News

Take a refreshing plunge into classic French Poetic Realism — pre-noir drama with softer edges and a touch of romantic fatalism. A low-rent hotel on a barge canal is the gathering point for a cross-section of quasi- undesirables. Scandals and crimes aside, they’re a touching, human bunch, as performed to perfection by Louis Jouvet, Annabella, Arletty, Jane Marken, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Paulette Dubost and Bernard Blier. Marcel Carné’s show is also a beautiful production, with Alexandre Trauner designs that recreate ‘reality’ on an enormous scale.

Hôtel du Nord

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1139

1938 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 96 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date August 23, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: Annabella, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Louis Jouvet, Arletty, Paulette Dubost, Andrex, André Brunot, Henri Bosc, Marcel André, Bernard Blier, Jane Marken, François Périer, Dora Doll, Raymone.

Cinematography: Louis Née, Armand Thirard

Production Designer and Art Director: Alexandre Trauner

Film Editor: Marthe Gottie

Original Music: Maurice Jaubert

Written by Henri Jeanson,...

We can depend on H.G. Clouzot to find people at their most desperate, at their worst. His updated adaptation of Manon Lescaut dissects the trauma of amour fou And the hypocrisy, opportunism and political horror of postwar France. Resistance fighter Michel Auclair and provincial tart Cécile Aubrey are lovers caught in a web of vice and treachery, much of it of their own making. Their desperate escape takes them to an inhuman landscape devoid of mercy. Clouzot may pity these characters, but he sure doesn’t give them a break.

Manon

Blu-ray

Arrow Academy

1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 105 min. / Street Date February 25, 2020 / Available from Arrow Academy 39.95

Starring: Serge Reggiani, Michel Auclair, Cécile Aubry, Andrex, Raymond Souplex, André Valmy, Henri Vilbert, Héléna Manson, Dora Doll, Robert Dalban.

Cinematography: Armand Thirard

Film Editor: Monique Kirsanoff

Production designer: Max Douy

Original Music: Paul Misraki

Written by Jean Ferry, Henri-Georges Clouzot from the...

Another big title from Henri-Georges Clouzot touches down in Region A. The great director’s first postwar feature dials back the misanthropy — but only a little. It’s a detective tale set in an impressively recreated theatrical milieu, about the tangle of illicit desire that people get caught up in. Ambition, sacrifice, and jealousy figure in a tightly-knit murder scenario — Louis Jouvet’s detective must sort them out, to determine if the vain variety singer Jenny Lamour is really guilty of a heinous crime.

Quai des Orfèvres

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 106 min. / Street Date February 25, 2020 / Jenny Lamour / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Louis Jouvet, Suzy Delair, Bernard Blier, Simone Renant, Pierre Larquey, Jeanne Fusier-Gir, Charles Dullin, Dora Doll, Christian Marquand, .

Cinematography: Armand Thirard

Film Editor: Charles Bretoneiche

Original Music: Francis Lopez

Written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jean Ferry from the novel Legetime defense by Stanislaus-André Steeman

Produced by Roger De Venloo,...

‘Hands off the Loot!’ Jacques Becker’s crackling Paris crime tale is a time machine to an age of Parisian tough guys in double breasted suits, who never show their cards, and mistreat women in ways the Hollywood production code would never allow. Old thief Jean Gabin’s ill-gotten wealth is threatened by the newcomer creep Lino Ventura, thanks to the treachery of a very young Jeanne Moreau; the struggle revives weapons and tactics not used since the Occupation. One of the Great Euro crime classics is now looking terrific in Kino/Studio Canal’s restoration.

Touchez pas au grisbi

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 96 min. / Honor among Thieves / Street Date August 13, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Paul Frankeur, Lino Ventura, Jeanne Moreau, Dora Doll, Daniel Cauchy, Michel Jourdan, Marilyn Buferd, Denise Clair, Gaby Basset, Delia Scala.

Cinematography: Pierre Montazel

Film Editor:...

Being called the French Hitchcock does Claude Chabrol a disservice, as his dark thrillers approach mystery and suspense almost completely through character, not cinematics. These three very good 1990s productions are completely different in tone and approach, and each showcases a stunning French actress.

Betty, Torment (L’enfer), The Swindle (Rien ne vas plus)

Blu-ray

3 Classic Films by Claude Chabrol

Cohen Film Collection

1992,1994,1997 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 103, 102, 105 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / 49.99

Starring Marie Trintignant, Stéphane Audran, Jean-François Garreaud, Yves Lambrecht; Emmanuelle Béart, François Cluzet, Nathalie Cardone, Dora Doll; Isabelle Huppert, Michel Serrault, François Cluzet, Jean-François Balmer.

