Hot Money Girl (1959)

One of the better Eddie Constantine films I've seen has Eddie as an ex-American soldier who returns to Germany after the war to find the young girl he left behind and collect the box of jewels he hid for her father. However the world has changed since the war ended and getting the box means battling other forces who want the loot for themselves.

I believe this is one of the few films you'll see where you can hear Eddies real voice in English. Despite being an American he was making films in Europe which means that all the voices got dub. However this time out the film is a British co-production so all of the English speakers  aren't dubbed (at least as far as I can tell.) Hearing Eddie speak is a minor treat.

Well plotted film is largely nothing new but there are enough surprises along the way that we are forced to ponder if Eddie is going to come out of it all alive and who is playing him. I really had no clue and was happy to go along for the ride.

Another joy was  the inclusion of  Christoper Lee as one of many people looking for the box. I know had I paid attention to the opening credits I would have realized he was lurking around, but I didn't so his appearance absolutely delighted me.

I really like this film a great deal and where many of Constantine's film survive on his personality alone to see one that brings together a great cast, great script and everything else makes this a sheer delight.

Highly recommended.

Man and Child (1956)

Eddie Constantine plays the head of a perfume company who discovers that his company is being used to smuggle drugs when a man kidnaps Eddie's adopted daughter and demands that Eddie find his daughter who went missing as a result of the drugs coming from his company.

Misnamed film, the girl only shows up at the start and end, is an otherwise pretty good Eddie Constantine film.  Filled with witty remarks and more than its share of suspense this is light entertainment that holds your attention.

As with many Constantine films there is a knowing wink that helps glance over the rough patches. Eddie is clearly aware this is a film in such as the moment when someone doesn't believe who Eddie is in context of the film and says " Yea, well I'm Eddie Constantine" to which Eddie says "Well I have no idea who that is" as he glances into the camera.

Ultimately this is a lot of fun and is recommended.

It Means That To Me (1961)

Eddie Constantine  looking like Eddie Constantine or Lemmy Caution is a disgraced reporter set up the the government to act as a mule in order to deliver microfilm hidden in a cigarette. If he can do it they will pay him a a fortune and clear is name.

Lesser Constantine film is still better than any film with out him in a story that is ultimately sound and fury signifying nothing. Yea it's fun to watch a dubbed Eddie crack wise, but at the same time there isn't enough meat here to sustain a full 90 minutes. to be certain the film picks up in the final third but until then this spins its wheels for much of it's running time.

Worth a look for fans- all others depending on mood

Keep Talking Baby (1961)

Keep Talking Baby really doesn’t belong here at Unseen. Its not a particularly good film, actually you could argue it’s a bad film. However the film does have Eddie Constantine in it and since I’m trying to get you all to know the man and his movies I’m going to talk about it.

Based on a hardboiled novel called Strange Witness by Day Keene, Keep Talking Baby is a very talky film that has Eddie playing a character named Jackson. Jackson is a nightclub entertainer who has been framed for murder and sent away for 20 years. He breaks out of prison to get the guys who framed him. He quickly ends up trying to track down leads with a baby in tow.

No it’s not funny nor particularly exciting.

What it is is rather draggy as Constantine goes from person to person and tries to get more information while holding on to the kid. While Constantine has been convicted one at least one of the cops doesn’t believe he did it. The exchanges between Constantine and the cop are the most interesting material in the film.

While I have not read the source novel (which has been used a couple of other times as the basis of films) I think the problem with this film is that they changed way too much. Actually they jettisoned pretty much everything other than it being a wrong man looking for revenge. The original had the Constantine in prison for seven years and then getting out and dealing with an odd collection of hard boiled film noir like denizens. They are all gone and replaced by cookie cutter blandness.

While Constantine is good (even if he’s sleep walking through it all) I can’t recommend this to anyone other than a Constantine completeist like myself. If you want a better film try Hail Mafia, some of the Lemmy Caution films or SOS Pacific.

As if it Were Raining (1963)

Being included here because I want to bring Eddie Constantine to a wider audience, As If it Were Raining is in actuality the weakest film I've seen Constantine star in. The problem isn't Eddie, nor even the script, rather its the editorial choices which make things seem jumbled.

The plot has Eddie playing Eddie Ross helping out a young woman in trouble. This brings him to the attention of a shadowy figure who gives him a job. Eddie's relationship with his boss is both hot and cold as Eddie is forced to occasionally defend himself from attacks. Eddie wants to know who this guy is, and the boss wants to use Eddie for his own ends. I

Its an intriguing story, unfortunately it never quite works. The problem is that some events are cross cut oddly. Watching the film I felt like the editing was done with a food processor.  The fact that it never quite works is a shame since Eddie is a more serious tough guy than in many other films. Yea it has a comedic edge (the chimp and the witty exchanges) but there is a seriousness that some of the breezier Lemmy caution films lack.

Constantine frequently was better than his material. You could in theory just point a camera t him and his force of personality would do the rest, however watching this film sometimes that wasn't enough sometimes forces or editors and directors worked against him and destroyed what could of been one of his best films.

