Italian actress Sandra Milo, who was best known for her supporting roles in Federico Fellini’s Oscar winner 8 ½ and Golden Globe winner Juliet of the Spirits, has died at the age of 90.
Born in Tunisia to Italian parents in 1933, Milo grew up in Tuscany.
She got her first big screen break in 1955 opposite Alberto Sordi in Antonio Pietrangeli’s comedy The Bachelor.
Milo’s career quickly took off with roles in Roberto Rossellini’s General Della Rovere, Pietrangeli’s Hungry for Love, Edouard Molinaro’s Witness in the City and Claude Sautet’s The Big Risk over the course of the late 1950s.
It briefly hit the buffers in 1961 when her performance in Rosselini’s Stendhal adaptation Vanina Vanni was brutally panned by critics at the Venice Film Festival, but Milo returned to the set and went on to rack up more than 80 credits across her 70-year career.
Internationally, Milo...
Born in Tunisia to Italian parents in 1933, Milo grew up in Tuscany.
She got her first big screen break in 1955 opposite Alberto Sordi in Antonio Pietrangeli’s comedy The Bachelor.
Milo’s career quickly took off with roles in Roberto Rossellini’s General Della Rovere, Pietrangeli’s Hungry for Love, Edouard Molinaro’s Witness in the City and Claude Sautet’s The Big Risk over the course of the late 1950s.
It briefly hit the buffers in 1961 when her performance in Rosselini’s Stendhal adaptation Vanina Vanni was brutally panned by critics at the Venice Film Festival, but Milo returned to the set and went on to rack up more than 80 credits across her 70-year career.
Internationally, Milo...
- 1/29/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Ambra Danon, the Italian costume designer who worked on the three La Cage aux Folles films, earning an Oscar nomination for the first one, has died. She was 75.
Danon died April 12 in Rome after a long battle with cancer, her niece, Echo Danon, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The original La Cage Aux Folles (1978), based on Jean Poiret’s 1973 play of the same name, was directed by Édouard Molinaro and released by United Artists. The French-language comedy starred Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault as a gay couple operating a drag nightclub in a French resort town and was a huge box office success.
Danon, who shared her Academy Award nom with five-time nominee Piero Tosi, lost out on Oscar night to Albert Wolsky of All That Jazz. She then returned for the La Cage aux Folles sequels released in 1980 and 1985.
The daughter of Marcello Danon, who produced the first two movies in the series,...
Danon died April 12 in Rome after a long battle with cancer, her niece, Echo Danon, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The original La Cage Aux Folles (1978), based on Jean Poiret’s 1973 play of the same name, was directed by Édouard Molinaro and released by United Artists. The French-language comedy starred Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault as a gay couple operating a drag nightclub in a French resort town and was a huge box office success.
Danon, who shared her Academy Award nom with five-time nominee Piero Tosi, lost out on Oscar night to Albert Wolsky of All That Jazz. She then returned for the La Cage aux Folles sequels released in 1980 and 1985.
The daughter of Marcello Danon, who produced the first two movies in the series,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ten years ago, there were five clear frontrunners for the Oscar for Best Director of 2012: Ben Affleck for “Argo,” Kathryn Bigelow for “Zero Dark Thirty,” Tom Hooper for “Les Misérables,” Ang Lee for “Life of Pi” and Steven Spielberg for “Lincoln. But when the nominations were announced, only Lee and Spielberg made the cut. Replacing Affleck, Bigelow and Hooper were Michael Haneke for “Amour,” David O. Russell for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Benh Zeitlin for “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
Talk about an Oscar race going wild.
The lesson learned was that the Directors Branch of the Academy can be very unpredictable. They might overlook a big Hollywood star for helming a critical and commercial success, and instead go with an obscure director for their work on a tiny arthouse film. With that said, we should be prepared for some surprises in the directing category when the nominations are...
Talk about an Oscar race going wild.
The lesson learned was that the Directors Branch of the Academy can be very unpredictable. They might overlook a big Hollywood star for helming a critical and commercial success, and instead go with an obscure director for their work on a tiny arthouse film. With that said, we should be prepared for some surprises in the directing category when the nominations are...
- 1/9/2023
- by Tariq Khan
- Gold Derby
Hungry for those wet Parisian streets, the city lights, and cadavres en lambeaux in the pale moonlight? Enter three highly atmospheric, star-studded Crime Noirs, one of which is a stealth classic of Gallic Pulp. Stars Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gérard Oury, Sandra Milo, and Annie Girardot bring the tales of à sang froid malice and mayhem to life. The films featured are Gilles Grangier’s Speaking of Murder (Le rouge est mis) and Édouard Molinaro’s Back to the Wall (Le dos au mur) and Witness in the City (Un Témoin dans la ville). Beware of French husbands when cucklolded — they show no pity. Bonne chance, victimes!
French Noir Collection
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957-59 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen, 1:37 Academy / 265 minutes / Street Date November 29, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gérard Oury, Sandra Milo, Annie Girardot, Paul Frankeur,...
