
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1975-10-24
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My Name Is Nobody
1973-12-13
My Name Is Nobody
Overview: Jack Beauregard, an ageing gunman of the Old West, only wants to retire in peace and move to Europe. But a young gunfighter, known as "Nobody", who idolizes Beauregard, wants him to go out in a blaze of glory. So he arranges for Jack to face the 150-man gang known as The Wild Bunch and earn his place in history.
Genres: Comedy Western
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1973-12-13
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The Night Caller
1975-04-09
The Night Caller
Overview: A serial-killer frightens Paris by phoning young ladies at night, telling them insults about their lives. Minos, as he calls himself, wants to prevent the world from free women and he targets at first these ones. Commissaire Letellier is given the investigation and he has hard work with the maniac.
Genres: Thriller Action Crime
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1975-04-09
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Le Gentleman des Antipodes
1976-11-04
Le Gentleman des Antipodes
Overview:
Genres: Crime Horror Mystery TV Movie
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1976-11-04
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The Wild Goose Chase
1975-10-08
The Wild Goose Chase
Overview: The whole intrigue is centered around carte-blanche documents kept in a vault. Whoever fills in the blank becomes the owner of a revue. Big money is involved. The nephew of the owner of the vault is trying to cheat his uncle and have his name in the documents. Everything is even more complicated because the manager of the bank has a finger in the pie, too. Who but a humble bank-teller (Pierre Richard) will ruin the scheme?
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1975-10-08
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The Battle of Algiers
1966-09-08
The Battle of Algiers
Overview: Tracing the struggle of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale to gain freedom from French colonial rule as seen through the eyes of Ali from his start as a petty thief to his rise to prominence in the organisation and capture by the French in 1957. The film traces the rebels' struggle and the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government to quell the revolt.
Genres: Drama War History
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1966-09-08
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Dossier 51
1978-08-30
Dossier 51
Overview: A French diplomat is surveilled by a secret service to find a weakness for political control, his private life becoming 'File No. 51'.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1978-08-30
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Lucie Aubrac
1997-02-26
Lucie Aubrac
Overview: A love story or a tale of the resistance, this poignant movie tells both the haunting story of a French resistance cell in Lyon but also the love of Lucie Aubrac for her husband...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1997-02-26
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I'm Losing My Temper
1974-10-09
I'm Losing My Temper
Overview: Pierre is a clumsy, overly serious math teacher at an all-girls high school. His life is thrown into chaos after encountering a beautiful British actress and the paparazzi that follow her around.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1974-10-09
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Gustave Moreau
1962-01-02
Gustave Moreau
Overview: A brilliant analysis of 19th century French Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, known for his fantastical and mythological subjects, and who remains to these days an influential figure in the birth of modern art.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1962-01-02
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Cecile Is Dead
1944-03-08
Cecile Is Dead
Overview: Cecile, a young girl who goes to the offices of the Judicial Police several times in a row to complain about nightly visits to the apartment she occupies with her aunt, is not taken seriously by the police until she the day she is found murdered.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1944-03-08
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The Inheritor
1973-03-22
The Inheritor
Overview: After his father is killed in a plane crash, Bart Cordell returns back home to France to claim his inheritance: to lead the industrial empire his father built. But when a prostitute tries to set him up for a drug smuggling charge, he is forced to accept that his father may have been assassinated and that the killers are out to get him as well...