For Constantine fans only

Alphaville (1965) New York Film Festival 2013

Starting as part of this year’s New York Film Festival and continuing after the festival The Film Society of Lincoln Center is running a retrospective of the work of that master of the avant garde cinema Jean Luc Godard. One of the titles playing during the festival is restored version of Godard’s Alphaville, which is probably the only Lemmy Caution film that most film fans have seen.

I'm not a Godard fan. I think his time came and went and he was (and is), for the most part, a good film maker who thought he was smarter than he really was. Still he turned out some good movies along the way and this is one of them.

Taking the Lemmy Caution character, played once again by Eddie Constantine, Godard has fashioned an existential or philosophical detective movie about Caution trying to track down a missing scientist in a future world that looks like 1968 Paris. A strange melding of detective films and philosophy this is a movie that is very likely to drive many people up the wall because of Godard's film making style which is filled with seeming non sequiturs and distractions that force you work with the film. Muddying things further is that much of the dialog seems slightly obtuse even when its straight forward because what’s going on visually doesn't quite match up (For example a girl says she'll get the keys for the car and then they get into the back of a limo).

I like the film a great deal (and as frequent readers of Unseen Films know I’m a big fan of the Caution films I've seen) but find the weird asides a bit of chore to get through. If Godard wasn't so intent on making an "art" film he might have turned out a really good straight forward thriller all he had to do was keep the discourse and lose the obtuseness. I love the philosophical discourses that run through the film, some of which are quite enlightening even if they are utter nonsense. The best way I find to watch the film is to concentrate on the story and let the rest wash over you. As a thriller it’s actually really good.

I should also point out that I’m pretty sure that Constantine and Lemmy Caution influenced the Jean Paul Belmondo character in Breathless. If you watch some of the more serious Caution films (of which Godard is a fan), or even the many of the serious Constantine films you see that while lip rub comes from Bogart, the rest of the characters attitude is all Eddie Constantine.

Is this worth seeing? Yes. If you are willing to take this film on its own terms its certainly worth it. It’s also worth it if you've seen and liked any of the other Caution films and want to see what happens when they get turned into an art film.

For those wanting to read Unseen’s reviews of the other Lemmy Caution films go here.

The film is available on DVD from Criterion. However this is a new restoration and is worth seeing on the big screen.

Poison Ivy (1953)

First outing of Eddie Constantine as Lemmy Caution. It was a role he would return to again and again over the next several decades. Constantine was an American who lived in France and became a well known singer and actor. He was often way better than his material which he lifted up just by his meer presence. Here he staggers through a middling mystery with such bravado he managed to influence film history.

The plot of the film has FBI man Lemmy Caution flying to Casablanca in order to investigate a possible gold robbery. Along the way he runs smack dab into murder, bad guy Howard Vernon and a dame who looks a great deal like Lana Turner or perhaps Veronica Lake.

For me the plot really isn't the point. The point is Constantine chewing scenery as Lemmy Caution. There is something so incredibly cool about Constantine that makes you forget that the plot drifts in and out or that the film is dubbed oddly. For me Caution is as cool a character as you can get and while Jean Paul Belmondo is said to be aping Bogart in Breathless, if you watch Constantine playing Lemmy you realize that he's also stealing from some one else. (And it isn't surprising since Godard did make a Caution film- with both Contanstine and Howard Vernon- Alphaville.)

 It's clear why the character continued on for the next 40 years in the person of one man (according to IMDB there was one earlier Caution film with someone else in the lead, but after this film no one but Constantine played him.).I know some people complain that Constantine eventually walked through his portrayals of Caution, but having seen several of the films, sometimes its damn hard to make something look tossed off.

Poison Ivy is an entertaining film. And should you run across it, give it ago.If nothing else you're seeing the birth of one of the coolest screen characters ever.

The Big Bluff (1957)

Eddie Constantine plays Eddie Morgan, a charlatan and gambler who meets a girl...well two, talks his way into a hotel suite and finagles a deal involving oil wells in France. Its a comedic romp where we actually get to hear Eddie's voice singing, despite all of the dialog being dubbed.

A kind of throwaway film is ultimately bubble gum for the mind, if you have any doubt about how serious this film is stay all the way to the end and watch Eddie address the camera directly.

The dramatic thrust of the film is whether or not loveable crook Constantine and his lady friend, who has the rights for oil drilling, will be swindled by a bigger bunch of crooks, namely big business. While the film generates some suspense the fact that everything is so breezy prevents any real tension from occurring. Normally that would be the kiss of death for a film, but here in the Big Bluff it’s perfectly fine since it allows for us to get carried away by the humor and nice characters, such as Eddie’s right hand man Mustache, who is charming.

For me the film scores simply because it’s just so much fun, much like an mindless evening hanging out with your best buds. While the film probably isn’t the most memorable film ever made, hell I’m having trouble writing it up a couple of hours after seeing it, I know that the smiles of the good time will linger.