French Noir Collection
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957-59 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen, 1:37 Academy / 265 minutes / Street Date November 29, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Marcel Bozzuffi, Gérard Oury, Sandra Milo, Annie Girardot, Paul Frankeur,...
- 11/19/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Collector’s box on the horizon: Severin assembles hours of video extras and text illumination for another group of films featuring favorite actor Christopher Lee. The roundup of titles bookends his career as a screen vampire, with one of Lee’s earliest vampire roles and also his last turn as Count Dracula. Looming large on the academic side of Severin’s research are experts and biographers Kat Ellinger, Barry Forshaw, Troy Howarth, Kim Newman, Nathaniel Thompson and Jonathan Rigby, who also contributes a hundred-page book.
The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2
Blu-ray
Uncle Was a Vampire, The Secret of the Red Orchid, Dark Places, Dracula and Son, Murder Story
Severin Films
1959-1989 / Color / 2:39 widescreen, 1:66 widescreen, 1:85 widescreen
Street Date July 26, 2022
Available from Severin Films / 134.95
Starring alphabetically: Marie Hélène Breillat, Catherine Breillat, Joan Collins, Robert Hardy, Adrian Hoven, Klaus Kinski, Sylva Koscina, Herbert Lom, Susanne Loret, Jean Marsh, Marisa Mell,...
The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2
Blu-ray
Uncle Was a Vampire, The Secret of the Red Orchid, Dark Places, Dracula and Son, Murder Story
Severin Films
1959-1989 / Color / 2:39 widescreen, 1:66 widescreen, 1:85 widescreen
Street Date July 26, 2022
Available from Severin Films / 134.95
Starring alphabetically: Marie Hélène Breillat, Catherine Breillat, Joan Collins, Robert Hardy, Adrian Hoven, Klaus Kinski, Sylva Koscina, Herbert Lom, Susanne Loret, Jean Marsh, Marisa Mell,...
- 7/16/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Lilo Ventura and Jean-Paul Belmondo in Classe Tous Risques San Sebastian Festival has announced it will dedicate a retrospective at its 70th edition to the French director and screenwriter Claude Sautet (1924-2000), shose films include The Big Risk (Classe Tous Risques) and The Things Of Life.
Sautet, who was known for his collaborations with artists such as Romy Schneider, Michel Piccoli and Emmanuelle Béart, is described by the festival as being at "a comparative crossroads in the history of French cinema: he belonged to neither the post-war generation of moviemakers nor the Nouvelle Vague".
The director , who was born in Montrouge in 1924 and died in Paris in 2000, took his first steps in the film industry of the 1950s as an assistant director, working on around a dozen films including comedies and crime stories produced by André Cerf, Edouard Molinaro and Richard Pottier. His most important film as an assistant was his last in the.
Sautet, who was known for his collaborations with artists such as Romy Schneider, Michel Piccoli and Emmanuelle Béart, is described by the festival as being at "a comparative crossroads in the history of French cinema: he belonged to neither the post-war generation of moviemakers nor the Nouvelle Vague".
The director , who was born in Montrouge in 1924 and died in Paris in 2000, took his first steps in the film industry of the 1950s as an assistant director, working on around a dozen films including comedies and crime stories produced by André Cerf, Edouard Molinaro and Richard Pottier. His most important film as an assistant was his last in the.
- 6/15/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
We’ve lost one of the greats. Academy Award winning composer Ennio Morricone has passed away at the age of 91. As we spend a lot of this week here at Hollywood News sharing interviews with composers, each and every single one of them owe a debt to Morricone. When it came to cinematic music, few did it better, and arguably none were more influential. Even beyond finally winning an Oscar a few years back, Morricone had made his mark on a whole genre, as the sound of spaghetti westerns is essentially his and his alone. To say that he will be missed is a massive understatement. Morricone won a competitive Oscar in Best Original Score recently (after taking home an Honorary Academy Award about a decade prior) for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, but even before that, his credits were incredible. Of course, Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns stand tall,...
- 7/6/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Versatile film, avant-garde classical, jazz and pop composer Ennio Morricone died in a Rome hospital after falling and breaking his leg, his lawyer Giorgio Assumma announced, according to Variety. He was 91.
Known as “the Maestro,” Morricone is best known as the composer of the scores and themes of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, and his Academy Award winning soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. He also toured frequently, and expanded his sonic visions to reflect contemporary sounds. Besides his collaborations on the spaghetti Western films of Sergio Leone, Morricone composed for Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Argento, Don Siegel, Brian De Palma, and John Carpenter. He composed for such diverse artists as Andrea Bocelli, Sting, k.d. lang, and Pet Shop Boys. Morricone never became fluent in English. When he won his 2007 honorary Oscar, his speech was translated by Clint Eastwood.
Morricone...
Known as “the Maestro,” Morricone is best known as the composer of the scores and themes of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, and his Academy Award winning soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. He also toured frequently, and expanded his sonic visions to reflect contemporary sounds. Besides his collaborations on the spaghetti Western films of Sergio Leone, Morricone composed for Bernardo Bertolucci, Dario Argento, Don Siegel, Brian De Palma, and John Carpenter. He composed for such diverse artists as Andrea Bocelli, Sting, k.d. lang, and Pet Shop Boys. Morricone never became fluent in English. When he won his 2007 honorary Oscar, his speech was translated by Clint Eastwood.
