Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo was a French actor. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits include Breathless (1960), That Man from Rio (1964), Pierrot le Fou (1965), Borsalino (1970), and The Professional (1981). He was most notable for portraying police officers in action thriller films and became known for his unwillingness to appear in English-language films despite being heavily courted by Hollywood. An undisputed box-office champion like Louis de Funès and Alain Delon of the same period, Belmondo attracted nearly 160 million spectators in his 50-year career. Between 1969 and 1982 he played four times in the most popular films of the year in France: The Brain (1969), Fear Over the City (1975), Animal (1977), Ace of Aces (1982), being surpassed on this point only by Louis de Funès. The popularity of Jean-Paul Belmondo as actor is mainly due to the characters he interpreted in his movies, loving to highlight the virile man, fighter, but also brave and heroic, which appealed to a wide audience in France and also abroad.
Two Women is a 1960 war drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica from a screenplay he co-wrote with Cesare Zavattini, based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Alberto Moravia. The film stars Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Eleonora Brown and Raf Vallone. It tells the story of a woman trying to protect her young daughter from the horrors of war. The story is fictional, but based on actual events of 1944 in Rome and rural Lazio, during the Marocchinate.
Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale, known as Claudia Cardinale, is an Italian actress.
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon is a French actor, filmmaker, and businessman. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for his performance in Notre histoire (1984). In 1991, he received France's Legion of Honour. At the 45th Berlin International Film Festival, he won the Honorary Golden Bear. At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, he received the Honorary Palme d'Or.
Mauro Bolognini was an Italian film and stage director.
Henri Verneuil was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who made a successful career in France. He was nominated for Oscar and Palme d'Or awards, and won Locarno International Film Festival, Edgar Allan Poe Awards, French Legion of Honor, Golden Globe Award, French National Academy of Cinema and Honorary Cesar awards.
Girl with a Suitcase is a 1961 Italian romantic drama film by Valerio Zurlini starring Claudia Cardinale as a spirited but naive young woman who lives on the fluctuating good will of others. It was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."
Sandra is a 1965 drama film directed and co-written by Luchino Visconti, and starring Claudia Cardinale, Jean Sorel, and Michael Craig. A modern-day retelling of the Electra story, the film centers on the incestuous relationship between a young Italian woman (Cardinale) and her brother (Sorel), on her return to their ancestral home of Volterra. It premiered at the 26th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion.
Cartouche is a 1962 French adventurer film directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Claudia Cardinale.
Franco Cristaldi was an Italian film producer, credited with producing feature films from the 1950s to the 1990s.
The 14th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 18 May 1961. The Palme d'Or went to the Une aussi longue absence, directed by Henri Colpi and Viridiana, directed by Luis Buñuel. The festival opened with Che gioia vivere, directed by René Clément.
Seven Days... Seven Nights is a 1960 French drama film directed by Peter Brook. It was entered into the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, where Jeanne Moreau won the award for Best Actress. The film is based on the 1958 novel Moderato cantabile by Marguerite Duras.
Greed in the Sun is a 1964 French-Italian adventure film directed by Henri Verneuil. The film was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival.
The Married Couple of the Year Two is a 1971 French comedy film directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. It was entered into the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. The title is a reference to “The Soldiers of Year II”, the conscripts raised by the Levée en masse in 1793 to defend the French First Republic against foreign invaders.
A Man in Love is a 1987 French-Italian-British drama film directed by Diane Kurys. Her first English language film, it was entered into the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.
La Scoumoune is a 1972 French film directed by José Giovanni, starring Jean Paul Belmondo, Claudia Cardinale and Michel Constantin. It is an adaptation of Giovanni's novel L'Excommunié.
A Man Named Rocca is a 1961 French-Italian crime-thriller film directed by Jean Becker and starring Jean Paul Belmondo. It is based on the 1958 novel L'Excommunié by José Giovanni. Belmondo appeared in another film version of this novel in 1972, directed by Giovanni, called Bad Luck.
Male Hunt is a 1964 comedy film directed by Édouard Molinaro and starring Jean-Claude Brialy, Catherine Deneuve, Marie Laforêt, Claude Rich, Françoise Dorléac and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Tender Scoundrel is a 1966 French-Italian comedy film starring Jean Paul Belmondo and directed by Jean Becker.
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen is a 2012 Hungarian experimental romantic film. It is directed by György Pálfi. The film is a mashup realized with 451 clips from the most famous films in history. The "montage film" was selected as the closing film for the 2012 Cannes Classics section.
