Jean Gabin

  • Jean Grémillon – Remorques aka Stormy Waters (1941)

    1941-1950DramaFranceJean Grémillon

    Summary
    This tender, muscular, fatalistic film rematches Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan (after Le quai des brumes) in an anguished love triangle with Madeleine Renaud, Grémillon’s favorite actress. Love, obligation and desire play out against the backdrop of the merciless ocean and the seductive escape of sea-going.

    Laurent (Gabin) is a tugboat owner who rescues a merchant vessel from a violent sea. Besides its unscrupulous captain, the rescued ship’s most dangerous cargo is his restless and seductive wife (Morgan). Meanwhile, Gabin’s devoted but ailing wife (Renaud) waits impatiently for him at home…

    As dbdumonteil notes, the plot is banal… but Gabin, Prévert and Armand Thirard’s luminous lighting paint it in forty shades of grey.
    (filmnutz)Read More »

  • Henri Verneuil – Le clan des siciliens AKA The Sicilian Clan (1969)

    Drama1961-1970CrimeFranceHenri Verneuil

    International superstars Alain Delon (Le Samouraï), Jean Gabin (Touchez Pas au Grisbi) and Lino Ventura (Le Deuxième Souffle) star in this action-packed thriller that delivers white-knuckle suspense from its exciting opening chase to its thrilling conclusion. Aging Sicilian mobster Vittorio Manalese (Gabin) springs master thief and hit man Roger Sartet (Delon) from prison so he can help him pull off the most ambitious heist of his illustrious career, which includes hijacking a New York–bound plane and transporting 50 million dollars in jewels. But after the audacious crime, Sartet betrays the crime boss and the two partners in crime become engaged in a tense game of cat-and-mouse and a no-holds-barred battle of wit and bravado.Read More »

  • Gilles Grangier – Le rouge est mis AKA Speaking of Murder (1957)

    1951-1960CrimeFilm NoirFranceGilles Grangier

    Louis Bertain is the owner of a Paris garage which is the front for a robbery gang. He and his accomplices are careful to keep up a civic veneer by day, indulging in criminal activities only when “the red light is on” at night. This status quo is upset when one of the gang members becomes convinced that Louis’ younger brother is a police informer.Read More »

  • Marcel Carné – La Marie du port AKA Marie of the Port (1950)

    Marcel Carné1941-1950DramaFranceRomance

    Synopsis:
    Recovering from his disastrous experience with the never-completed La Fleur de L’Age, French filmmaker Marcel Carne proved he hadn’t lost his touch with La Marie du Port. Played by Nicole Courcel, the eponymous Marie is the younger sister of Odile (Blanchette Burnoy). Odile in turn is the mistress of been-there-done-that Chatelard (Jean Gabin). Upon meeting Marie, Chatelard’s cynicism melts away. Still, he merely toys with the girl’s affections–at least until he discovers that Odile is carrying on an affair with Marie’s boyfriend. Chatelard stops Marie from committing suicide, and for the first time in his life really means it when he pledges his undying devotion. Like many French films of the era, La Marie du Port was but a shadow of its former self when the American censors got through with it.Read More »

  • Claude Autant-Lara – La Traversée de Paris AKA Pigs Across Paris AKA Four Bags Full (1956)

    Claude Autant-Lara1951-1960DramaFrance

    Two men, a painter and a poor guy have to cross over Paris by night during world war II and nazi occupation to deliver black market meat. As they walk along dark parisian streets they encounter various characters and adventures.Read More »

  • Jean Delannoy – Chiens perdus sans collier AKA The Little Rebels (1955)

    Jean Delannoy1951-1960DramaFrance

    Quote:
    French director Jean Delannoy has made 40 feature films in his long as well as illustrious career. He is best known for his film “La Symphonie Pastorale” based on the book by famous French writer André Gide. However,”The little rebels” is one of his important films which deserves a wider audience.

    This film is about some juvenile delinquents whose boring lives change for good when they come into contact with a kind yet practical judge. Superstar of French cinema, Jean Gabin plays the judge’s role with firm conviction.Read More »

  • Georges Lautner – Le Pacha AKA Pasha [+commentary] (1968)

    1961-1970CrimeDramaFranceGeorges Lautner

    Synopsis:
    Early one morning, an armoured van loaded with diamonds sets out from the Place Vendôme in the heart of Paris to Bourget airport, accompanied by a police escort. Before it can reach its destination, the convoy is suddenly attacked by a gang of armed crooks, who show no mercy as they set about stealing the valuable cargo. The gang’s leader, Quinquin, has no intention of sharing his ill-gotten gains with his accomplices. As soon as he has taken receipt of the diamonds he begins eliminating all of his criminal associates, beginning with Gouvion, the police inspector who was charged with
    delivering the jewels.Read More »

  • Denys de La Patellière – Les grandes familles AKA The Possessors (1958)

    1951-1960ClassicsDenys de La PatellièreDramaFrance

    Synopsis:
    With interests ranging from banking to commodities and publishing, the Schoudlers are one of France’s wealthiest and most powerful business families. The present head of this formidable dynasty is Noël Schoudler, a driven, plain-speaking magnate who runs his affairs with an unwavering ruthlessness, and this applies as much to his private life as it does to matters of business. Short of breaking the law, Schoudler is ready to resort to any means to protect his family’s wealth and good name, and anyone who dares to oppose him can expect nothing but the roughest of treatment. Noël Schoudler is a patriarch and a tyrant, a capitalist in every atom of his being. and he seems not to have an ounce of compassion in his soul. The pursuit of wealth and power is all that matters to him.Read More »

  • Jean Godard – Pour un soir..! (1931)

    Drama1931-1940FranceJean Godard

    In a chic nightclub, a navel officer admires his new love, the singer Stella Maris. A fellow officer warns him not to get involved with this woman and tells the tragic story of a sailor who lost everything because of his love for her. Some years before, in the port of Toulon, a sailor, Jean, met Stella in a bar. The two danced and instantly Jean realised he was love. The sailor later traced Stella to her home in St Tropez where, having forced his way into her bedroom, he spent the night with her. Some days later, Jean saw Stella in the company of another man. Driven by jealousy, he deserted his post and decided to put an end to his days…Read More »

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