Morricone...
- 7/6/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Oscar-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone died Monday at age 91, his lawyer told the New York Times.
Morricone became famous for his melodic scores for 1960s Westerns like “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” and “Once Upon a Time in the West.” He drew on his work in so-called spaghetti Westerns for Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 Western “The Hateful Eight,” which earned the composer his first Academy Award after five previous nominations and an honorary award in 2007.
In addition, Morricone picked up three Golden Globes and two Grammy Awards during his long and celebrated career.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2020 (Photos)
The Rome-born composer wrote the scores for more than 500 films in a wide range of genres and styles — but often drawing on his desire to place music and sound effects like ticking watches and buzzing flies at the foreground of the filmgoer’s consciousness.
He earned Oscar nominations for...
Morricone became famous for his melodic scores for 1960s Westerns like “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly” and “Once Upon a Time in the West.” He drew on his work in so-called spaghetti Westerns for Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 Western “The Hateful Eight,” which earned the composer his first Academy Award after five previous nominations and an honorary award in 2007.
In addition, Morricone picked up three Golden Globes and two Grammy Awards during his long and celebrated career.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2020 (Photos)
The Rome-born composer wrote the scores for more than 500 films in a wide range of genres and styles — but often drawing on his desire to place music and sound effects like ticking watches and buzzing flies at the foreground of the filmgoer’s consciousness.
He earned Oscar nominations for...
- 7/6/2020
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Wash Westmoreland on the dynamic between Keira Knightley and Dominic West: "I had seen in [Joe Wright's] Pride & Prejudice how strongly she takes apart Mr. Darcy [Matthew Macfadyen]. I wanted to even take it further to get into the psycho-sexual hold that Willy had over Colette." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Wash Westmoreland's incisive Colette, co-written with Richard Glatzer and Rebecca Lenkiewicz (co-writer of Sebastián Lelio's Disobedience and Pawel Pawlikowski's Oscar-winner Ida) knows that its heroine, portrayed by Keira Knightley, will always be larger than what is on screen. Her husband Willy (Dominic West) forced her to write, she obeyed, masterful literature was born. The narrative is more entangled than that. Colette's parents in the countryside, Robert Pugh as her father Jules and Fiona Shaw as her mother Sido, are personalities in their own right, not just caricatures that help the plot along.
Wash Westmoreland on La Belle Époque...
Wash Westmoreland's incisive Colette, co-written with Richard Glatzer and Rebecca Lenkiewicz (co-writer of Sebastián Lelio's Disobedience and Pawel Pawlikowski's Oscar-winner Ida) knows that its heroine, portrayed by Keira Knightley, will always be larger than what is on screen. Her husband Willy (Dominic West) forced her to write, she obeyed, masterful literature was born. The narrative is more entangled than that. Colette's parents in the countryside, Robert Pugh as her father Jules and Fiona Shaw as her mother Sido, are personalities in their own right, not just caricatures that help the plot along.
Wash Westmoreland on La Belle Époque...
- 12/8/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Michel Galabru (right) and Louis de Funès in 'Le gendarme et les gendarmettes.' 'La Cage aux Folles' actor Michel Galabru dead at 93 Michel Galabru, best known internationally for his role as a rabidly reactionary politician in the comedy hit La Cage aux Folles, died in his sleep today, Jan. 4, '16, in Paris. The Moroccan-born Galabru (Oct. 27, 1922, in Safi) was 93. Throughout his nearly seven-decade career, Galabru was seen in more than 200 films – or, in his own words, “182 days,” as he was frequently cast in minor roles that required only a couple of days of work. He also appeared on stage, training at the Comédie Française and studying under film and stage veteran Louis Jouvet (Bizarre Bizarre, Quai des Orfèvres), and was featured in more than 70 television productions. Michel Galabru movies Michel Galabru's film debut took place in Maurice de Canonge's La bataille du feu (“The Battle of Fire,...
- 1/5/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Danièle Delorme and Jean Gabin in 'Deadlier Than the Male.' Danièle Delorme movies (See previous post: “Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 Actress Became Rare Woman Director's Muse.”) “Every actor would like to make a movie with Charles Chaplin or René Clair,” Danièle Delorme explains in the filmed interview (ca. 1960) embedded further below, adding that oftentimes it wasn't up to them to decide with whom they would get to work. Yet, although frequently beyond her control, Delorme managed to collaborate with a number of major (mostly French) filmmakers throughout her six-decade movie career. Aside from her Jacqueline Audry films discussed in the previous Danièle Delorme article, below are a few of her most notable efforts – usually playing naive-looking young women of modest means and deceptively inconspicuous sexuality, whose inner character may or may not match their external appearance. Ouvert pour cause d'inventaire (“Open for Inventory Causes,” 1946), an unreleased, no-budget comedy notable...