Worth seeing if you should run across it.

Good Luck Charlie (1962)

Almost twenty years after the close of the Second World War Charlie gets a call from a friend, he has found the man, a war criminal, that he has been chasing around the world for the previous two decades. Reluctantly Charlie leaves his horse farm in France and goes to Greece to meet his friend. Upon arrival he finds his friend is missing and that he is being followed by various people who don't want the chase to continue. Now Charlie must try to save his friend and find the man responsible for crimes so long ago.

Moody noir-ish thriller that deals with the ideas of guilt and the question as to whether we can ever move on from the past. Was Charlie wrong to leave his friend on his quest, a journey that he himself had sworn to take as well? Should we still chase after the criminals from wars long (but not so long) over? Its not and easy road to travel. This is a film with a great deal on its mind, and once the running back and forth of the first half is dispensed with and Charlie (played by a very good Eddie Constantine) is left with some moral questions the film becomes something more than a simple crime or spy drama.

This is a little seen film that deserves to be found by a wider audience. Its not the be all and end all of 1960's Euro thrillers, however its something more than the run of the mill. Worth keeping an eye out for should you stumble across it.

Your turn Darling (1963)

Lemmy Caution, superstar FBI agent is brought in track down what happened to a missing scientist working on a new solid fuel.

Not only has the scientist gone missing but his secretary has turned up dead. Caution does what he can and begins to track the scientists fiancé who he soon finds was taken away by a bogus "Lemmy Caution".

Good little mystery is like bubble gum for the eyes with Constantine walking through the film completely in control. It is like most of the Lemmy Caution films I've seen, an amusing distraction.

Worth a look if you should run across it.

Ladies Man (1962)

Lemmy Caution is on vacation in Europe.The superstar detective is mobbed everywhere he goes and he can't seem to get anything (drinking) done. Despite his best efforts to relax, Caution finds himself stumbling in and out of trouble.

Good if disposable film plays as a nice send up of the dangers of fame and a send up of the great detective genre.

Jokier than is probably healthy this is an amusing distraction and nothing more thanks to too much of a knowing attitude.

Worth a look if you want to see something completely non-taxing.

I should point out that much of the cast is also in Your Turn Darling, making a back to back viewing seem as though its one interconnected movie. (I'll be reviewing that film tomorrow)

Dames Get Along (1954)

Eddie Constantine is Lemmy Caution in his second or third go round at the character.

Here Caution is on the trail of a women who may or may not be mixed up in a blackmail scheme. Its a semi-complicated affair that Lemmy solves more with his fists then his brains.

Its an okay Euro Noir that is a bit too knowing for my tastes-Eddie and some of the other cast members pretty much look in the camera and wink. Constantine is a great actor and I could never understand why he never why he was never big here in the US. He was a fine tough guy that looked like he could do pretty much anything. To be certain he made films up to his death, but at the same time he should have been huge here in the US.

Worth a look if you're in the mood-its perfect late night fare.

Hail Mafia (1965)

Very very good mob movie with Eddie Constantine the target of his former mob brothers. They want the retired gangster silenced so that there is no chance that he will come back from France to talk to the Senate committee on organized crime. To that end the mob sends two hit men (Henry Silva and Jack Klugman) to Europe to hunt down Constantine.

More a drama then a "crime" film (with the action that implies) the movie really is about the relationship between the two hit men as they interact on the hunt for their target. The performances of both Silva and Klugmen are excellent and its clear that Silva was a much better actor then his later supporting roles suggested. Equally good, and a revelation to people who only know him from the Odd Couple or Quincy, is Jack Klugman. Its a shame that Klugman kind of got lost in the TV series rut since he is clearly capable of a performances that are more complex than what a TV series require. The pairing of the two vastly under rated actors make for a superior drama that has been unfairly lost over the years.

Hopefully a somewhere down the road someone will rescue this film and give it some sort of revival.

This is one to search out.

SOS Pacific (1959)

A plane full of people encounters trouble in flight and is forced down in the Pacific. Thankfully they are near an island or not, since the island is due to have an atom bomb test go off in a very short time and they have no way of letting anyone know that they are there.

It may sound corny and contrived but this film just works from start to finish. Once the film is underway you just are happy to have a film this involving to drag you along for the 90 minutes that this film takes to get to the conclusion. Why this film isn't better known is mystery since it has everything that a mystery should in spades and then some.

The cast is great, including Richard Attenborough who plays one of the screens great slime balls.
Eddie Constantine makes great hero and makes you wonder why he never became a bigger star here in the United States.

Constantine is probably best known for a series of films where he played detective Lemmy Caution. These were huge hits in Europe but remained purely cult material in the US. The Caution character was taken by Jean-Luc Godard who used him to send up the detective genre and science fiction films in Alphaville. The real footnote for this film is that it's probably the only time that Constantine's own voice can be heard speaking in English (all his other films he was dubbed)

Search this film out (I think Amazon is selling Sinister Cinema's version,) you will enjoy it.