Le retour de Don Camillo (1953)

After his battles with the communist mayor Peppone, Don Camillo is sent in exile by his bishop in a remote village.

 

Direct sequel on the same entertaining level as the original movie.

 

On renewed viewing: As likable as the orginal movie; the plot is acozy combination of episodes.

Don Camillo (1952)

In a village of the Po valley where the earth is hard and life miserly, the priest and the communist mayor are always fighting to be the head of the community.

Mildly satiric comedy with lovable characters finds humour in the smalltown Cold War antagonisms of its time.

Halliwell*: "Slightly lethargic character comedy with a mild message for its times, popular enough to warrant several sequels."

Maltin**1/2: "Fernandel is the whole show in this comic tale...Moderately funny satire of religion and politics..."

New acquisition: Anna Karenina (1948)

Marie-Octobre (1959)

Fifteen years after WWII, a group of ex-resistance fighters are brought together by Marie-Octobre, so that the former members of the network can finally relive one fateful night and find out who betrayed their murdered leader.

Old-fashioned, Agatha Christie-style whodunnit, stagebound and talkative, but well-staged and entertaining nevertheless.

Halliwell (no star): "Stultifying one-set talkfest employing Hitchcock's long-discarded ten-minute take."

Paris - When It Sizzle (1964)

The sprightly young assistant of a Hollywood screenwriter helps him over his writer's block by acting out his fantasies of possible plots.