- 12/18/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Vivien Leigh ca. late 1940s. Vivien Leigh movies: now controversial 'Gone with the Wind,' little-seen '21 Days Together' on TCM Vivien Leigh is Turner Classic Movies' star today, Aug. 18, '15, as TCM's “Summer Under the Stars” series continues. Mostly a stage actress, Leigh was seen in only 19 films – in about 15 of which as a leading lady or star – in a movie career spanning three decades. Good for the relatively few who saw her on stage; bad for all those who have access to only a few performances of one of the most remarkable acting talents of the 20th century. This evening, TCM is showing three Vivien Leigh movies: Gone with the Wind (1939), 21 Days Together (1940), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Leigh won Best Actress Academy Awards for the first and the third title. The little-remembered film in-between is a TCM premiere. 'Gone with the Wind' Seemingly all...
- 8/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Marie Dubois, actress in French New Wave films, dead at 77 (image: Marie Dubois in the mammoth blockbuster 'La Grande Vadrouille') Actress Marie Dubois, a popular French New Wave personality of the '60s and the leading lady in one of France's biggest box-office hits in history, died Wednesday, October 15, 2014, at a nursing home in Lescar, a suburb of the southwestern French town of Pau, not far from the Spanish border. Dubois, who had been living in the Pau area since 2010, was 77. For decades she had been battling multiple sclerosis, which later in life had her confined to a wheelchair. Born Claudine Huzé (Claudine Lucie Pauline Huzé according to some online sources) on January 12, 1937, in Paris, the blue-eyed, blonde Marie Dubois began her show business career on stage, being featured in plays such as Molière's The Misanthrope and Arthur Miller's The Crucible. François Truffaut discovery: 'Shoot the...
- 10/17/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Peter O’Toole: ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ actor, eight-time Oscar nominee dead at 81 (photo: Peter O’Toole as T.E. Lawrence in David Lean’s ‘Lawrence of Arabia’) Stage, film, and television actor Peter O’Toole, an eight-time Best Actor Academy Award nominee best remembered for his performance as T.E. Lawrence in David Lean’s epic blockbuster Lawrence of Arabia, died on Saturday, December 14, 2013, at a London hospital following "a long illness." Peter O’Toole was 81. The Irish-born O’Toole (on August 2, 1932, in Connemara, County Galway) began his film career with three supporting roles in 1960 releases: Robert Stevenson’s Disney version of Kidnapped; John Guillermin’s The Day They Robbed the Bank of England; and Nicholas Ray’s The Savage Innocents, starring Anthony Quinn as an Inuit man accused of murder. Two years later, O’Toole became a star following the release of Lawrence of Arabia, which grossed an astounding $44.82 million in North America back in 1962 (approx.
- 12/15/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Femme fatale Audrey Totter: Film noir actress and MGM leading lady dead at 95 (photo: Audrey Totter ca. 1947) Audrey Totter, film noir femme fatale and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player best remembered for the mystery crime drama Lady in the Lake and, at Rko, the hard-hitting boxing drama The Set-Up, died after suffering a stroke and congestive heart failure on Thursday, December 12, 2013, at West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles County. Reportedly a resident at the Motion Picture and Television Home in Woodland Hills, Audrey Totter would have turned 96 on Dec. 20. Born in Joliet, Illinois, Audrey Totter began her show business career on radio. She landed an MGM contract in the mid-’40s, playing bit roles in several of the studio’s productions, e.g., the Clark Gable-Greer Garson pairing Adventure (1945), the Hedy Lamarr-Robert Walker-June Allyson threesome Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945), and, as an adventurous hitchhiker riding with John Garfield,...
- 12/15/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Rossana Podestà dead at 79: ‘Helen of Troy’ actress later featured in sword-and-sandal spectacles, risqué sex comedies (photo: Jacques Sernas and Rossana Podestà in ‘Helen of Troy’) Rossana Podestà, the sensual star of the 1955 epic Helen of Troy and other sword-and-sandal European productions of the ’50s and ’60s — in addition to a handful of risqué sex comedies of the ’70s — died earlier today, December 10, 2013, in Rome according to several Italian news outlets. Podestà was 79. She was born Carla Dora Podestà on August 20, 1934, in, depending on the source, either Zlitan or Tripoli, in Libya, at the time an Italian colony. According to the IMDb, the renamed Rossana Podestà began her film career in 1950, when she was featured in a small role in Dezsö Ákos Hamza’s Strano appuntamento ("Strange Appointment"). However, according to online reports, she was actually discovered by director Léonide Moguy, who cast her in a small role in...
- 12/10/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Today's film news is counting its pennies, just in case it gets to be a bigshot movie investor
On the site today
• Adam Sandler tops Forbes annual list of overpaid actors
• The AFI names its top 10 films of 2013 - it's a big Oscars bellwether
• Co-star Lesley Manville says Susan Boyle's casting in The Christmas Candle was "disturbing"
• Tom Cruise set for second Jack Reacher film
• Martin Scorsese hints at retirement
• We have an exclusive trailer of Calvary, John Michael McDonagh's follow up to The Guard
• Cinefiles sings the praises of Wyeside Arts Centre
• A quiz, on Anchorman, we're fairly sure
• Number 9 on out countdown of the year's best films: Koreeda's I Wish
• Week in geek steps out early, to run the rule over the Jupiter Ascending trailer
You may have missed
• Critics in La, New York and Boston have handed out their gongs for their favourite films of...
