When French ex-paratrooper turned amateur boxer Michel Maudet looses his last fight he decides to quit boxing. Read More »
Tag Archives: Charles Vanel
Gorillas Waltz (1959) Bernard Borderie, Charles Vanel, Jess Hahn, Ursula Herwig
This is the third feature in a series about an intrepid French spy by the nickname of “The Gorilla,” but unlike the earlier films Read More »
Daïnah la métisse (1932) Jean Grémillon, Charles Vanel, Habib Benglia, Gaston Dubosc
Shades of Othello loom in this engrossing exploration of class, race, and murder set on an ocean liner. Read More »
In the Name of the Law (1949) Pietro Germi, Massimo Girotti, Charles Vanel, Jone Salinas
A mule cart crosses the countryside. Two bandits push the driver off and, when he resists, kill him. The bandits steal the mules… The town of Capodarso, Sicily. Read More »
Wooden Crosses (1932) Raymond Bernard, Pierre Blanchar, Gabriel Gabrio, Charles Vanel
The young and patriotic student Demachy joins the French army in 1914 to defend his country. Read More »
The Woman Who Dared (1944) Jean Grémillon, Madeleine Renaud, Charles Vanel, Jean Debucourt, Drama
Within this uplifting romantic play, the spouse of a mechanic and former fighter pilot falls in love with the notion of flying herself. Read More »
Rififi à Tokyo / Rififi in Tokyo (1963) Jacques Deray, Karlheinz Böhm, Charles Vanel, Barbara Lass, Adventure, Crime, Drama
Van Ekken, an old gangster, arrives in Tokyo to direct a bank hold-up, to get a very valuable diamond, so big it’s named Titan. Read More »
La mort en ce jardin / Death in the Garden (1956) Luis Buñuel, Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel, Adventure, Drama
Chark, an adventurer comes to small village in the near of a gold digger’s camp. He is arrested by the local police, who accuse him of having comitted a bank robbery in a neighoured town. Read More »
Un homme de trop / Shock Troops (1967) Costa-Gavras, Charles Vanel, Bruno Cremer, Jean-Claude Brialy, Action, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Set in central France, the film follows French resistance fighters who press the battle on the Germans. Read More »
Gli inesorabili / The Fighting Men (1950) Camillo Mastrocinque, Rossano Brazzi, Charles Vanel, Claudine Dupuis, Drama
Saverio Luparello is the manager of Sicilian baron Occipinti’s estate. The cunning greedy man intentionally lets the land turn into a wasteland, hoping that his employer Read More »
Alice or the last escapade / Alice ou la dernière fugue (1977) Claude Chabrol, Sylvia Kristel, Charles Vanel, Fernand Ledoux, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Alice Carol leaves her husband one rainy night, telling him that she does not love him anymore. She travels alone but when her windscreen breaks on a lonely road, she has to stop and seek help. She goes to a creepy manor and is welcomed by the owner, Henri Vergennes, and his butler, Colas. Alice is invited to spend the night in the house. The next morning, Alice can’t find the two men from he previous night but finds her car surprisingly fixed. She tries to leave but cannot find the gate. She stops the car and walks around the wall trying to find an exit but becomes increasingly worried with what she finds.
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Le gorille vous salue bien / The Gorilla Greets You (1958) Bernard Borderie, Lino Ventura, Charles Vanel, Pierre Dux, Action, Drama
Géo Paquet, aka The Gorilla, breaks from jail. Now an escaped convict, the elite agent must infiltrate a dangerous gang working for a foreign embassy as their leader, a spy enjoying diplomatic immunity, can’t be arrested by regular police.
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The Wages Of Fear / Le salaire de la peur (1953) Henri-Georges Clouzot, Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
In a squalid South American oil town, four desperate men sign on for a suicide mission to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin over a treacherous mountain route. As they ferry their explosive cargo to a faraway oil fire, each bump and jolt tests their courage, their friendship, and their nerves. The result is one of the greatest thrillers ever committed to celluloid, a white-knuckle ride from France’s legendary master of suspense, Henri-Georges Clouzot.
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La vérité / The Truth (1960) Henri-Georges Clouzot, Brigitte Bardot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel, Drama
Dominique Marceau is on trial for the murder of Gilbert Tellier. The counsels duel relentlessly, elaborating explanations for why the pretty, idle and fickle girl killed the talented and ambitious conductor freshly graduated from the conservatory. Was it passion, vengeance, desperation, an accident? The acquaintances of Gilbert testify, as well as Dominique’s former lovers, and her sister, Annie, the studious violin player engaged to Gilbert. The evidence they give progressively paints a more finely-shaded picture of the personalities of Dominique and Gilbert, and of their relationship, than the eloquent and convincing justifications of the counsels.
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La più bella serata della mia vita / The Most Wonderful Evening of My Life (1972) Ettore Scola, Alberto Sordi, Michel Simon, Charles Vanel, Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A successful businessman whose destiny leads him to a secluded Swiss chalet where his life is put on trial by a group of retired law professionals. The men assemble to analyze Sordi’s rise to power and his increasingly immoral behavior as he attained success, and the warped perceptions of right and wrong he has adopted to remain successful.
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