René Blancard

René Blancard

Profile

René Blancard

Movies

A King Without Distraction
le curé
A policeman and a serial killer play cat and mouse in an isolated mountain village in Nineteenth century France. The second film directed by the man who played the admirable lead role in Robert Bresson's A Man Escaped is a stylized and intense adaptation of a novel by Jean Giono. This police investigation in a 19th century village combines visual beauty with the rigor of the mise-en-scène—the vertigo of the criminal motivations indivisible from the refined graphics of the images.
La Vérité
L'avocat général
As Dominique Marceau is being tried for the murder of Gilbert Tellier, accounts by different witnesses paint a picture of the kind of relationship the two used to share.
The Coin
L'huissier (uncredited)
Bob recruits Jacques, a desperate blacksmith, to "recover" smuggled diamonds from de Belar. The heist goes badly wrong. The crooks kill each other for the money, but the diamonds are gone and Jacques returns to his life as an honest man.
Serenade of Texas
Le shérif
Music seller and singer on occasion, Jacques Gardel learns from master Jérôme Quilleboeuf that he inherits oil fields located in Big Bend in Texas.
La Polka des menottes
M. Matheu, le père d'Elisabeth
Elisabeth is persuaded to have killed her noisy upstairs neighbor, scientist Charles Magne. To save her, Mr. Matheu, Elisabeth's father, accuses himself while Pierrot, Elisabeth's fiancé gets rid of the body in order to save father and daughter. For his part, a gangster also believes he has killed the scientist but he gets shot down by a taxidermist, who runs for life. The girl, her daddy and her boyfriend also run away. But Magne is not dead. A bum is mistaken for him and a police inspector makes everyone believe that he is the one who shot the gangster. At the end of this crazy chain of events all the protagonists are reunited at the station house and everybody dances to express their relief.
The Suspects
Inspector Rentier
Commissaire Perrache, the chief of the D.S.T., the French domestic intelligence service, tries to neutralize a group of terrorists named the Partisans de la Métropole. He sends one of his best agents, inspector Louis Vignon, incidentally the husband of his charming secretary Lucette, on the trail of an illegal transmitter. But Vignon gets kidnapped by the gang and held captive on a boat off the shores of Monaco...
Godzilla, the Monster of the Pacific Ocean
Obscure French version of the original Godzilla. Similar to the Italian Cozzilla, the film combines elements of the original Toho version and the American King of the Monsters in a unique version exclusive to the French release. Released by Les Films du Verseau.
Main Street
Don Tomás
A small town in Spain, October 1955. Isabel, a 35-year-old dreamer who feels like a failure because she is not married yet, becomes the new target of a group of soulless pranksters.
Le Long des trottoirs
M. Dupré
A girl surviving on public welfare, fall into a life of prostitution.
If Paris Were Told to Us
Aubineau
Historical film directed and written by Sacha Guitry follows the the history of Paris from its founding through the significant events in the city's history.
Diamond Machine
Clifton
A group of bandits conspire to kidnap a scientist who can help them manufacture diamonds.Unbeknownst to them , the FBI is already on their case.
A Missionary
Rouhaut
To Catch a Thief
Commissaire Lepic (uncredited)
An ex-thief is accused of enacting a new crime spree, so to clear his name he sets off to catch the new thief, who’s imitating his signature style.
Mademoiselle from Paris
Micheline's father
Queen Margot
Nights of Shame
Le commissaire Denys
Quai des blondes
le commissaire Brochant
Tempest in the Flesh
The bistro
A dam is under construction in the Pyrénées mountains. All the workers only have eyes for pretty, sensual Clara, the canteen waitress. And what she exchanges with many of them is more than just looks, this is for sure. Nevertheless, despite her frivolity, Clara falls truly in love with Tonio Borelli, the site foreman. The latter takes her to Paris and they marry. But Clara soon realizes that the call of the flesh still consumes her...