On the site today
• Adam Sandler tops Forbes annual list of overpaid actors
• The AFI names its top 10 films of 2013 - it's a big Oscars bellwether
• Co-star Lesley Manville says Susan Boyle's casting in The Christmas Candle was "disturbing"
• Tom Cruise set for second Jack Reacher film
• Martin Scorsese hints at retirement
• We have an exclusive trailer of Calvary, John Michael McDonagh's follow up to The Guard
• Cinefiles sings the praises of Wyeside Arts Centre
• A quiz, on Anchorman, we're fairly sure
• Number 9 on out countdown of the year's best films: Koreeda's I Wish
• Week in geek steps out early, to run the rule over the Jupiter Ascending trailer
You may have missed
• Critics in La, New York and Boston have handed out their gongs for their favourite films of...
- 12/10/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
The critics of La, New York and Boston have spoken. We'll be reporting on their films of the year. Plus: all the rest of today's film news
In the news
- Critics in La, New York and Boston have handed out their gongs for their favourite films of 2013.
- Christian Bale says his love/hate relationship with acting started when he was a kiddie-wink.
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is really not bad at all, say reviewers from pretty much everywhere.
- And Edouard Molinaro, director of Cage aux Folles, has died aged 85.
Elsewhere on the site today
- The Us box office report will see Jeremy Kay explain how Frozen is putting the competition on ice.
- We'll be starting our own countdown of the top ten films of 2013. Wadjda's in at number 10.
- Mark Brown reports from the British Independent Film Awards, where Sean Ellis's Metro Manila won big.
In the news
- Critics in La, New York and Boston have handed out their gongs for their favourite films of 2013.
- Christian Bale says his love/hate relationship with acting started when he was a kiddie-wink.
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is really not bad at all, say reviewers from pretty much everywhere.
- And Edouard Molinaro, director of Cage aux Folles, has died aged 85.
Elsewhere on the site today
- The Us box office report will see Jeremy Kay explain how Frozen is putting the competition on ice.
- We'll be starting our own countdown of the top ten films of 2013. Wadjda's in at number 10.
- Mark Brown reports from the British Independent Film Awards, where Sean Ellis's Metro Manila won big.
- 12/9/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Film-maker behind ground-breaking international smash hit that brought domestic gay relationships to the mainstream
Édouard Molinaro, the French film director behind the pioneering gay farce La Cage aux Folles, has died at the age of 85 from lung failure.
La Cage aux Folles, itself based on a play by Jean Poiret, starred Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi as a long-term gay couple, one of whose children plans to get married to a stuffy politician's daughter. The pair must conceal their relationship when the prospective in-laws come for dinner. The film was released in 1978 to considerable box office success, in the Us as well as Europe, and broke new ground in the mainstream acceptance of a screen portrayal of domestic gay relationship. It was remade in 1990 as The Birdcage with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in the lead roles.
Molinaro's feature debut was 1958's Back to the Wall, a blackmail yarn starring Jeanne Moreau and Gérard Oury,...
Édouard Molinaro, the French film director behind the pioneering gay farce La Cage aux Folles, has died at the age of 85 from lung failure.
La Cage aux Folles, itself based on a play by Jean Poiret, starred Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi as a long-term gay couple, one of whose children plans to get married to a stuffy politician's daughter. The pair must conceal their relationship when the prospective in-laws come for dinner. The film was released in 1978 to considerable box office success, in the Us as well as Europe, and broke new ground in the mainstream acceptance of a screen portrayal of domestic gay relationship. It was remade in 1990 as The Birdcage with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in the lead roles.
Molinaro's feature debut was 1958's Back to the Wall, a blackmail yarn starring Jeanne Moreau and Gérard Oury,...
- 12/9/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Edouard Molinaro, nominated for an Oscar for directing La Cage aux Folles, a French farce about a gay couple that struck a chord with a broad range of audiences, has died at 85.
French President Francois Hollande’s office confirmed the death in a statement of condolence Saturday, praising Molinaro as “great, appealing and original” and a director who “conquered the public and the admiration of his peers at the same time.” The statement didn’t provide further details.
Molinaro’s career spanned six decades, including crime films and historical adaptations. He was best known for 1978′s La Cage aux Folles,...
French President Francois Hollande’s office confirmed the death in a statement of condolence Saturday, praising Molinaro as “great, appealing and original” and a director who “conquered the public and the admiration of his peers at the same time.” The statement didn’t provide further details.
Molinaro’s career spanned six decades, including crime films and historical adaptations. He was best known for 1978′s La Cage aux Folles,...
