Chimes at Midnight: Criterion Collection

For years, Orson Welles wanted to portray Sir John Falstaff, a recurring character in William Shakespeare’s plays. In 1939, Welles had produced a Broadway stage adaptation of nine Shakespeare plays and revived it in 1960. While neither were successful,... 

Jules and Jim: Criterion Collection

Based on the novel by Henri-Pierre Roche, Jules and Jim (1962) is one of the most famous love triangles ever put on film. Film critic Francois Truffaut read the book in 1955 and wanted to make it into a film. The story stayed with him and once he became... 

La notte: Criterion Collection

Michelangelo Antonioni’s La notte (1961) examines the turbulent marriage between a writer and his wife over the span of just under a day. The film begins with Giovanni (Mastroianni) and Lidia (Moreau) visiting a friend sick with cancer in the hospital.... 

The Lovers: Criterion Collection

When Louis Malle’s film The Lovers (1958) debuted at the Venice Film Festival, it caused outrage in Catholic Italy. Two months later, it was released in France and shocked and angered Conservative audiences with its sexual frankness. However, the film... 

Elevator to the Gallows

After his stint working as Jacques Cousteau’s camera operator, Louis Malle tried to make an autobiographical film but found that no producers were interested in it. A friend of his had read a book called Elevator to the Gallows and suggested that it... 

Touchez pas au Grisbi

Based on Albert Simonin’s famous French crime novel of the same name, Touchez pas au Grisbi (1954) concerns the friendship between two aging gangsters, Max (Gabin) and Riton (Dary). They have been friends for a long time as is evident from the familiar... 

Une femme est une femme (A Woman is a Woman)

Jean-Luc Godard’s Une femme est une femme (1961) is a playful battle of the sexes. It pushes the musical genre far out into exciting new directions that still seem ahead of its time. Angela (Karina) is an exotic dancer who wants to have a child with...