Endless Horizons
The life story of famed French aviatrix Helene Boucher is detailed in Horizons sans fin (Endless Horizons). Giselle Pascal stars as Boucher, who is first seen in 1930, leaving her millinery shop behind in favor of the wild blue yonder. Though the world of aviation was still essentially an all-male one (despite England's Amy Johnson and America's Amelia Earhart), Boucher perseveres, eventually breaking all existing male and female speed and height records. A bit slow on the uptake in the dramatic scenes, the film soars (no pun intended) during the aerial sequences. Horizons san Fin was the winner of the Catholic Award at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.
Fatal Affair
Jaltex
Didier's wife is ill, and he does the best he can to take care of her. But he's often absent and he has casual love affairs. But Leone he meets in Bruxelles wants to become his one and only mistress.
Follow That Man
Dr. Corbier
While celebrating his birthday, police inspector Basquier (Bernard Blier) recalls two of his most-celebrated cases. The first involves duplicitous moneylender Olga (Suzy Prin). The second concerns the brutal broad-daylight murder of innocent young Yvonne (Veronique Deschamps).
Double or Quits
Maître Albert Chassagne
In Bourganeuf, an old maid, Charlotte Bourdier, confesses to Marie Chassagne that she has forged a sentimental intrigue by correspondence with the presenter of the Radio Circus, Zappy Max. Marie agrees to meet him when he comes, but she in turn falls in love with him, who confesses his love to her.
Drôle de noce
Monsieur Victor
Mr and Mrs Barbezat,Concierges are to marry their only daughter to a butcher's boy. Both the in-laws and the groom have an obsession: come what may, they are keen on honoring their engagements: promises are made to be kept is their motto. And when, on the wedding day, the unfortunate parents cannot provide the newly weds with...the "Mérinos" mattress which is part of the bride's Trousseau ,they are desperate. The husband will spend the whole wedding festivities trying to keep his word.
We Are All Murderers
Albert Pichon
Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We Are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.
Le Plaisir
Le maire
Three stories about the pleasure. The first one is about a man hiding his age behind a mask to keep going to balls and fancying women - pleasure and youth. Then comes the long tale of Mme Tellier taking her girls (whores) to the country for attending her niece's communion - pleasure and purity. And lastly, Jean the painter falling in love with his model - pleasure and death.
Duel à Dakar
Robert Vernier is assigned by the Secret Service to unmask a band of gangsters determined to get their hands on the plans for a new plane. They manage to steal part of it and kidnap Robert's fiancée, named Monique. Robert will manage to dismantle the gang and will be surprised to find that at the head there is a policeman...
Under the Paris Sky
Le professeur Bertelin
Fates of multiple otherwise disconnected characters intertwine miraculously under the sky of Paris. And it all happens in one day.
Rue des Saussaies
Inspector Martial
The brother of Jeanne Masson, a young nightclub singer, has been murdered by Brasier, a criminal who pretends to be a respectable man. Jeanne has resolved to avenge her brother but she just cannot take action herself. The way she finds is to ask police detective Pierre Leblanc to help her do it. Pierre gives his agreement and starts following the trail. He soon finds out that Brasier belongs to a gang whose boss, Cortedani, has ordered the murder.
Oriental Port
Baptiste
In Marseille, a customs inspector falls in love with a young woman involved in dubious traffic.
No Pity for Women
Me Tirgen, lawyer
The wealthy industrialist Alain de Narbois has disappeared. Michel Dunant, an idle man who passed by and who looks exactly like the deceased, is taken for Alain by a young woman and her servant. He jumps at the chance but quickly realizes that, in this hushed little world, masters and servants play comedy and know very well that he is only a double of Alain. In fact, the industrialist was assassinated.
A Certain Mister
Le commissaire Bellefontaine
Documents relevant to National Defence have been concealed in a certain vase by a dangerous gang of robbers. To neutralize the criminals, a seasoned police commissioner and his clumsy assistant, young inspector César, join forces with a colorful trio of thieves nicknamed Le Pouce (Thumb), L'Index (Index Finger) and Le Majeur (Middle Finger)...