- 12/8/2013
- by Associated Press
- EW - Inside Movies
Molinaro-Directed Subtitled Comedy Blockbuster Led to Two Sequels and One Highly Popular U.S. Remake
‘La Cage aux Folles’ film: Edouard Molinaro international box office hit (photo: Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault in ‘La Cage aux Folles’) (See previous post: “‘La Cage aux Folles’ Director Edouard Molinaro Dead at 85.”) But Edouard Molinaro’s best-known effort — comedy or otherwise — remains La Cage aux Folles (approximate translation: "The Cage of the Queens"), which sold 5.4 million tickets when it came out in France in 1978. Perhaps because many saw it as a letdown when compared to Jean Poiret’s immensely popular 1973 play, Molinaro’s movie ended up nominated for a single César Award — for eventual Best Actor winner Michel Serrault. Somewhat surprisingly, in the next couple of years La Cage aux Folles would become a major hit in the United States and other countries. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the U.S. in 1979, the film grossed $20.42 million at the North American box office — or about $65 million in 2013 dollars, a remarkable sum for a subtitled release.
- 12/8/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
‘La Cage aux Folles’ director Edouard Molinaro, who collaborated with Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau, Orson Welles, dead at 85 Edouard Molinaro, best known internationally for the late ’70s box office comedy hit La Cage aux Folles, which earned him a Best Director Academy Award nomination, died of lung failure on December 7, 2013, at a Paris hospital. Molinaro was 85. Born on May 31, 1928, in Bordeaux, in southwestern France, to a middle-class family, Molinaro began his six-decade-long film and television career in the mid-’40s, directing narrative and industrial shorts such as Evasion (1946), the Death parable Un monsieur très chic ("A Very Elegant Gentleman," 1948), and Le verbe en chair / The Word in the Flesh (1950), in which a poet realizes that greed is everywhere — including his own heart. At the time, Molinaro also worked as an assistant director, collaborating with, among others, Robert Vernay (the 1954 version of The Count of Monte Cristo, starring Jean Marais) and...
- 12/8/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Edouard Molinaro, director of the 1978 French farce “La Cage aux Folles,” has died at age 85, the BBC reports. According to the BBC, Molinaro died after suffering lung failure. Also read: ‘Ellen’ Actress Kate Williamson Dead at 83 French president Francois Hollande hailed Molinaro in a statement, saying that the filmmaker “possessed the talent for attracting a broad public to quality films.” “La Cage,” about a gay couple’s humorous effort to come off as straight, was remade as “The Birdcage” in 1996, with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams starring. Also read: Hollywood’s Notable Deaths of 2013 Molinaro, who was nominated for an Academy Award.
- 12/8/2013
- by Tim Kenneally
- The Wrap
French director Edouard Molinaro has died. He was 85. The filmmaker moved from crime flicks to comedies, and among his most notable films was 1978's La Cage aux Folles, about a gay couple trying to pass themselves off as straight.The film earned him a best director Oscar nomination and was remade in the U.S. as The Bird Cage. The 1996 film starred Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.
French President Francois Hollande praised Molinaro's work, according to a BBC report. "Edouard Molinaro possessed the talent for attracting a broad public to quality films,
read more...
French President Francois Hollande praised Molinaro's work, according to a BBC report. "Edouard Molinaro possessed the talent for attracting a broad public to quality films,
read more...
- 12/7/2013
- by THR staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chicago – 1978’s release of the French farce “La Cage Aux Folles” was a cultural event in New York City, where it played for months to audiences who had never seen anything like it. History has somewhat reappraised the film, especially so after the release of the Mike Nichols’ remake “The Birdcage,” and seen it as more than mere popular entertainment, crediting it with opening minds to lifestyles previously closeted.
Seeing it in 2013, in the newly released Criterion release, has a weird time capsule quality to it in that I think the film is more of an “important one” than actually works on its own merits. It’s an interesting chapter in the expression of gay characters in major films but it’s inconsistent in terms of comedy and character for this viewer. The special features on the new release make the case that it’s a great work but even...
Seeing it in 2013, in the newly released Criterion release, has a weird time capsule quality to it in that I think the film is more of an “important one” than actually works on its own merits. It’s an interesting chapter in the expression of gay characters in major films but it’s inconsistent in terms of comedy and character for this viewer. The special features on the new release make the case that it’s a great work but even...
- 10/2/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week
"Star Trek Into Darkness"
What's It About? J.J. Abrams' second "Star Trek" installment follows the Enterprise crew when they're called back home and find an unstoppable force of terror within their own organization. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) leads the Enterprise against a one man weapon of mass destruction. Why We're In: This sequel is exhilarating from start to finish with tons of spectacle and a solid narrative. Abarams' film perfectly mixes classic references that will excite any "Star Trek" fan, but won't make newbies feel left out. "Star Trek Into Darkness" was one of Moviefone's Best Movies of 2013 (So Far).
Watch: Get a behind-the-scenes look at the special effects of "Star Trek Into Darkness" (Video)
Rt & Follow to win a @StarTrekMovie #IntoDarkness Blu-ray & movie poster autographed by Jj Abrams and cast! Rules: http://t.co/8i1T01cxD0
- moviefone (@moviefone) September 10, 2013
Moviefone's...
