French With(out) Tears Trivia Quiz

Answer: Francois Truffaut

The first film of the series - and Truffaut's first feature film - was "The 400 Blows", which became a worldwide hit winning praise (and awards) wherever it was shown.
The films were semi autobiographical, and all starred Jean-Pierre Leaud as Antoine Doinel, following his life from his early teens to his early 30s.
(Which reminds me, they're due for a rewatch.)

Answer: Jean-Paul Belmondo

Gabin and Delon, two of the great icons of French cinema, made their only appearance together in "The Sicilian Clan".
Gabin plays the patriarch of a Mafia family, and Delon a violent and ruthless young criminal who is sprung from prison by the family in order that he can help plan and carry out a jewel robbery.
Ventura is the dogged police inspector who is determined to track them down.
Belmondo is also well known for his appearances in some classic gangster films, among them "Le Doulos" and "Borsalino", in which he co-starred with Delon.
Unjustly overlooked today, and overdue for reassessment.

Answer: Gerard Philipe

Set in 18th Century France, Fanfan joins King Louis 15th's army in order to avoid being forced into marriage. He's conned into joining by Adeline, the recruiting officer's daughter, who poses as a fortune teller and who tells Fanfan that he is destined to marry the king's daughter.
Christian-Jacque won the Best Director award at Cannes, and the film was a smash hit.
Gerard Philipe was one of France's most popular and respected actors, and one of the very few to have been memorialized on a stamp following his tragically early death from liver disease.

Answer: Anton Walbrook

A prostitute picks up a soldier, who then has a brief affair with a housemaid who seduces her employers' son, who has a liaison with a married woman whose husband has an affair with a young cocotte who becomes involved with a poet who is also having an affair with an actress who dallies with a young nobleman who then picks up the prostitute - and so the story comes full circle.
The film is witty, elegant and stylish, with a cast of some of French Cinema's greats.
Anton Walbrook was born in Austria, and had a long and distinguished career in international film. Today, apart from "La Ronde", he is best known for "The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp", "The Red Shoes" and the original version of "Gaslight", in the role played by Charles Boyer in the Hollywood remake.

Answer: Brigitte Bardot

The film was Vadim's directorial debut, and it broke box office records both in France and abroad.
The term "sex kitten" was coined to describe Bardot's character.
Although it was not Bardot's first film - she had, for instance, co-starred with Dirk Bogarde in the British comedy "Doctor At Sea" - this really was the film which gained her international notice.

Answer: Belle De Jour

The film is a stunningly erotic surrealist masterpiece, which blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality.
Catherine Deneuve is breathtaking.
She had also starred in Bunuel's "Tristana".

Answer: Alain Delon

Alain Delon was only 24 when he played the role of Tom Ripley.
There are many, myself included, who think that "Plein Soleil" is superior to Anthony Minghella's film of the novel.
Delon went on to star in some of the greatest films of the '50s and '60s, including "Borsalino", "Le Cercle Rouge", "Le Samourai", "Rocco and His Brothers" and "The Leopard".

Answer: Le Corbeau

Made during the Nazi occupation of France, and hugely controversial, "Le Corbeau" was condemned by both the French Resistance and also the Nazi occupying forces. It was banned for a number of years and was not widely shown until after the war when it received international acclaim.
Today it remains a powerful and disturbing film.
The other three films were also directed by Clouzot. Although not as prolific as Hitchcock, many people rate Clouzot as his equal in terms of being a master of suspense.

Answer: Jour De Fete

Jacques Tati plays a small town postman who attempts to modernize delivery after seeing a film about the American postal system.
It's really just a series of delightful sight gags built around the town's Bastille Day celebrations, and containing affectionate portraits of the inhabitants.
Tati, being somewhat of a perfectionist, spent considerable time on his films, and made only five.

Answer: Alain Resnais

Although it's not an easy watch - more than one viewing is certainly necessary to fully come to grips with its complexities of plot and structure - "Hiroshima Mon Amour" remains today one of the landmark films of the French New Wave.
The director, Alain Resnais, is best known for "Night And Fog", a documentary short from the late '50s, and "Last Year At Marienbad" and "La Guerre Est Finie" from the 1960s.