Marie of the Port
Dorchain
Henri Chatelard is well in his forties, owns a restaurant and a cinema in the city, and appreciate women. When he meets Marie, a 18ish stronghead who just lost her father in a small fishermen village, it is not clear who is the hunter and who is the prey.
The Big Meeting
Commissioner Basquet
One of the first victories against the Nazis in World War II is when Parisians help allied forces drive the enemy out of occupied French Algeria.
Sin and Desire
Alexandrini
The tumultuous loves of a diver and a pretty bitch. Mario loves Perrucha, she only loves money. When, by dint of diving, the boy's health deteriorates, the girl goes to find an important industrialist. Such a story can only end badly and Mario strangles Perrucha.
The Hell of Lost Pilots
Inspector Simonet
A plane flying to Dakar is caught in a storm and has to land in the desert. Deprived of a radio, he is unable to give his position and the water reserves are limited to two days. Each, among the military crew and the civilian passengers, experiences the ordeal according to his character.
The Cupid Club
Turnier
Isabelle is a lawyer who has Flip, a private detective, convicted of speeding. But shortly after, a murder is committed of which Isabelle's best friend is suspected. To save her, Isabelle is forced, despite her reluctance, to ask Flip for help, who agrees to look for the culprit.
Le droit de l'enfant
Jacques Herbelin is the faithful husband of Louise and the proud father of Cécile, a kind little girl. But Louise does not reciprocate her husband's affection and prefers to cheat on him in the arms of Marquis de Condottier. The latter is a sinister character who, not satisfied with being Herbelin's wife's lover, sets his heart on their daughter, who has now become a pretty young lady. Jacques can't take it anymore.
56, rue Pigalle
Lucien Bonnet
Lucien Bonnet, Jean Vigneron's manservant, blackmails his boss, who is having an affair with Inès de Montalban, married to Ricardo. Vigneron pays the sum but Lucien is killed by an accomplice, Baruch. Everything seems to accuse Jean who, for fear of compromising Inès, prefers to keep mum. Fortunately, his innocence will be proved thanks to a surprise witness. The two lovers flee to Congo while the husband soon forgets them, finding comfort in debauchery.
The Spice of Life
Thomas
A series of vignettes, in which Noel-Noel appears as the moderator, lecturer, commentator and leading actor, that examine the bores and pests of everyday life much like Pete Smith and Robert Benchley had done for years in American short subjects. Among those are the Practical Joker who will do anything for a laugh; the Party Entertainer who never stops singing; the Talkative Neigbor who forgets the time; the noisy neighbors who dance the tango all night; and women drivers, people who telephone at meal time, the friend you never saw before and amatuer medical experts. Much use of trick photography, montages, puppets and animation along with some adult Gallic wit and gentle satire.
Cité de l'espérance
Commissioner
The City of Hope is the place where left-behind artists subsist by scraping by. When one of them is accused of murder, all try to find the real culprit.
Sergil et le dictateur
Goujon
Inspector Sergil is assigned the mission to protect the dictator of Santa Juanita during his stay in France and - it goes without saying -trouble begins at once, as of his journey in the fast train from Paris to Marseilles. A lot of opponents of all kinds are intent on liquidating the dictator and they do not particularly like to have Sergil in their way. When Bijou, the inspector's fiancée, accepts to serve as a bodyguard for the dictator, she is soon kidnapped and will not be released until Sergil tells them about their enemy's hiding place. Where the shoe pinches is that the dictator has disappeared and Sergil does not even know where he is.
Le Dessous des cartes
Brigadier
Claude Géraudy, a banker responsible for a financial scandal, is forced to flee and hides in the mountains with the help of Manu, a young smuggler. Florence, his wife, refuses to join him. Desperate Claude commits suicide, Florence then decides to pass her suicide off as murder in order to receive her late husband's life insurance.
