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Roger Vadim's 1968 sci-fi freak-out "Barbarella" is one of the zestiest, sexist, strangest, and most amusing pictures the genre has to offer. Set in the 41st century, "Barbarella" follows the merry caprices of the title heroine (Jane Fonda), a freelance adventurer of the cosmos. Barbarella, frequently undressed, is assigned by the President of Earth (Claude Dauphin) to track down a mysterious, missing scientist named Durand-Durand (Milo O'Shea) who has invented an all-powerful weapon called the positronic ray.

During her quest, Barbarella is attacked by killer dolls, befriends a blind angel (John Philip Law), is forced into a deadly orgasm machine (although she can outlast its mechanical manipulations), and faces off against the Black Queen, the tyrant ruler of Sogo.

The film was based on the erotic comics by Jean-Claude Forest, and possesses all the same sexual energy as the aggressively naughty original, even if it's not quite as sexually explicit.

A fun game those of legal drinking age can play while watching Roger Vadim's surreal/sexy 1968 Eurotrash space romp "Barbarella": take a drink every time Barbarella (Jane Fonda) changes costumes. One will be blindingly intoxicated by the 20-minute mark. "Barbarella" takes place in the distant future wherein the President of Earth (Claude Dauphin) has tasked the title heroine, a freelance space captain, to locate and retrieve Durand-Durand (Milo O'Shea) a scientist who has invented the positronic ray, a weapon of massive destructive power. Barbarella must trek through a picaresque adventure, stopping to be savaged by killer dolls, locked into an orgasm machine (!), and to befriend a friendly angel (John Philip Law). The film was based on the bawdy 1966 French comic by Jean-Claude Forest.

Yes, the band Duran Duran got their name from "Barbarella."

Back in October 2022, it was announced that Sony was developing a remake of "Barbarella," and...

Nineteen sixty-eight has to be considered the apex of psychedelic sexploitation romps, with the release of Candy, adapted from Mason Hoffenberg and Terry Southern’s satirical reworking of Voltaire’s Candide, and Roger Vadim’s Barbarella, based on Jean-Claude Forest’s comic, and partially scripted by Southern (alongside an armada of other credited writers). Both employ a rambling, shaggy-dog structure as an excuse to flagrantly foreground softcore sexual hijinks tinged with a pungent whiff of social commentary, albeit the latter aspect may be easier to discern in Candy’s perverse daisy chain of events.

Southern’s contributions to the Dino De Laurentiis-produced Barbarella can be detected in some of its wittier lines (“A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming!”) and sly pokes at the persistence of class-consciousness. Aside from Southern, the two films are linked by the presence of Anita Pallenberg, style icon and muse of the Rolling...

Simone Signoret stars in a dark tale of love in the belle époque underworld that is a unmissable classic with a pitilessly grim finale

A 70th-anniversary rerelease for this film by a masterly French director who is known for his craftsmanship – but deserves also to be known for his artistry. Jacques Becker’s Casque d’Or is a gripping tragic drama of Parisian lowlife set at the turn of the century, based on news stories and apocryphal tales of the “apache” criminal gangs that roamed the Paris underworld in the belle époque, terrifying and titillating those wealthy boulevardiers who liked to slum it in seedy dives.

Simone Signoret is glorious as Marie (nicknamed “Casque d’Or” for her golden helmet of hair); she is a woman of the night, based on the “gigolettes” tempting gentlemen into dark alleys, who would then be beaten and robbed by the woman’s male accomplices lurking behind her.

To mark the release of Casque D’Or on 28th November, we’ve been given a 4K Ultra HD copy to give away to one winner.

Set in Paris at the turn of the 19th Century, Casque D’Or follows the love affair between gangster’s moll, Marie and reformed criminal Georges Manda. When mob boss, Felix Leca (Claude Dauphin), takes an active interest in their affair, an underworld rivalry ensues leading to a treacherous and tragic end.

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

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Casque D’Or is released on 4K Uhd, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from 28th November 2022

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Open to UK residents only The competition will close 5th December 2022 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be picked at random from entries received No cash alternative is available Please note prizes may be delayed due to Covid-19 To coincide with Gdpr regulations,...

To mark the release of Innocents in Paris, out now, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on Blu-ray.

Innocents In Paris features a motley collection of British tourists on a wild and wonderful weekend in Paris, with each character finding that the city welcomes them and changes their lives in different ways.

