French film photo galley for Action/Adventure

French films Action/Adventure

Le Voyage dans la lune (1902)

Georges Méliès’ most famous film, Le Voyage dans la lune, is perhaps the best example of his remarkable imagination, artistic genius and talent as a film-maker. Not only did he write, direct and produce the film, he also had a hand in designing the sets and costumes. Although it may appear naïve and fanciful by today’s standards... [More...]

Monte Cristo (1929)

The last of the great super-productions of the silent era, Henri Fescourt’s Monte Cristo is easily one of cinema’s best, if not the best, adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ celebrated novel. The artistic quality and scale of the film are breathtaking: this is the silent film at its most ambitious, most perfect... [More...]

Volga en flammes (1934)

Volga en flames is a fairly respectable adaptation of one of the greatest works in Russian literature, Aleksandr Pushkin’s “The Captain’s Daughter”, a poetic novel which recounts Pugachev’s Cossack insurrection of 1773/4. The film was directed by Viktor Tourjansky, a Russian cineaste who escaped the Bolshevik Revolution to pursue a very successful filmmaking... [More...]

Fanfan la Tulipe (1952)

One of the most popular historical-adventure films made in France, Fanfan la Tulipe is a hugely entertaining melange of swash-buckling adventure, comedy and romance. To watch the recently released re-mastered colour version of the film, it is hard to believe that the film was made in 1952. Not only is the film impeccably made... [More...]

Cet homme est dangereux (1953)

The enormous success of La Môme vert-de-gris (1953) made Lemmy Caution’s return to the big screen inevitable. Sure enough, within a matter of months, Eddie Constantine reprised the role of the famous FBI agent in this, the second of what was to be a greatly loved series of French films over the following decade... [More...]

La Tour, prends garde! (1958)

Jean Marais stars in this big budget historical fantasy directed by Georges Lampin. The film’s extravagant production values are not matched by the quality of its script nor its direction, however. So, whilst the film is visually stunning – particularly the lavish location filming (in Yugoslavia) – it feels a somewhat dry and shallow substitute for a more serious historical... [More...]

Le Bossu (1960)

André Hunebelle directs this swashbuckling historical romp with gusto and a characteristic cheerfulness, giving French cinema one of its enduring popular classics. The film stars Jean Marais, an iconic figure in French cinema who, having earned a reputation as a serious actor in the 1940s under the tutelage of his friend and mentor Jean Cocteau... [More...]

Le Capitan (1960)

After the enormous success of Le Bossu in 1959, director André Hunebelle brought together Jean Marais and Bourvil for a second time in a similar kind of swash-buckling historical adventure film. Although the film doesn’t exactly break new ground in its genre (except for the inclusion of two badly fitting musical numbers sung by Bourvil)... [More...]

Le Capitaine Fracasse (1961)

Since Théophile Gautier’s novel was first published in 1863, Le Capitaine Fracasse has enjoyed widespread popularity, particularly in France, in much the same vein as Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. Although less well known than Dumas’ historical tale, Le Capitaine Fracasse is an appropriate story for the cinema and has enjoyed three successful film adaptations too... [More...]

Le Miracle des loups (1961)

This swashbuckling historical adventure is typical a genre of film that was very popular in France in the late 1950s and early 1960s – almost invariably with Jean Marais playing the role of an indefatigable, epee-thrusting action hero. Le Miracle des loups was directed by André Hunebelle, who was particularly adept at making this kind of film... [More...]

Cartouche (1962)

This film is a curious mix of comedy, swash-buckling adventure, romance and tragic drama. Whilst it succeeds to some extent in all of these areas, the overall ensemble feels strangely lacking. It is interesting to compare this with one of Philippe de Broca’s later films, his 1997 film Le Bossu, which follows a similar path... [More...]

Le Chevalier de Pardaillan (1962)

Le Chevalier de Pardaillan is typical of the kind of swashbuckling adventure film that was enormously popular in France in the 1950s and 1960s. Based on historical novels, the films generally had excellent production values and featured high profile actors such as Jean Marais in the role of the heroic master swordsman. Whilst it isn’t the best example of its kind... [More...]

Angélique, marquise des anges (1964)

This is the first, and notably the best, in a series of five films chronicling the adventures of a beautiful 17th century marquise, Angélique, played magnificently by Michèle Mercier. Although rarely seen outside of continental Europe, these films were very successful in France in the 1960s and display that country’s unique flair for historical costume dramas... [More...]

Cent mille dollars au soleil (1964)

Director Henri Verneuil originally conceived this film as a latter day Gallic western, with lorries replacing horses, and the North African landscape making a plausible substitute for the American mid-west. The resulting film isn’t so much a western as a gripping chase film – at times very reminiscent of H.G... [More...]

Fantômas (1964)

Fifty years after Louis Feuillade made his classic Fantômas series, the infamous master criminal returned to French cinema in this colourful action comedy, the first of three new Fantômas films to feature Louis de Funès and Jean Marais. The production team were wary about treading over old ground, so rather than attempt a straightforward remake of the Feuillade films... [More...]

L'Homme de Rio (1964)

This energetic adventure farce owes as much to the Tintin stories of Hergé as to the James Bond films. Filmed almost entirely on location in Brasil, but with a fraction of the budget of a Hollywood film with the same ambitions, this has the feel of lavish spy thriller, but made hilariously funny by some unexpected twists and turns... [More...]

La Tulipe noire (1964)

Christian-Jaque directed this well-paced and likeable adaptation of a novel by Alexandre Dumas, which is best remembered for featuring iconic actor Alain Delon in a demanding double role. With excellent choreographed fight scenes and lavish production values (not least of which is Decae’s sumptuous cinematography)... [More...]

L'Arme à gauche (1965)

Although his first action thriller, Classe tous risques, was ill-received by both critics and cinema goers, director Claude Sautet persevered a made a second film in the same genre, again with Lino Ventura in the lead role. That film, L’Arme à gauche, proved an even bigger flop than its predecessor and was the last film of its kind which Sautet made... [More...]

Le Corniaud (1965)

Possibly the biggest influence on cinema in France of the 1960s (as in most other western countries at the time) was the emergence of television as a competitive threat. To try and stem the gradual decline in cinema audiences, film producers had to fight back in the only way they knew how – by spending more money... [More...]

Merveilleuse Angélique (1965)

The second instalment in the series of five Angélique films directed by Bernard Borderie and starring Michèle Mercier is a creditable successor to the first. Its blend of historic realism, eroticism and sentimentality is the stuff of trashy seaside paperbacks, but given the production values we expect of French historical drama... [More...]

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