Lino Ventura

  • Luciano Emmer – La ragazza in vetrina AKA La Fille dans la vitrine [+Extras] (1961)

    Drama1961-1970ItalyLuciano EmmerRomance

    PLOT SYNOPSIS:
    A romantic drama partially set in Amsterdam, this standard tale starts out in a mining area in Holland where conditions are about as rough as they get. Two of the miners, Italians Federico (Lino Ventura) and Vincenzo (Bernard Fresson) take off together for the city’s red-light district, where the women pose in windows for prospective customers. There the duo meet Else (Marina Vlady) and Carrel (Magali Noel) who are willing to leave their windows to spend a weekend at a resort with the two men. Soon Else has fallen in love with Vincenzo and the future of the two hookers, as well as the miners, seems to look brighter.
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  • Claude Sautet – L’arme à gauche aka The Dictator’s Guns (1965) (HD)

    1961-1970Claude SautetCrimeDramaFrance

    Excellent adventure yarn, great locations, moody music. The last “action-picture” from the late great french director Claude Sautet – from this he went on and did Les choses de la vie, Cesar et Rosalie, Vincent, Francois, Paul et les autres, plus the two masterpieces Un coeur en hiver and Nelly et M.Arnaud, his final movie, from 1994. By the way, he also wrote Borsalino (for Jacques Deray) and Les yeux sans visage (for Georges Franju). L’arme a gauche is not, by all means, a great movie – but compared to the contemporary crap we’re fed every day it’s outstanding. Read More »

  • Gilles Grangier – 125 rue Montmartre (1959)

    1951-1960CrimeDramaFranceGilles Grangier

    Pascal makes a modest living selling newspapers on the streets of Paris. He may have a surly temperament but he is a good natured soul at heart, always ready to help a fellow creature if he can. Naturally, when he sees a man jump into the River Seine, he does not hesitate to come to his rescue. The visibly distressed man, Didier, reveals he was driven to this desperate act by his family, in particular his wife Catherine who is determined to rob him of his fortune. Moved by this tale of woe, Pascal offers to help Didier in any way he can. Didier suggests that they go back to his house to pick up some money. As he enters the house, Pascal unwittingly falls into a carefully laid trap. Alerted by Catherine, the police suddenly turn up and find the body of a dead man in the house. Read More »

  • Pierre Granier-Deferre – Adieu, Poulet AKA The French Detective (1975)

    1971-1980CrimeFrancePierre Granier-DeferreThriller

    Synopsis:
    When political thugs murder an opponent’s volunteer and also kill a cop, chief inspector Verjeat believes the politician who hired them is as guilty as the murderous goon. Verjeat’s pursuit of the councilman, Lardatte, gets him a warning from his superiors. When he embarrasses Lardatte while disarming a hostage (the dead volunteer’s father), Verjeat is told he’s being transferred within a week. He speeds up his hunt for the goon and, with Lefévre, one of his young detectives, he engineers a complicated scheme to buy more time before the transfer. How should Verjeat play out his values of honor and duty?Read More »

  • Henri Verneuil – Cent mille dollars au soleil AKA Greed in the Sun (1964)

    1961-1970ActionAdventureFranceHenri Verneuil

    Southern Morocco, 1963. The owner of a truck transports company hires a new driver (a self-called American tough guy) to transport mysterious goods in a brand new magnificent truck. While the established group of drivers of the company is welcoming the new driver, one of them (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo)hijack the mysterious truck on the day after, planning to negotiate the sale of goods for its own profit and fly over with his new young bride. The best driver of the company (played by Lino Ventura)is launched to his young fellow’s pursuit. Read More »

  • Bernard Borderie – Ces dames préfèrent le mambo AKA Dishonorable Discharge (1957)

    1951-1960AdventureBernard BorderieComedyFrance

    Sea-farer Burt Brickford is engaged to captain the yacht of the wealthy Henery Legrand, ostensibly for a pleasure trip in the Gulf of Mexico. From the outset, Brickford suspects that something is amiss. Sure enough, he discovers several cases of dynamite in the ship’s hold and his paymasters are forced to admit that they are planning to recover the lost treasure of a sunken galleon. Yet this turns out to be just another smoke screen. Just what are Legrand and his entourage up to…?Read More »

  • Henri Decoin – Razzia sur la chnouf AKA Razzia (1955)

    1951-1960CrimeFranceHenri DecoinThriller

    Synopsis:
    Henri, the Man from Nantes, comes back to his country after a successful stay in the United States, where he was working for Liski, the drug dealer. With the fame of being a tough guy preceding him, he sets himself to the task of knowing why the French operations were not so profitable – and soon he is master of all links of the organization. He can now get it honed to perfection – or destroy it. Only… the Police is following his every step! Is Henri what he says he is, or an undercover detective from the French police?Read More »

  • Jean-Pierre Melville – Le deuxième souffle (1966)

    1961-1970CrimeDramaFranceJean-Pierre Melville

    Veteran gangster Gustave (Lino Ventura) escapes from prison to find his sister is being blackmailed by some petty thugs in this crime thriller. He plans one last caper to steal enough money in hopes of retiring to a tropical paradise. He and his gang are sought by a detective (Paul Meurisse), the cop who plays by the book and avoids the sadistic torture practiced by his less-honorable cohorts. Soon Gustave is caught between the police and the double-crossing gangsters and discovers too late that there is no honor among thieves.Read More »

  • Claude Pinoteau – Le silencieux AKA Escape to Nowhere (1973)

    Drama1971-1980Claude PinoteauFranceThriller

    Shortly after a delegation of Russian nuclear physicists arrives in London, one of their number, a man named Haliakov, is abducted by the British security services. Haliakov is in truth Clément Tibère, a French scientist who was coerced into working for the Russians some years ago. The British agents compel Tibère to work for them, revealing the identity of two notorious spies. Tibère realises that his life is now in peril, that it is only a matter of time before the KGB takes its revenge…Read More »

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