Road Blocked
André Fournier
Jacques Audoin falls in love with a pianist, Evelyne Clery, and marries her. In reality, he had wanted to approach her, because he imagined that she had witnessed the murder of the lover of his first wife. Evelyne learns what has happened and, revolted by what she thinks is her husband's plot, commits suicide. Jacques confesses his crime.
Danger of Death
Loiseau the pharmacist mistakenly mixes potassium cyanide into a batch of cough syrup and sells five bottles. With horror he discovers his mistake and sets out to find the buyers. He finds only four. The fifth, not a regular customer, comes back to the pharmacy...
Jenny Lamour
Police Commissioner
Paris, France, December 1946. Jenny Lamour, an ambitious cabaret singer, and Maurice, her extremely jealous pianist husband, become involved in the thorough investigation of the murder of a shady businessman, led by Antoine, a peculiar and methodical police inspector.
The Kids Are Leading the Investigation
Morgain
When Monsieur Crauqual, the supervisor, is found hanging, all wonder why this rather rich person decided to kill himself. And when a pupil is found hanging too, François and his friends decide to investigate. They are certain there is a killer within the walls of Collège François 1er and determined to prevent him from going on running wild.
Mirror
Boisrond
Portrait of a two-faced man. By day he is rich, brilliant and respectable financial officer Lussac; at night, he becomes "Mirror", a ruthless gang leader in Marseilles.
La Dame de Haut-le-Bois
The notary
The son of the Comtesse de Brévannes dies. She, who has never wanted to meet her daughter-in-law and who wants to take care of her grandson, goes to their house under the guise of a governess.
Inspector Sergil
Goujon
Inspector Sergil is a detective comedy. Sergil, inspector of the P.J., investigates three crimes, helped by two pretty women, Bijou and Nadège.
La Fleur de l'âge
Children imprisoned during pre-war France decide to escape.
Gates of the Night
le voisin de palier
Paris, during the winter after its Liberation: Jean Diego meets up with his friend Raymond Lecuyer again. A tramp predicts Jean will meet the most beautiful girl in the world, and that same evening Jean meets Malou. But he soon discovers that her brother Guy was the one that gave his friend Raymond away to the Gestapo...
Mensonges
Joseph, chauffeur
Marie Leroux, who is married to Charles, an honest, understanding country doctor, lives an uneventful, rather monotonous life.Her husband is a kind man but he does not give her any thrill or excitement. One day, Marie meets Olivier Dumas-Beaulieu, a handsome industrialist, who is in the process of leaving his fiancée Corinne, despite her being pregnant by him. It is easy for the confirmed womanizer he is, to seduce Marie, who very foolishly thinks she has found true love. Shortly afterward Charles is shot dead by Olivier while the two men were having a quarrel about Marie. The latter, who finds the corpse, believes her husband has committed suicide. Which is not the police's opinion and Marie is arrested and condemned to ten years in prison. Annihilated by such unfair treatment and, worse, by the separation from her beloved eight-year-old daughter, she still manages to survive and to serve her sentence.
Raboliot
Happily married to Sandrine, Pierre Fouques also known as Raboliot is the father of two young children. He would live a steady life hadn't he a passion for poaching, which gets him into a lot of trouble. Because of the nastiness of Bourrel, the gamekeeper, of the jealousy of other poachers, he becomes a hunted man who, in order to defend himself, is driven to commit a crime.
The Last Penny
Pierre risks being taken advantage of by an agency that sets up financial scams, he escapes thanks to Marcelle, the secretary of the director of the agency, who is a childhood friend. She does her best to keep the young man away from the scams of his boss. However, the director, in love with Marcelle and jealous of Pierre, succeeds in trapping and ruining him. Marcelle will then denounce him to the police, but before being arrested he will kill her.
A Cage of Nightingales
Monsieur Rachin
In France, in 1930, a supervisor of a boarding school for young offenders seeks to awaken the music by forming a choir, despite the skepticism of his boarding school director.