Genres: Thriller Drama Action
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1973-03-22
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HPW ou Anatomie d'un faussaire
1971-07-27
HPW ou Anatomie d'un faussaire
Overview: Hugo-Paul de Weydroos, forger who manages to mystify the most renowned experts, is an attractive man, not without talent but paranoid and megalomaniac. He lived a childhood in the Paris of the 1920s, upset by his love of drawing and painting thwarted by an abusive mother. Delivered to his own fantasies, the hero indulges in the most disordered introspection and will end up consuming himself to become the reincarnation of the one he is trying to copy: Hans Pauli Weyergans, painter of the 18th century.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1971-07-27
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Marxist Poetry: The Making of The Battle of Algiers
2004-08-01
Marxist Poetry: The Making of The Battle of Algiers
Overview: To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, we revisited our edit of the film and interviews with director Gillo Pontecorvo and producer Saadi Yacef, who discuss the process of representing Algeria's struggle for independence and the challenges of presenting a balanced view of the conflict.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: it
Release Date: 2004-08-01
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Les Culottes rouges
1962-12-19
Les Culottes rouges
Overview: Antoine Rossi, a recidivist prisoner of war in Germany, manages to escape with the cowardly Fendard. Fendard does everything in his power to help him even though he is wounded, but Antoine tries to get rid of him as he boards the train to freedom.
Genres: Romance Drama Thriller
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1962-12-19
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La Puce et le privé
1981-03-11
La Puce et le privé
Overview: Val Brosse, a private detective, receives Françoise, who confesses to him that she murdered her husband. The story is false, but Val, intrigued, decides to investigate.
Genres: Comedy Crime Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1981-03-11
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Don't Take God's Children for Wild Geese
1968-09-06
Don't Take God's Children for Wild Geese
Overview: Rita is a girl that lives on taking gangsters as lovers. But when the money stops coming, she swears revenge.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1968-09-06
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The Wing or the Thigh?
1976-10-27
The Wing or the Thigh?
Overview: Charles Duchemin, a well-known gourmet and publisher of a famous restaurant guide, is waging a war against fast food entrepreneur Tri- catel to save the French art of cooking. After having agreed to appear on a talk show to show his skills in naming food and wine by taste, he is confronted with two disasters: his son wants to become a clown rather than a restaurant tester and he, the famous Charles Duchemin, has lost his taste!
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1976-10-27
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Inspector Blunder
1980-12-03
Inspector Blunder
Overview: A detective, fresh out of the academy (lowest mark in class), gets the assignment to bodyguard a spoiled rich girl reporter. She's been interviewed on TV and has questioned the virility of a mobster who kidnaps her later.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1980-12-03
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Troubleshooters
1971-04-07
Troubleshooters
Overview: The day he is released from jail, Serge is expected by four killers sent by Count Charles Varèse assigned to make him confess where he has hidden the jewels stolen during his last stickup. On the other hand the police inspector who arrested him offers him protection on condition he gives him the same piece of information. Serge refuses and is about to be tortured by Varèse's henchmen when Michel, a friendly hood, comes to his rescue. His friendship will result in... a heap of corpses! —Guy Bellinger
Genres: Action Comedy Crime
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1971-04-07
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Your Turn, Darling
1963-09-25
Your Turn, Darling
Overview: In this French espionage thriller, Eddie again plays the role that made him a star, Lemmy Caution. Lots of two fisted action.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1963-09-25
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The Beguines
1972-09-19
The Beguines
Overview: Hélène, a fragile and romantic teenager, discovers that her father, a rich business man, has a mistress. Curious, she decides to go and meet this woman who is described as strange. At the first chance she has she goes to her house in the Ramparts of Béguines... from then on she goes back often, discovering a new world of artists and nightowls where she also experiences love in the arms of Tamara.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1972-09-19
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La nuit bulgare
1972-04-20
La nuit bulgare
Overview: A youngish sales employee of a computer firm is blackmailed into helping a group of mysterious Bulgarian industrialists who have come to his office. A government contract is being sought for a businessman who is in danger of bankruptcy.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1972-04-20
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Safety Catch
1970-04-07
Safety Catch
Overview: A doctor disbarred for euthanasia is called in by a man to help his son, who has been depressed since the suicide of his partner. But in the dead woman's handbag, an undeveloped film is discovered by the doctor, who decides to investigate the young woman's alleged suicide.
