Jean Marais

  • Henri Decoin – Le masque de fer AKA The Iron Mask (1962)

    1961-1970AdventureFranceHenri Decoin

    An aging musketeer is called out of retirement to help a king in this comic swashbuckler. The king’s twin brother is freed after twenty years in an iron mask. He is to be used as a decoy for the monarch while the real king and his court roust some rebels to foil their insurgent uprising. D’Artagnan (Jean Marais) leads the way with his expert fencing to aid in the royal flush.Read More »

  • Marc Allégret – Julietta (1953)

    1951-1960ComedyFranceMarc Allégret

    Julietta Valendor is a romantic and dreamy girl who accepts with difficulty the fifth-year-old fiancé chosen by her mother: the very worldly prince of Alpen. One day she is given the opportunity to meet the man of her dreams in the person of lawyer André Landrecourt.Read More »

  • Georges Lacombe – L’appel du destin AKA The Call of Destiny (1953)

    1951-1960DramaFranceGeorges Lacombe

    In Venice, a failed and alcoholic musician attends the concert of his teenage son, a precocious conductor who has never met him. Three years after “Prélude à la gloire”, in order to confirm the aura of child star Roberto Benzi, this new film embroiders a fictional story around filial bonds and the father’s remorse. While Roberto Benzi, as impressive as a conductor as he is a poor actor, does what he can, Jean Marais, leaving for the first time his usual part of young leading man, is quite impressive. With the help of excellent supporting actors: Fernand Sardou, Edouard Belmont and Jacqueline Porel, he allows the film to rise above its condition of melodramatic and conventional work. The direction of Georges Lacombe, sober and elegant, does not fail. The film, although less successful than its predecessor, is famous for having generated a good number of musical vocations among the young people of the time.Read More »

  • Christian-Jaque – Le Saint prend l’affût AKA The Saint Lies in Wait (1966)

    1961-1970Christian-JaqueComedyCrimeFrance

    Synopsis
    The Saint (Jean Marais) and his dim-witted sidekick Uniatz (Jess Hahn) spring in to action in this slapstick comedy spy actioner. The duo goes after a cache of American cash left over from World War II used in an undercover operation. The two battle rival international agents also after the sizeable sum…Read More »

  • Luchino Visconti – Le notti bianche AKA White Nights (1957)

    1951-1960DramaItalyLuchino Visconti

    Quote:
    Le notti bianche (White Nights) occupies a central position within Luchino Visconti’s body of work. In appearance at least, it consummates a break with the neorealism of the 1940s and early 1950s and looks forward to The Leopard (1963), in its rendering of subjectivity by visual style, and to Vaghe stelle dell’orsa (Sandra; 1965), in its dependence on metaphor as a structuring device. But appearances can be deceptive, for in 1960, Visconti returned to realism with Rocco and His Brothers, and in its way, Le notti bianche is also fundamentally a realist film, in spite of its excursions into fantasy.Read More »

  • Robert Vernay – Le comte de Monte-Cristo (1954)

    1951-1960AdventureClassicsFranceRobert Vernay

    Edmond Dantes is falsely accused by those jealous of his good fortune, and is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in the notorious island prison, Chateau d’If. While imprisoned, he meets the Abbe Faria, a fellow prisoner whom everyone believes to be mad. The Abbe tells Edmond of a fantastic treasure hidden away on a tiny island, that only he knows the location of. After many years in prison, the old Abbe dies, and Edmond escapes disguised as the dead body. Now free, Edmond must find the treasure the Abbe told him of, so he can use the new-found wealth to exact revenge on those who have wronged him.Read More »

  • André Hunebelle – Fantomas (1964)

    1961-1970André HunebelleComedyCrimeFrance

    A 1964 film starring Jean Marais as the arch villain with the same name opposite Louis de Funès as the earnest but outclassed commissaire Paul Juve. In the film Juve teams up with journalist Fandor, also played by Marais, trying to catch Fantômas but never quite succeeding. It was France’s answer, in 1964, to the James Bond phenomenon that swept the world at around the same time. It is the first ever of a trilogy film, that Fantômas became extremely successful in Europe, Soviet Union and Japan, it found also success even in the United States where fan websites exist to this day. Mylène Demongeot plays Hélène. Hélène Gurn is the girlfriend of Jérôme Fandor, Fantômas’ arch enemy.Read More »

  • André Hunebelle & Haroun Tazieff – Fantômas se déchaîne AKA Fantomas Strikes Back AKA Fantomas Unleashed (1965)

    1961-1970André HunebelleComedyCrimeFranceHaroun Tazieff

    In the second installment of the parodic Fantomas series, the title arch criminal and master of disguise kidnaps prominent scientist Prof. Marchand in order to develop a new powerful weapon to threaten the world. Fantomas is also planning to kidnap another scientist, Prof. Lefebvre. Journalist Fandor (Jean Marais, who also plays Fantomas and Prof. Lefebvre) decides to set a trap for the elusive villain. He disguises himself as Lefebvre and attends a scientific conference in Rome expecting Fantomas to kidnap him. As always, Fandor’s ingenious plan backfires due to the interference of the bumbling police commissioner Juve (Louis de Funès).Read More »

  • André Hunebelle – Fantômas contre Scotland Yard AKA Fantomas vs. Scotland Yard AKA Fantomas Against Scotland Yard (1967)

    1961-1970AdventureAndré HunebelleComedyFrance

    In the third installment of the parodic Fantomas series, the eponymous arch criminal imposes the “right-to-live” tax on the rich, threatening to kill those who dare not to pay. Journalist Fandor (Jean Marais) and commissioner Juve (Louis de Funès) are invited to the Scottish castle of Lord McRashley (Jean-Roger Caussimon), one of Fantomas’ potential victims, who has decided to set a trap for the elusive fiend.Read More »

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