Hoping to make a fresh start, Léo, a jazz musician, takes up temporary residence with his friend Bony, a young writer who is struggling to get his work published. One evening, Léo strikes up an acquaintance with a woman taxi driver, Cora; in spite of her impulsive and moody temperament, he cannot help being attracted to her. When Bony meets Cora, he too finds her irresistible, but he lacks Léo’s self-confidence to make his move. Cora is not a woman that any man can possess readily. She is like a wild animal, a creature that revels in its freedom. Will either Léo or Bony be able to tame her…?
Tag: FRANCE
Marcel Pagnol’s adaptation of his own novel Manon des sources, the story of a shepherdess who exacts her revenge on the townsfolk she blames for killing her father, in two parts: Manon des sources and Ugolin.
WATCH MOVIE Manon des sources (1952) AKA Manon of the Spring
Léon, a humble civil servant, has the unusual ability to walk through walls, however thick they are. One day, he falls madly in love with a charming hotel thief by the name of Suzan. In order to impress her he poses as Garou-Garou, a dangerous gangster. Mistaken for him, he is arrested and sent to jail but he, of course, leaves his cell (and comes back to it) just as he likes, infuriating the prison warden. But, despite this wonderful gift, he remains shy in the presence of Suzan.
When he learns that his friend Xavier has been arrested for murder, ex-gangster Roberto La Rocca comes to Marseilles to avenge him. He confronts gang boss Villanova who framed him.
WATCH MOVIE Un nommé La Rocca (1961) AKA A man called La Rocca
Based on a novel by Maurice Dekobra, the film is set in the Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo, in the nineteenth century. It depicts a love triangle between a high-class prostitute, a Russian naval officer, and a rickshaw man.
Clive Langham spends one tormenting night in his bed suffering from health problems and thinking up a story based on his relatives. He is a bitter man and he shows, through flashbacks, how spiteful, conniving and treacherous his family is. But is this how they really are or is it his own vindictive slant on things?
The plot focuses on Gaillac, an electrician employed by the Paris Opera. In love with gorgeous ballerina Suzanne, Gaillac must play second fiddle to Suzanne’s wealthy “protector,” powerful politician Count Montoire. When the Opera personnel go on strike, Gaillac is appointed leader of the strikers, doing his job so well that he is ultimately elected Secretary of Labor in the French cabinet. Now on equal footing with Montoire, Gaillac is at last a “worthy” suitor for Suzanne – who can’t make up her mind between her two well-connected admirers, leading to a political rivalry the likes of which Paris has never seen.
WATCH MOVIE Les nouveaux messieurs (1929) AKA The New Gentlemen
A novel by Gaston Leroux (of Phantom of the Opera fame) was the source for this film. The story takes place on the Riviera, where the title character may or may not be involved in various shades of skullduggery, including murder. The film’s highlight involves a coffin containing the body of a man who committed suicide — or, did he? Huguette Duflos played the title character, while the comedy relief was in the capable hands of Belieres. In emulation of the 1928 American film The Terror, the opening credits are not printed on screen, but instead spoken by a mysterious “ghost” voice.