An English diplomat (Alastair Sim) is on a working trip to obtain an agreement with his Russian counterpart; a Royal Marine bandsman (Ronald Shiner) has a night out on the tiles after winning a pool of the French currency held by all the Marines in his band; a young woman (Claire Bloom) is wined and dined by an older Parisian man (Claude Dauphin) who gives her a tour of Paris; an amateur artist (Margaret Rutherford) searches out fellow painters on the Left Bank and in the Louvre; a hearty Englishman (Jimmy Edwards) spends the entire weekend...

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By Fred Blosser

“Rosebud” (1975), Otto Preminger’s next-to-last film, has been released by Kino Lorber Studio Classics in a 2K Blu-ray restoration. In the political thriller, a terrorist cell kidnaps five teenaged girls from a luxury yacht, the “Rosebud” of the title. The kidnappers are members of Black September, an extremist Palestinian faction -- a reference that would have been better known by audiences then than now. Their reasons for seizing the young women become clearer as they open communications with the girls’ parents, an international power elite of politicians, industrialists, and financiers. Sending along a film of the five young women on the deck of the commandeered yacht, nude and shivering, the terrorists dictate that it be televised as a prelude to a series of demands that will demean Israel and it allies on the global stage. If the demands aren...

The Tenth Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series continues this weekend. — The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the mid-1990s, offering a revealing overview of French cinema. This year’s fest kicked off last weekend with a screening of Bertrand Tavernier’s acclaimed documentary My Journey Through French Cinema.

There are two more events for the Tenth Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival happening this weekend:

Saturday, March 9th at 7:30pm – Casque D’Or. Ticket information can be found Here

Jacques Becker lovingly evokes the belle epoque Parisian demimonde in this classic tale of doomed romance — the French equivalent of the legend of Frankie and Johnny. When gangster’s moll Marie (Simone Signoret) falls for reformed criminal Manda (Serge Reggiani...

The Tenth Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series starts this Friday, March 2nd. — The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the mid-1990s, offering a revealing overview of French cinema. This year’s fest kicks off with a screening of Bertrand Tavernier’s acclaimed documentary My Journey Through French Cinema, the director’s personal reflections on key films and filmmakers. Several of the works he highlights — such as Jacques Becker’s “Casque d’or” and Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samouraï” — are screened at this year’s fest.

Tickets: $13 General Admission. Cinema St. Louis Members: $10. Students: $10. Webster. U students: Free. Tickets for My Journey Through French Cinema can be purchased Here

All films are screened at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood).

Friday,...

The 10th Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-presented by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the 1990s, offering a revealing overview of French cinema.

This year’s fest kicks off with a screening of Bertrand Tavernier’s acclaimed documentary “My Journey Through French Cinema,” the director’s personal reflections on key films and filmmakers. Several of the works he highlights — such as Jacques Becker’s “Casque d’or” and Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samouraï” — are screened at this year’s fest.

The fest annually includes significant restorations, and this year features New Wave master Jacques Rivette’s visually sumptuous “La belle noiseuse.” The fest also provides one of the few opportunities available in St. Louis to see films projected the old-school, time-honored way, with Jean Renoir...

There appear to be no rules governing tricky politics in movies — Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel about terrorism in French-held Vietnam completely reverses the author’s message. Does a conspiracy theory about a movie still carry any weight, when our daily political life now plays like one giant conspiracy?

The Quiet American

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1958 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Audie Murphy, Michael Redgrave, Claude Dauphin, Giorgia Moll,

Bruce Cabot, Fred Sadoff, Kerima, Richard Loo.

Cinematography: Robert Krasker

Film Editor: William Hornbeck

Original Music: Mario Nascimbene

Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz from a novel by Graham Greene

Produced and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Fans of author Graham Greene know him for his political sophistication and his adherence to Catholic themes; he’s found holy values in a razor-wielding Spiv in Brighton Rock and...

