Leslie Caron

Three loosely connected love stories. The first story: Paula is a talented dancer who cannot truly live unless she dances. But has a heart condition, which means she cannot live if she does. The second story: Tommy despises his French tutor, and hates being a child. He wants to be an adult so he can do what he wants. He gets his wish, being transformed into a handsome young man for one evening, and learns about whole new side of his French tutor. Third story: Pierre Narval is trapeze artist who gave it up when his partner died doing a dangerous stunt at his bidding. He rescues Nina, a beautiful young woman, after she throws herself into the Seine, and convinces her to become his new aerial partner. Her husband had been killed by the Nazis during the war, and she blames herself. They fall in love, which is tested when Nina must perform the stunt which killed Pierre’s former partner.Read More »

Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces.Read More »

In 1880, a colonel and his French wife live in a fort in the Patagonian desert. The colonel takes an Amerindian as captive, with the intent to civilize her. A “southern” movie (in opposition to “western”, as it was shot in the deep Argentinean southRead More »

SYNOPSIS:
Originally produced in 1972 as a segment of the television series “Hollywood Television Theatre.”

Legendary filmmaker Jean Renoir’s suspenseful and romantic tale of a beautiful French actress struggling to avoid the deadly politics and forbidden passions of Nazi-occupied France.

During World War II, an acting company in occupied Paris is notified that a German officer will be stopping by to see their play. The stage manager–who also happens to be the lover of Carola, the lead actress–asks her to “play up” to the visiting German for the good of the play, but when the officer arrives, it becomes clear to the manager that the German and Carola have had a previous relationship, and that she is still in love with him.Read More »

Quote:
Leslie Caron gets top billing and the lion share of screen time in “Fanny” but Maurice Chevalier steals the show from the first frame. Making its DVD debut, this 1961 film is based on the Tony-Award musical of the same name. Despite getting its start way back in 1954, the story is surprisingly risqué and contemporary, dealing with issues such as illegitimate children, premarital sex, cleavage and adultery. Because of Chevalier and the cast, those issues are presented in a jovial, comedic way until the third act, when the humor and levity the production is built on is jettisoned in favor of mediocre melodrama.Read More »

Synopsis:
This 1964 Oscar winner for Best Orginal Screenplay stars Cary Grant as a boozy beachcomber during WWII who monitors the radio in the South Pacific in exchange for shipments of alcohol. When lovely and structured French schoolmarm Catherine Freneau (Leslie Caron) crashes onto the island, an immediate and electric fuel ignites between the two polar opposites.Read More »

Synopsis:
Weary of the conventions of Parisian society, a rich playboy and a youthful courtesan-in-training enjoy a platonic friendship, but it may not stay platonic for long. Gaston, the scion of a wealthy Parisian family finds emotional refuge from the superficial lifestyle of upper class Parisian 1900s society with the former mistress of his uncle and her outgoing, tomboy granddaughter, Gigi. When Gaston becomes aware that Gigi has matured into a woman, her grandmother and aunt, who have educated Gigi to be a wealthy man’s mistress, urge the pair to act out their roles but love adds a surprise twist to this delightful turn-of-the 20th century Cinderella story.Read More »

Synopsis:
Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter in Paris, is “discovered” by an influential heiress with an interest in more than Jerry’s art. Jerry in turn falls for Lise, a young French girl already engaged to a cabaret singer. Jerry jokes, sings and dances with his best friend, an acerbic would-be concert pianist, while romantic complications abound.Read More »

Synopsis:
An English novelist is lured, with disconcerting and disorienting results, into purchasing a crumbling mansion by what he imagines are the deliberately ‘literary’ ploys of its housekeeper (Leslie Caron) and two mysterious, lurking women.Read More »