"Star Trek Into Darkness"
What's It About? J.J. Abrams' second "Star Trek" installment follows the Enterprise crew when they're called back home and find an unstoppable force of terror within their own organization. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) leads the Enterprise against a one man weapon of mass destruction. Why We're In: This sequel is exhilarating from start to finish with tons of spectacle and a solid narrative. Abarams' film perfectly mixes classic references that will excite any "Star Trek" fan, but won't make newbies feel left out. "Star Trek Into Darkness" was one of Moviefone's Best Movies of 2013 (So Far).
Watch: Get a behind-the-scenes look at the special effects of "Star Trek Into Darkness" (Video)
Rt & Follow to win a @StarTrekMovie #IntoDarkness Blu-ray & movie poster autographed by Jj Abrams and cast! Rules: http://t.co/8i1T01cxD0
- moviefone (@moviefone) September 10, 2013
Moviefone's...
- 9/10/2013
- by Erin Whitney
- Moviefone
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 10, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Ugo Tognazzi (l.) and Michel Serrault take it as it comes in La Cage aux Folles.
A modest French comedy that became a breakout art-house smash in America, Edouard Molinaro’s 1978 film La Cage aux Folles inspired a major Broadway musical and the blockbuster remake The Birdcage.
Renato (La grande bouffe’s Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Diabolique’s Michel Serrault)—a middle-aged gay couple who are the manager and star performer at a glitzy drag club in St. Tropez—agree to hide their sexual identities, along with their flamboyant personalities and home decor, when the ultraconservative parents of Renato’s son’s fiancée come for a visit. This elegant comic scenario kicks off a wild and warmhearted farce about the importance of nonconformity and the beauty of being true to oneself.
Filled with period color, hilarious performances and ahead-of-its-time social message,...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Ugo Tognazzi (l.) and Michel Serrault take it as it comes in La Cage aux Folles.
A modest French comedy that became a breakout art-house smash in America, Edouard Molinaro’s 1978 film La Cage aux Folles inspired a major Broadway musical and the blockbuster remake The Birdcage.
Renato (La grande bouffe’s Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Diabolique’s Michel Serrault)—a middle-aged gay couple who are the manager and star performer at a glitzy drag club in St. Tropez—agree to hide their sexual identities, along with their flamboyant personalities and home decor, when the ultraconservative parents of Renato’s son’s fiancée come for a visit. This elegant comic scenario kicks off a wild and warmhearted farce about the importance of nonconformity and the beauty of being true to oneself.
Filled with period color, hilarious performances and ahead-of-its-time social message,...
- 6/19/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to Men in Black 3, Moonrise Kingdom and The Intouchables.
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their roles as agent J and agent K in the time-traveling tale that features Josh Brolin as 1960- era K. Jemaine Clement co-stars; Barry Sonnenfeld directs.
Like your sci-fi funny?
Futurama (1999) The Simpsons creator Matt Groening took his observational and absurd humor into space for this witty and wacky cartoon series. 21st century pizza boy Philip J. Fry stumbles into a cryogenic tube and wakes up 1000 years later, where he discovers a world peopled with jaded robots, noble mutants, and bizarre aliens. Each week offers a new misadventure and plenty of jokes that reward re-watching. Billy West and Katey Sagal co-star. Seasons 1-6 now streaming.
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones reprise their roles as agent J and agent K in the time-traveling tale that features Josh Brolin as 1960- era K. Jemaine Clement co-stars; Barry Sonnenfeld directs.
Like your sci-fi funny?
Futurama (1999) The Simpsons creator Matt Groening took his observational and absurd humor into space for this witty and wacky cartoon series. 21st century pizza boy Philip J. Fry stumbles into a cryogenic tube and wakes up 1000 years later, where he discovers a world peopled with jaded robots, noble mutants, and bizarre aliens. Each week offers a new misadventure and plenty of jokes that reward re-watching. Billy West and Katey Sagal co-star. Seasons 1-6 now streaming.
- 5/24/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Martin Balsam, Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express, directed by DGA (but not Oscar) nominee Sidney Lumet DGA Awards vs. Academy Awards 1960s: Odd Men Out Jules Dassin, Federico Fellini, Arthur Penn 1970 DGA David Lean, Ryan's Daughter Bob Rafelson, Five Easy Pieces AMPAS Federico Fellini, Satyricon Ken Russell, Women in Love DGA/AMPAS Franklin J. Schaffner, Patton Robert Altman, Mash Arthur Hiller, Love Story 1971 DGA Robert Mulligan, Summer of '42 AMPAS Norman Jewison, Fiddler on the Roof DGA/AMPAS William Friedkin, The French Connection Peter Bogdanovich, The Last Picture Show Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange John Schlesinger, Sunday Bloody Sunday 1972 DGA George Roy Hill, Slaughterhouse-Five Martin Ritt, Sounder AMPAS Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Sleuth Jan Troell, The Emigrants DGA/AMPAS Bob Fosse, Cabaret John Boorman, Deliverance Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather 1973 DGA Sidney Lumet, Serpico AMPAS Ingmar Bergman, Cries and Whispers DGA/AMPAS George Roy Hill, The Sting Bernardo Bertolucci,...