Cinematography: Bernard Zitermann; Bernard Zitermann, Eduardo Serra

Film Editor: Monique Fardoulis (x3)

Original Music: Matthieu Chabrol (x3)

Written by Claude Chabrol from a novel by Georges Simenon; Claude Chabrol from a script by Henri-Georges Clouzot; Claude Chabrol

Produced by Marin Karmitz (x3)

Directed by Claude Chabrol (x3)

Not all Claude Chabrol films are equal, but...

Dimitri Kirsanoff's 1926 classic Ménilmontant, which is either a short feature or a very long short, is one of the great things. If you haven't already seen it, you have just been handed an urgent mission.Related to the impressionist school of Epstein, Dulac, amd Delluc, but not actually part of that gang or, seemingly, associated with any school, movement or company, Kirsanoff, an Estonian emigré, fashioned a silent film without intertitles that plays like an unholy mash-up of Chaplin and David Lynch.But little of Kirsanoff's other work is seen or discussed. A few lovely shorts are available on YouTube, but what became of him when he was absorbed into the film industry and had to become a professional?Le crâneur (The Hotshot) is the answer. It's a fifties crime movie inhabiting a world familiar to cinephiles from the movies of Jean-Pierre Melville, only the gangsters don't wear white...

One of the best-remembered dramas of the '70s gives us controversial actresses, a lavish production and a story by the even more controversial Lillian Hellman. Director Fred Zinnemann makes it into a suspenseful, deeply affecting experience. Julia Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1977 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / Ship Date April 12, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Maximilian Schell, Hal Holbrook, Meryl Streep, Rosemary Murphy, Dora Doll, Elisabeth Mortensen, John Glover, Lisa Pelikan, Susan Jones, Cathleen Nesbitt, Maurice Denham. Cinematography Douglas Slocombe Film Editor Walter Murch Original Music Georges Delerue Written by Alvin Sargent based on the story by Lillian Hellman Produced by Richard Roth Directed by Fred Zinnemann

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Fred Zinnemann was a cinema activist from way back, a filmmaker of uncompromising convictions. His most frequent theme is anti-fascism, although he began with a very Soviet-styled pro-union film in Mexico, Redes.

Ingrid Bergman ca. early 1940s. Ingrid Bergman movies on TCM: From the artificial 'Gaslight' to the magisterial 'Autumn Sonata' Two days ago, Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” series highlighted the film career of Greta Garbo. Today, Aug. 28, '15, TCM is focusing on another Swedish actress, three-time Academy Award winner Ingrid Bergman, who would have turned 100 years old tomorrow. TCM has likely aired most of Bergman's Hollywood films, and at least some of her early Swedish work. As a result, today's only premiere is Fielder Cook's little-seen and little-remembered From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973), about two bored kids (Sally Prager, Johnny Doran) who run away from home and end up at New York City's Metropolitan Museum. Obviously, this is no A Night at the Museum – and that's a major plus. Bergman plays an elderly art lover who takes an interest in them; her...

Plus, Nastia gives HollywoodLife.com her inspirational philosophy for overcoming some of life's biggest struggles. (Listen up! She knows what she's talking about.) Do you want to be as good at gymnastics as five-time Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin? Me too, and even though I know it's never going to happen, at least Nastia's new venture can help us get close. She's teaming up with Fisher-Price to launch the Fantastic Gymnastics Dora doll — yes, the same Dora of anti-swiping, pro-exploring fame — which teaches kids (and the rest of us, of course) how to crush splits, floor routines and pretty much everything else. Nastia, 22, chatted with HollywoodLife.com about her involvement with the intrepid "Explorer," how she rose above her recent disappointment at the Olympic trials, and who she's got her eye on during the current London Olympic Games. Watch our interview below: [flv width="600" height="350"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9gx-2czCeE/flv] — Andy Swift Follow @AndySwift More Olympic News: Michael Phelps...

We all get emotional watching the Toy Story movies because we love the idea that our toys are real. But how do you handle it when a child finds out they aren’t? Here’s why I’m asking: My two-year-old niece Coco is obsessed with Dora the Explorer. So much that it’s hard for anyone in my family now to say Dora’s name because we’re so used to having to spell it out in front of her. She loves the videos, and on Christmas night, she was watching one in which Diego, Dora’s cousin, got...

It's play time again for Hollywood, as the annual Toy Fair kicks off in New York on Sunday with the traditional slew of product tied to movies, TV shows and entertainment characters.

Among this year's hot properties: "Toy Story 3," "Iron Man 2," "How to Train Your Dragon," the latest installments of "Twilight" and "Harry Potter," and TV favorite "Dora the Explorer," who is celebrating her 10th anniversary. But overall, there are fewer movies than last year that are ripe for toy merchandising this year.

"There are fewer 3D films with toy opportunities, but there will be a lot of sequel or legacy film product," Toy Industry Assn. spokeswoman Reyne Rice said.

Some movies will cater to the core toy demo of kids, while others will skew more adult, providing the opportunity to sell product to toy collectors.

"Toys for sequels usually sell better," Rice said. "Retailers, for example, will...