Vautrin the Thief
Lucien Chardon became the Marquis Lucien de Rubempré
A famous convict Jacques Collin, alias Trompe la mort, or abbot Carlos Herrera, also called Vautrin, escapes from prison. Chance makes him meet Lucien de Rubempré, an impetuous and eternal lover who, when he is dismissed, collapses. Moved by this fragility, he takes him under his wing, and will do everything possible to ensure that his creature reaches happiness, even if it means imagining the worst shenanigans and other scams, with the help of a band of clever villains.
Mermoz
Biography and apology of the famous pilot, nicknamed by some the Archangel, who organized the airmail network of South America, flew the first over the Andes Cordillera, maintained the mystique of the South Atlantic, militated in the Crosses of Fire and perished at the controls of "La Croix du Sud" during its twenty-fourth crossing.
Tornavara
Gourier
In a lost village in Lapland, Gérard comes to the aid of his friend Anders, in conflict with his father, a rich owner of gold mines.
The Roquevillards
France, 1880. Francois Roquevillard is a respected lawyer in Chambery and the head of a family that prides itself on its impeccable morals. Francois's world rapidly begins to fall apart when his son Maurice elopes to Italy with Edith Frasne, the wife of an esteemed notary.
Shop Girls of Paris
Jules Colomban, le commis de Baudu
The struggles of a small business owner come to light in this film by director André Cayatte. The proprietor of a fabric shop, M. Baudu (Michel Simon) faces stiff competition when a department store moves in across the street, the first of its kind in 1860s Paris. On top of the stresses associated with the rival retailer, Baudu’s niece and two nephews take up residence with him after recently being orphaned. The niece, Denise Baudu (Blanchette Brunoy), sees the writing on the wall for her uncle’s business so she takes a job as a shop girl with his competitor and despite her success the decision does not register well with the family.
Le chant de l'exilé
Itchoua
In the French Basque Country, Ramon, the son of a farmer and fruit and vegetable merchant with a beautiful voice, has the good life. He is engaged to his charming cousin Maria. But his daily life is called into question when, during a fight, he believes he has killed a bad boy. He flees to Algeria where, with a friend, he joins the Saharan Pioneers.
Le Voyageur de la Toussaint
A young man comes back to his hometown to be confronted with a bourgeois obnoxious family who has always despised his -now dead - parents because they were music hall artists, "entertainers". But because he's the sole legatee of an uncle's fortune, his relatives become friendly with him.. at least for a while.
Carnival of Sinners
The surgeon (uncredited)
A struggling artist buys a talisman that gives him love, fame and wealth. The talisman is a severed left hand, and it works perfectly, in fact, magically. But of course there is nothing free in this world, and after one year the devil comes and asks for his due.
The Honorable Catherine
Catherine's technique to sell her clocks is to blackmail illegitimate couples such as Jacques and Gisèle. However when Gisèle's husband Pierre walks in on them, Catherine pretends to be Jacques's lover to save the day. Jacques then gets caught up in her schemes when the next couple she deals with turn out to be jewel thieves who kidnap them.
The Murderer Lives at Number 21
Picard (uncredited)
Inspector Wens moves into a Paris boarding house to catch a serial killer.
The Chain Breaker
Ferdinand
Antoine Mouret, an authoritarian restaurateur, is the head of a large family where, for reasons of interest, people only marry cousins. But some have other plans, Marcus especially when he meets a passing circus girl.
Beautiful Star
Meg decides to commit suicide to escape the marriage to which her father intends her. She is saved by Jean-Pierre, another candidate for suicide, and Léon, a tramp who was just trying to reason with him. The trio then becomes inseparable and organizes a new life based on friendship and freedom.
Monsieur Coccinelle
Presto (uncredited)
An average worker who feels downtrodden at work and home, dreams of becoming a dictator. His aunt has her own fantasy that the love-of-her-life, a fairground magician, will return to her once more.
La joueuse d'orgue