- 1/10/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Jacques Rancière, Philippe Lafosse and the public in conversation about Straub-Huillet after a screening of From the Clouds to the Resistance and Workers, Peasants
Monday, February 16, 2004, Jean Vigo Cinema, Nice, France
Above: From the Clouds to the Resistance.
Philippe Lafosse: It seemed interesting to us, after having seen twelve films by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet and talked about them together, to ask another viewer, a philosopher and cinephile, to talk to us about these filmmakers. Jacques Rancière is with us this evening to tackle a subject that we’ve entitled “Politics and Aesthetics in the Straubs’ Films,” knowing that we could then look into other points.
Jacques Ranciere: First, a word apropos the “and” of “Politics and Aesthetics”: this doesn’t mean that there’s art on the one hand and politics on the other, or that there would be a formal procedure on the one hand and political messages on the other.
Monday, February 16, 2004, Jean Vigo Cinema, Nice, France
Above: From the Clouds to the Resistance.
Philippe Lafosse: It seemed interesting to us, after having seen twelve films by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet and talked about them together, to ask another viewer, a philosopher and cinephile, to talk to us about these filmmakers. Jacques Rancière is with us this evening to tackle a subject that we’ve entitled “Politics and Aesthetics in the Straubs’ Films,” knowing that we could then look into other points.
Jacques Ranciere: First, a word apropos the “and” of “Politics and Aesthetics”: this doesn’t mean that there’s art on the one hand and politics on the other, or that there would be a formal procedure on the one hand and political messages on the other.
- 11/7/2011
- MUBI
When studios put out themed DVD collections for whatever occasion, the final result rarely does the subject in question justice. When they seek to honor independent flicks they typically just go for the most popular ones and not the best. For foreign films they’ll select the few that actually made ripples and not the underdog that had to fight for every theater screen. However, when MGM compiled its Cinema Pride Collection in honor of June being Gay Pride month they hit the nail on the head – and they hit it dead on. The collection not only features some of the favorites within the gay community but it features a few highly acclaimed heavy hitters as well. This may just be one of the best box sets a studio has ever released that isn’t based on one actor or director’s filmography. It has variety and it has quality in spades.
- 6/13/2010
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
PARIS -- French director Francis Veber is back behind the camera with new comedy "A Pain in the Ass", starring Richard Berry and Patrick Timsit, producer TF1 International said Tuesday.
The film is based on the helmer's successful play, which ended its runs in France in 2007 and was first brought to the big screen in 1973 in the Edouard Molinaro film of the same name.
Veber's classic hero Francois Pignon is back in this story about an unlikely friendship that develops between a professional killer and a suicidal screw-up. TF1 is hoping for similar success both at home and abroad for Veber's follow-up to his crowd-pleasing films "The Closet", "The Dinner Game" and "The Valet".
"A Pain in the Ass" is co-produced by Patrice Ledoux's Pulsar Prods. and is set to begin shooting in March. TF1 International will handle worldwide sales and TFM Distribution will release the film in Gaul in December.
The film is based on the helmer's successful play, which ended its runs in France in 2007 and was first brought to the big screen in 1973 in the Edouard Molinaro film of the same name.
Veber's classic hero Francois Pignon is back in this story about an unlikely friendship that develops between a professional killer and a suicidal screw-up. TF1 is hoping for similar success both at home and abroad for Veber's follow-up to his crowd-pleasing films "The Closet", "The Dinner Game" and "The Valet".
"A Pain in the Ass" is co-produced by Patrice Ledoux's Pulsar Prods. and is set to begin shooting in March. TF1 International will handle worldwide sales and TFM Distribution will release the film in Gaul in December.
PARIS -- Tributes poured in Monday for French actor Michel Serrault, best known for his role as the flamboyant drag star in camp comedy La Cage aux Folles, who died over the weekend. He was 79.
Serrault was adored by the French public and starred in more than 150 movies and TV series during a career spanning more than 50 years.
Born in 1928, Serrault's first success was as Zaza Napoli in the stage production of La Cage, a role he reprised for Edouard Molinaro's 1978 big-screen adaptation, earning him a Cesar for best actor. Serrault subsequently starred in two French-language sequels. The movie was remade in English as The Birdcage starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.
President Nicolas Sarkozy led the tributes, describing Serrault as a "monument of the theater, the cinema and of television." Culture minister Christine Albanel called him "an immense talent" with "the gift to bring clear authenticity to the characters he painted."
Despite the international success of La Cage, Serrault never ventured far outside the French industry.
Serrault was adored by the French public and starred in more than 150 movies and TV series during a career spanning more than 50 years.
Born in 1928, Serrault's first success was as Zaza Napoli in the stage production of La Cage, a role he reprised for Edouard Molinaro's 1978 big-screen adaptation, earning him a Cesar for best actor. Serrault subsequently starred in two French-language sequels. The movie was remade in English as The Birdcage starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.
President Nicolas Sarkozy led the tributes, describing Serrault as a "monument of the theater, the cinema and of television." Culture minister Christine Albanel called him "an immense talent" with "the gift to bring clear authenticity to the characters he painted."
Despite the international success of La Cage, Serrault never ventured far outside the French industry.
- 7/31/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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