Genres: Thriller Crime Mystery
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1970-04-07
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Alouqa or the Comedy of the Dead
1975-08-13
Alouqa or the Comedy of the Dead
Overview: Thanks to his gifts of clairvoyance, the son of a former servant of a noble family makes his fortune and buys the mansion where he spent his childhood. But he is obsessed by the memory of this house, because the owners were, one by one, victims of an evil spirit. With a troupe of actors, he attempts to reconstruct the dramatic scenes he witnessed.
Genres: TV Movie Horror
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1975-08-13
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La Femme flic
1980-01-08
La Femme flic
Overview: Young police inspector Corinne Levasseur interrogated a dealer without the judge's consent. Following an indiscretion of her lover, the substitute Berthot, Corinne is transferred to a small town in the North who lives under the thumb of a rich industrialist and his family. He is given subaltern tasks. Intrigued by the strange death of a teenager, she stubbornly leads an investigation that allows her to trace the chain of a child prostitution network in which are mixed a notable and his son-in-law. A young investigating judge decides to investigate the case, but he is the victim of pressure ...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1980-01-08
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Promise at Dawn
1970-11-25
Promise at Dawn
Overview: A single mother raises her son in impossible circumstances first in Leningrad, then Krakow, and then France, and is over-ambitious about him but never gives in.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-11-25
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Soldier Martin
1966-09-28
Soldier Martin
Overview: A troupe of French actors on tour in Normandy become involved in the events of WWII.
Genres: War Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1966-09-28
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The Carpathian Castle
1976-12-19
The Carpathian Castle
Overview: In 1898, strange things happen in a castle not far from the small village of Werst in the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania. Twenty years earlier, the castle had been abandoned due to some nefarious dealings there but a shepherd sees smoke coming out of the chimney, which stirs up the village with whispers Chort (a demon) is now occupying the place. Count Franz de Télek, a visitor to the area, becomes intrigued by all this turmoil and decides to investigate. Made for French television and based on the 1892 Jules Verne novel of the same name.
Genres: TV Movie Horror Mystery
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1976-12-19
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The Associate
1979-08-22
The Associate
Overview: An unemployed investor creates a fictious business partner to attempt to improve business. Eventually, his creation gets out of control as his business becomes successful and his wife announces that she is in love with the partner and his son wishes the partner was his father -- although no one has ever seen him. To regain control, the man decides to "kill" his imaginary partner and is arrested for the murder.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1979-08-22
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Successive Slidings of Pleasure
1974-03-07
Successive Slidings of Pleasure
Overview: A young woman is questioned by the police and the judges, suspected of being a modern witch. The girl who shared her apartment has been found dead, and a pair of scissors impaled through her heart, as she lay attached to the bedposts. Apparently, the girl does have powers, to make all people around her fall prey to her spell, glissing progressively into desire, lust, and the unknown.
Genres: Mystery Crime Drama Horror
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1974-03-07
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Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime
1968-04-24
Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime
Overview: Recovering from an attempted suicide, a man is selected to participate in a time travel experiment that has only been tested on mice. A malfunction in the experiment causes the man to experience moments from his past in a random order.
Genres: Drama Science Fiction
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1968-04-24
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The Companions of Baal
1970-06-11
The Companions of Baal
Overview: Journalist Claude Leroy (Jacques Champreux) reports that a secret society, The Companions of Baal, is behind a hold-up in the small town of Blaingirey. They are led by the Grand Maître Hubert de Mauvouloir (Jean Martin). An adorant of Lucifer, he aims to enslave the world. Accompanied by their acolyte, Pierrot Robichat (Gérard Zimmermann), and a young girl, Françoise Cordier (Claire Nadeau), Claude Leroy is determined to finally reveal the mysteries of the group's criminal enterprise.
Genres: Crime Adventure Horror TV Movie
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1970-06-11
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The Time of the Beginning
1974-10-15
The Time of the Beginning
Overview: A "symbolic" character traces the path of man in search of salvation in this world within his own ghosts and deformations.
