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 viril man, fighter, but also brave and heroic, which appealed to a wide audience in France but also abroad.
Mississippi Mermaid is a 1969 French romantic drama film written and directed by François Truffaut and starring Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo. Adapted from the 1947 novel Waltz into Darkness by Cornell Woolrich, the film is about a tobacco planter on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean who becomes engaged through correspondence to a woman he does not know. When she arrives it is not the same woman in the photo, but he marries her anyway. Filmed in southern France and Réunion island, Mississippi Mermaid was the 17th highest-grossing film of the year in France with a total of 1,221,027 admissions. It was remade in 2001 as Original Sin, directed by Michael Cristofer and starring Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas.
Quick Change is a 1990 American crime comedy film directed by Bill Murray and Howard Franklin and written by Franklin. Based on the novel of the same name by Jay Cronley, the film stars Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, and Jason Robards. Quick Change follows three people on an elaborate bank robbery and their subsequent escape.
L'Alpagueur is a film written and directed by Philippe Labro and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo in the title role and Bruno Cremer as L'Epervier.
Alexandre Jouan-Arcady, known professionally as Alexandre Aja, is a French filmmaker best known for his work in the horror genre. He rose to international stardom for his 2003 horror film Haute Tension. He has also directed the films The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Mirrors (2008), Piranha 3D (2010), Horns (2013) and Crawl (2019).
Le Casse is a 1971 French-Italian neo noir crime film directed by director Henri Verneuil and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Omar Sharif. It is based on the 1953 novel by David Goodis and revolves around a team of four burglars chased by a corrupt policeman in Athens. It's a remake of the 1957 film The Burglar with Jayne Mansfield.
Jay Cronley was an American newspaper columnist for the Tulsa World and the author of many works of humorous fiction, including Fall Guy, Good Vibes, Quick Change, and Funny Farm. Cronley became a member of the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame in 2002.
Crime on a Summer Morning is a 1965 French crime film directed by Jacques Deray and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. The film is based on the 1963 novel One Bright Summer Morning written by James Hadley Chase.
Weekend at Dunkirk is a 1964 war drama film directed by Henri Verneuil and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. It is based on the 1949 Prix Goncourt winning novel Week-end at Zuydcoote by Robert Merle.
Incorrigible is a 1975 French comedy film directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Geneviève Bujold and Capucine.
Les Morfalous is a 1984 French adventure film, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and directed by Henri Verneuil, featuring the French Foreign Legion during the Second World War.
La Scoumoune is a 1972 French film directed by José Giovanni, starring Jean Paul Belmondo, Claudia Cardinale and Michel Constantin. It is an adaption of Giovanni's novel L'Excommunié.
L'Animal is a 1977 French action comedy film directed by Claude Zidi and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Raquel Welch. It was distributed in the United States by Analysis Film Releasing Corp under the title Stuntwoman.
A Man and His Dog is a 2008 French film directed by French director Francis Huster, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, based on the 1952 film Umberto D. directed by Vittorio De Sica, and written by Cesare Zavattini.
Une chance sur deux is a French film directed by Patrice Leconte, released in 1998, and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon and Vanessa Paradis.
Le Solitaire is a 1987 French crime film directed and partly written by Jacques Deray, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Backfire is a 1964 French crime film directed by Jean Becker, which stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, reuniting for the first time since Breathless (1960).
Ho! is a 1968 French-Italian crime film directed by Robert Enrico and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. It is based on the 1964 novel Ho! by José Giovanni.
Stranger in the House is a 1992 French crime drama directed by Georges Lautner and starring Jean Paul Belmondo. It is based on a novel by Georges Simenon, previously filmed by Henri Decoin in 1942.
