Belle de jour 1967 R, 100 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Luis Bunuel Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Genevieve Page, Pierre Clementi, Francisco Rabal, Francoise Fabian, Maria Latour, Georges Marchal, Macha Meril, Muni, Michel Charrel, Iska Khan, Bernard Musson, Francois Maistre
Young Severine (Catherine Deneuve) is a Parisian housewife who is bored with her husband Pierre (Jean Sorel). After a gang rapes her, Severine takes a job as a prostitute in a house of ill repute working only in the afternoons and returning home to the unsuspecting Pierre at night. But, is Severine's double life a reality, or is it only a sexual daydream?
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The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 1972 PG, 105 min. Genre: Foreign / Comedy / Drama / Fantasy
Director: Luis Bunuel Cast: Fernando Rey, Stephane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Delphine Seyrig, Bulle Ogier, Michel Piccoli, Bernard Musson, Paul Frankeur, Julien Bertheau, Milena Vukotic, Maria Gabriella Maione, Claude Pieplu
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, this is a satirical look at the bourgeoisie following the activities of upper-middle-class friends. Don Raphael (Fernando Rey), Francois Thevenot (Paul Frankeur), Simone (Delphine Seyrig), Florence (Bulle Ogier), Henri Senechal (Jean-Pierre Cassel), and Alice (Stephane Audran) try, again and again, to spend an evening together. But, no matter how many times they try, and fail, to have dinner together, their plans are frustrated by events over which they have no control. The obstacles are bizarre–ranging from a mixed- up date for the dinner, to army maneuvers, to a dead body, to a stage play in which they are characters. Good entertainment.
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Gigi 1958 N/R, 116 min. Genre: Musical / Comedy / Romance
Director: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, Jacques Bergerac, Isabel Jeans, John Abbott, Monique Van Vooren, Dorothy Neumann, Jean Ozenne, Bernard Musson, Edwin Jerome, Maurice Marsac, Corinne Marchand
This excellent film won nine Academy Awards. Gaston (Louis Jourdan) has his eye on Gigi (Leslie Caron) who, after a series of misadventures, becomes his wife. Narrated by Maurice Chevalier, this musical features such great songs as "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and the title song (an Academy Award winner). Other Academy Awards included Best Picture and Director.
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Les Miserables 1958 N/R, 210 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Jean-Paul Le Chanois Cast: Jean Gabin, Bernard Blier, Rene Fleur, Fernand Ledoux, Christian Fourcade, Jean Ozenne, Bernard Musson, Daniele Delorme, Bourvil, Julienne Paroli, Edmond Ardisson, Giani Esposito
This version of Victor Hugo's tale, though often plodding, is more true to his work than most. Jean Gabin plays the convicted Jean Valjean who is dogged for many years by the cruel policeman, Javert (Bernard Blier).
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Love in the Afternoon 1957 N/R, 125 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Billy Wilder Cast: Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, Van Doude, John McGiver, Lise Bourdin, Paul Bonifas, Olga Valery, The Gypsies, Guy Delorme, Minerva Pious, Moustache, Bernard Musson, Filo
Monsieur X (John McGiver) hires Parisian private eye Claude Chavasse (Maurice Chevalier) to find out who his wife (Lise Bourdin) is having an affair with. Claude investigates and tells Monsieur X that his wife is having an affair with a mature American Frank Flannagan (Gary Cooper) whose love affairs are well-publicized. Monsieur X threatens to kill Frank, but Claude's daughter Ariane (Audrey Hepburn) overhears the conversation and warns Frank. When she meets Frank, she entertains him with made-up tales of her own life as a "worldly" woman with many love conquests. Later, they meet again, and Frank still does not know Ariane's true identity but is intrigued and falling in love with her. To solve his dilemma, Frank hires Claude–who just happens to be Ariane's doting father–to find out who she really is. Although Claude is less than pleased with their relationship, will he really be able to bring an end to their romance?
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| 1. Belle de jour (1967)
2. Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
3. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
4. Gigi (1958)
5. Les Miserables (1958)
6. Love in the Afternoon (1957)
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