Two for the Road

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, Eleanor Bron, William Daniels, Claude Dauphin, Nadia Gray

Cinematography: Christopher Challis

Art Direction: Marc Frederic, Willy Holt

Film Editor: Madeleine Gug

Original Music: Henry Mancini

Written by Frederic Raphael

Produced and Directed by Stanley Donen

Some so-called sophisticated ‘sixties romantic dramas have dated pretty badly, as it’s not easy to create a movie acceptable to a fickle audience, that doesn’t end up with attitudes, politics or even costumes that don’t look ‘wrong’ just a few years later. I’ve found that enjoying Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s takes a conscious act of selective blindness. The music, the style, the images were swooningly vital to an audience perhaps ten years older than this reviewer. Hepburn’s ravishing Holly Golightly misses...

Looking to discover a top-quality film that honors lasting values? Jean Renoir gives Zachary Scott and Betty Field as Texas sharecroppers trying to survive a rough first year. It's beautifully written by Hugo Butler, with given realistic, earthy touches not found in Hollywood pix. And the transfer is a new UCLA restoration. With two impressive short subjects in equal good quality. The Southerner Blu-ray Kino Classics 1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 92 min. / Street Date February 9, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Betty Field, Beulah Bondi, Carol Naish, Norman Lloyd, Zachary Scott, Percy Kilbride, Charles Kemper, Blanche Yurka, Estelle Taylor, Paul Harvey, Noreen Nash, Nestor Paiva, Almira Sessions. Cinematography Lucien Andriot Film Editor Gregg C. Tallas Production Designer Eugène Lourié Assistant Director Robert Aldrich Original Music Werner Janssen Written by Hugo Butler, Jean Renoir from a novel by George Sessions Perry Produced by Robert Hakim, David L. Loew Directed by Jean Renoir...

Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 actress and pioneering female film producer. Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 actress was pioneering woman producer, politically minded 'femme engagée' Danièle Delorme, who died on Oct. 17, '15, at the age of 89 in Paris, is best remembered as the first actress to incarnate Colette's teenage courtesan-to-be Gigi and for playing Jean Rochefort's about-to-be-cuckolded wife in the international box office hit Pardon Mon Affaire. Yet few are aware that Delorme was featured in nearly 60 films – three of which, including Gigi, directed by France's sole major woman filmmaker of the '40s and '50s – in addition to more than 20 stage plays and a dozen television productions in a show business career spanning seven decades. Even fewer realize that Delorme was also a pioneering woman film producer, working in that capacity for more than half a century. Or that she was what in French is called a femme engagée...

Hammer horror fans are in for a treat, as respective collections of five William Castle films and five Hammer horror movies are coming out on Blu-ray in August, and The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant has been set to come out on Blu-ray.

The William Castle and Hammer horror collections will respectively come out on DVD August 18th from Mill Creek. The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant, meanwhile, is slated for release later this year by Kino Lorber. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for further updates.

From Mill Creek: "Iconic horror director William Castle created a simple, but winning formula for his films: a little comedy, a lot of scares, a preposterous gimmick, and a clear sense that fright films should be fun. This even meant Castle would, like Alfred Hitchcock, appear in his trailers and even the movies themselves. Though his career spanned 35 years and included everything from westerns to crime thrillers, he'll...

Marc Allégret: From André Gide lover to Simone Simon mentor (photo: Marc Allégret) (See previous post: "Simone Simon Remembered: Sex Kitten and Femme Fatale.") Simone Simon became a film star following the international critical and financial success of the 1934 romantic drama Lac aux Dames, directed by her self-appointed mentor – and alleged lover – Marc Allégret.[1] The son of an evangelical missionary, Marc Allégret (born on December 22, 1900, in Basel, Switzerland) was to have become a lawyer. At age 16, his life took a different path as a result of his romantic involvement – and elopement to London – with his mentor and later "adoptive uncle" André Gide (1947 Nobel Prize winner in Literature), more than 30 years his senior and married to Madeleine Rondeaux for more than two decades. In various forms – including a threesome with painter Théo Van Rysselberghe's daughter Elisabeth – the Allégret-Gide relationship remained steady until the late '20s and their trip to...

Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...

The Late George Apley

"If I am remembered at all, it will be as the swine who rewrote Scott Fitzgerald," said Joseph L. Mankiewicz on numerous occasions, and though he does rate a mention in any Fitzgerald bio for his work revising Fitzgerald's screenplay of Three Comrades, he is also getting a sidebar retrospective, The Essential Iconoclast, at the New York Film Festival. Apart from including his several acknowledged classics, this also shines a light on some of the less celebrated movies in the distinguished Hollywood auteur's body of work.