Genres: Drama Science Fiction
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1974-10-15
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Les filous
1967-01-01
Les filous
Overview:
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1967-01-01
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Forgotten Stones
1952-01-01
Forgotten Stones
Overview:
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1952-01-01
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The Nun
1966-05-06
The Nun
Overview: In eighteenth-century France, a girl is forced against her will to take vows as a nun. Three mothers superior treat her in radically different ways, ranging from maternal concern, to sadistic persecution, to lesbian desire.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1966-05-06
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The Cat
1977-12-16
The Cat
Overview: Amedeo and Ofelia, middle aged brother and sister, own jointly an old decadent, but still attractive, condominium. They want to sell it, but before they have to evict all the tenants. Of course, these don't want to leave at all. The cat (Il Gatto), mascot and beloved by all, dies and this gives the two an excuse to enter the tenants' life. Amedeo starts to court the young Wanda and Ofelia seduces the priest Don Pezzolla. In the meantime police is looking for the cat killer...
Genres: Comedy Mystery Crime
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1977-12-16
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The Invention of Morel
1967-12-08
The Invention of Morel
Overview: Escaped from jail, Luis finds refuge on a remote island where, it is said, several people have died long ago of a mysterious illness. He discovers a large abandoned villa. One day, a group of people from another time, come in. The villa and the nature around become the theater of strange phenomena…
Genres: Science Fiction Mystery Drama TV Movie
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1967-12-08
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An Invitation to the Hunt
1974-11-01
An Invitation to the Hunt
Overview: Claude Chabrol film for TV based on the short story An Invitation to the Hunt by Georges Hitchcock. Receiving an unexpected invitation to participate in the annual hunt party given by the local marquis, a common man deludes himself into thinking he’s a valued member of society, gets in debt to live up to his own fantasies, puts on airs, and invents a perfectly untrue—but, to his mind, fitting—past for a man of his new station. Then the cruel game starts.
Genres: TV Movie Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1974-11-01
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Judge Fayard Called the Sheriff
1977-01-12
Judge Fayard Called the Sheriff
Overview: Jean-Marie Fayard is a young examining magistrate in a large provincial french city. He belongs to that generation of judges who are endeavoring to re-adapt the notion of justice to our changing times. His methods are not agreeable to every one. Criticism and pressure are brought to bear upon him but he is aware of his value, professionally, and refuses to make any concessions. He follows an unwavering course. He uses dynamic methods and takes uncustomary initiatives. He behaves like a crusader, a battler, whence the nickname given him by the reporters : the sheriff.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1977-01-12
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Cry of the Heart
1974-09-11
Cry of the Heart
Overview: Alexandre, a young man from a wealthy family, suffers a serious fall. One leg is finally amputated, leaving the other paralyzed. Desperate, the boy tries to come to terms with his new existence. He quickly adopts a cruel attitude towards those closest to him, blackmailing the house gardener and his mother, who has a lover. Obsessed with sex, he is unable to have an affair with a girl and ends up committing suicide.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1974-09-11
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The Crime of Ovide Plouffe
1984-08-29
The Crime of Ovide Plouffe
Overview: Ovide Plouffe has married Rita. She still tries to attract other men even after their marriage. Unhappy Ovide feels for Marie - a young French woman he had met. But his catholic background and surrounding can't let him love another woman or divorce from his wife. So Ovide finishes with Marie and plans a trip with Rita hoping for reconciliation. At the last instant he announces to Rita that he can't make the trip. She goes alone. The plane explodes, and Ovide is suspected and arrested for this horrible crime.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1984-08-29
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Fortunate
1960-11-16
Fortunate
Overview: During WW2, a posh bourgeois woman (Morgan)is compelled to live under the same room as a crude simple-minded yet big-hearted man.(Bourvil) Her husband was arrested by the Gestapo and she is a hunted woman.
Genres: Drama Comedy Romance
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1960-11-16
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