In particular, The Late George Apley (1947) and Escape (1948) are seldom-screened dramas with suave English leading men, Ronald Colman and Mankiewicz favorite Rex Harrison, both supported by the delightful Peggy Cummins.

The Late George Apley supplements the emotion with a good portion of the wit Mankiewicz was so famous for. I spoke briefly on the telephone to co-star Cummins, best known...

James Garner movies on TCM: ‘Grand Prix,’ ‘Victor Victoria’ among highlights (photo: James Garner ca. 1960) James Garner, whose film and television career spanned more than five decades, died of "natural causes" at age 86 on July 19, 2014, in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. On Monday, July 28, Turner Classic Movies will present an all-day marathon of James Garner movies (see below) as a tribute to the Oscar-nominated star of Murphy’s Romance and Emmy-winning star of the television series The Rockford Files. Among the highlights in TCM’s James Garner film lineup is John Frankenheimer’s Monaco-set Grand Prix (1966), an all-star, race-car drama featuring Garner as a Formula One driver who has an affair with the wife (Jessica Walter) of his former teammate (Brian Bedford). Among the other Grand Prix drivers facing their own personal issues are Yves Montand and Antonio Sabato, while Akira Kurosawa’s (male) muse Toshiro Mifune plays a...

Danielle Darrieux turns 97: Darrieux has probably enjoyed the longest film star career in history (photo: Danielle Darrieux in ‘La Ronde’) Screen legend Danielle Darrieux is turning 97 today, May 1, 2014. In all likelihood, the Bordeaux-born (1917) Darrieux has enjoyed the longest "movie star" career ever: eight decades, from Wilhelm Thiele’s Le Bal (1931) to Denys Granier-Deferre’s The Wedding Cake / Pièce montée (2010). (Mickey Rooney has had a longer film career — nearly nine decades — but mostly as a supporting player in minor roles.) Absurdly, despite a prestigious career consisting of more than 100 movie roles, Danielle Darrieux — delightful in Club de femmes, superb in The Earrings of Madame De…, alternately hilarious and heartbreaking in 8 Women — has never won an Honorary Oscar. But then again, very few women have. At least, the French Academy did award her an Honorary César back in 1985; additionally, in 2002 Darrieux and her fellow 8 Women / 8 femmes co-stars shared Best Actress honors...

The 1968 cult classic movie Barbarella is being developed as a new TV series for Amazon Studios. The studio is currently seeking a showrunner, in anticipation of a pilot order.

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Skyfall) wrote the pilot script based on Roger Vadim's movie, which starred Jane Fonda as a sexy astronaut who tries to stop a nefarious weapons inventor. The character was created by Jean-Claude Forest, which debuted in 1962 in the French publication V-Magazine. The comic strips were later published as a stand-alone graphic novel in 1964. No story details were given regarding this new adaptation.

Nicolas Winding Refn is attached to executive produce and will direct the pilot episode, with Martha De Laurentiis, the daughter of the late Barbarella producer Dino De Laurentiis, also executive producing. Gaumont International Television, which produces NBC's Hannibal and Netflix's Hemlock Grove, have been developing the project for a year and a half.

Paul Henreid: From lighting two cigarettes and blowing smoke onto Bette Davis’ face to lighting two cigarettes while directing twin Bette Davises Paul Henreid is back as Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of July 2013. TCM will be showing four movies featuring Henreid (Now, Voyager; Deception; The Madwoman of Chaillot; The Spanish Main) and one directed by him (Dead Ringer). (Photo: Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes on the set of Dead Ringer, while Bette Davis remembers the good old days.) (See also: “Paul Henreid Actor.”) Irving Rapper’s Now, Voyager (1942) was one of Bette Davis’ biggest hits, and it remains one of the best-remembered romantic movies of the studio era — a favorite among numerous women and some gay men. But why? Personally, I find Now, Voyager a major bore, made (barely) watchable only by a few of the supporting performances (Claude Rains, Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominee...

From SneakPeekTV, take a look @ the full feature of producer Dino De Laurentis' sci-fi sex comedy "Barbarella"(1968) that is being developed and rebooted by "Drive" director Nicolas Winding Refn.

From a screenplay by Joe Gazzam, Refn promises the look of his film will adhere close to the languid illustrations of Jean-Claude Forest, creator of the French-language "Barbarella" comics.

The original Paramount Pictures release was directed by Roger Vadim, starring Vadim's wife at the time, actress Jane Fonda :

"...in the year 40,000, 'Barbarella' (Fonda) is assigned by the 'President of Earth' (Claude Dauphin) to retrieve 'Doctor Durand Durand' (Milo O'Shea) from the planet 'Tau Ceti'.

"Durand Durand is the inventor of the weaponized 'Positronic Ray'.

"Earth is now a peaceful planet, and weapons are unheard of. Because Tau Ceti is an unknown region of space there is the potential for the weapon to fall into the wrong hands.

According to new reports, the 1968 De Laurentis feature "Barbarella", based on the sci fi comic strip, will be developed by executive producer Martha De Laurentiis and Gaumont International Television into a "Barbarella" TV series, with "Drive" director Nicolas Refn directing the pilot episode.

Episodes will be scripted by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade ("Skyfall"), with the series adhering closely to the style of illustrator Jean-Claude Forest, creator of the French-language "Barbarella" comics.

Paramount Pictures "Barbarella" was directed by Roger Vadim, starring Vadim's wife at the time, actress Jane Fonda :

"...in the year 40,000, 'Barbarella' (Fonda) is assigned by the 'President of Earth' (Claude Dauphin) to retrieve 'Doctor Durand Durand' (Milo O'Shea) from the planet 'Tau Ceti'. Durand Durand is the inventor of the weaponized 'Positronic Ray'.

"Earth is now a peaceful planet, and weapons are unheard of. Because Tau Ceti is an unknown region of space there...

To celebrate the 60th anniversary and UK Blu-Ray premiere of French classic Casque D’Or on November 5th, we’ve been given 3 copies of the movie to give away.

Set in Paris at the turn of the 19th Century, Casque D’Or follows the love affair between gangster’s moll, Marie (Simone Signoret, Room At The Top, Les Diaboliques) and reformed criminal Georges Manda (Serge Reggiani, Les Miserables, The Pianist).

When mob boss, Felix Leca (Claude Dauphin), takes an active interest in their affair, an underworld rivalry ensues leading to a treacherous and tragic end.

Casque D’Or is a classic, poetic tale of doomed romance based on the true-life Leca-Manda scandal. Evoking the Belle Epoque period perfectly and with an unforgettable femme fatale performance from Signoret, Casque D’Or is considered a Becker masterpiece.

To win a copy of Casque d’Or on Blu-Ray, simply answer the following question:...

The buzz being generated by Disney's upcoming Marvel Studios  outer space fantasy, "Guardians Of The Galaxy" has kick-started producer Dino De Laurentis' Paramount remake of the 1968 sci-fi comedy, "Barbarella: Queen Of The Galaxy".

To be directed by Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive") from a screenplay by Joe Gazzam, Refn promises the look of his film will adhere close to the languid illustrations of Jean-Claude Forest, creator of the French-language "Barbarella" comics.

Although actress Rose McGowan was originally considered to play 'Barbarella', casting continues for a suitable actress to play the lead.

The original Paramount Pictures release was directed by Roger Vadim, starring Vadim's wife at the time, actress Jane Fonda :

"...in the year 40,000, 'Barbarella' (Fonda) is assigned by the 'President of Earth' (Claude Dauphin) to retrieve 'Doctor Durand Durand' (Milo O'Shea) from the planet 'Tau Ceti'. Durand Durand is the inventor of the weaponized 'Positronic Ray'.

Who can perform a zero-gravity striptease, seduce an angel and still have time to save the universe? Sexy, sultry, space adventurer Barbarella, that's who! Coming in for a landing on Blu-ray for the first time ever on July 3, 2012, the terrifically titillating sci-fi romp Barbarella continues to entertain with its outrageous, out-of-this-world story and brazen sexuality.

Jane Fonda stars as the titular heroine who lands on the planet Lythion in the year 40,000. Faced with robots, monsters and evil of varying stripes, she must vanquish her enemies, all while attempting-and failing-to keep her skin-tight spacesuit on. Along the way she receives assistance from a variety of handsome men, each of whom receives her uninhibited appreciation. Directed by Roger Vadim (Fonda's ex-husband), Barbarella is a kind of sexual Alice in Wonderland of the future and the film is replete with psychedelic set designs, far-out characters and an outrageously entertaining story set amongst the stars.