Catherine Deneuve & Gene Kelly in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967)

This film has many parallels to its better known cousin, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - it's directed by Jacques Demy, stars Catherine Deneuve, and has a spectacular score by Michel LeGrand and a candy colored palate that's a treat for the eyes. It differs from Cherbourg in tone, with a brighter, more optimistic outlook. Real life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac play twins living a provincial life in Rochefort, a small seaside town in France. They long for the excitement and opportunities of Paris. The plot is a bit vague, but it has to do with synchronicity, love and desire.

MoviePosterShop.com

Gene Kelly's part in the film is also a bit vague, but he looks great in his pastel wardrobe and his dancing is, as always, tip-top. There's also a strange reference to a serial killer and whether he might be one of the characters, which seems odd to an American audience, but makes more sense in the oeuvre of European cinema.

This film is available on DVD and has a bit of a profile among film buffs and Deneuve fans. It's largely unknown to the American public, however. The trailer is above, uploaded to YouTube by BritishFilmInstitute.

Obscurity factor: 4 (known to film buffs, on DVD, largely unknown by the general public)

Shirley MacLaine in What a Way to Go! 1964

Obscurity factor: 2

Yesterday, when I wrote about Penelope (1966), it reminded me of this film. It's a strange film for this blog because it is both obscure and notorious at the same time. It is, in my opinion, such a bad film it's almost unwatchable, however it's also got so many stellar actors in it, and the production values are so high that the colossal failure of it is truly fascinating. Shirley MacLaine plays Louisa May Foster - a woman who has a curious effect on men. She falls in love with them, marries them and they become instantly successful beyond their wildest dreams, then drop dead.

The men in Louisa's life are played by Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Gene Kelly, Bob Cummings and Dean Martin. Her wardrobe was designed by Edith Head (as was Natalie Wood's in Penelope) and according to the trailer below cost around $500,000 - in 1964! It really is one of the most outrageous films to look at, though much better without the sound, in my opinion. Look for Margaret Dumont in the role of Louisa's mother and scan the dancers in the shipboard number for Teri Garr.

This film is available on DVD. It was released in 2005 and it has quite a cult following with lots of reviews on Amazon. The trailer above is uploaded to YouTube by nerdletta. The fabulous poster above is from the Polish release and is available at MoviePosterShop.com.

Obscurity factor: 2 (available on DVD, has a big cult following, unknown generally to anyone who didn't live through the marketing campaign)

Liv Ullman and Gene Kelly in 40 Carats 1973

It was 1973, the taboos of the previous generation were dieing to the general movie going public, but slowly. 40 Carats took a look at one of those taboos - the older woman/younger man relationship (the term "cougar" had yet to be coined). Ullmann plays real estate agent Ann Stanley, recently divorced from an actor (Gene Kelly) and living with her teen aged daughter and mother in New York. While on a trip to Greece she has a chance encounter and one night stand on a beach with a young man. She doesn't bargain on running into him back home or becoming the object of his matrimonial desires. Among her friends and family members she finds skepticism, but eventually acceptance. She, however, is her own worst enemy and is paralyzed with self doubt about the relationship. There's a lot of charm in this film version of the successful Broadway play, but a few flaws as well. Edward Albert (Eddie Albert's son), Gene Kelly and Nancy Walker (Ann's secretary) are just charming in their roles. Binnie Barnes (Ann's mother) and Deborah Raffin (her daughter) are a bit stilted and Ms. Ullmann is a bit bleak. It's also an odd casting choice because she was considerably younger than 40 at the time the film was made, but she seemed to make a career of playing older women in her youth. (She was playing her late 30's in Persona when she was in her early 20's.) The role was originally offered to Audry Hepburn, which would have been much more appropriate casting, but she didn't want to leave her home for a shoot in New York. All in all, it's worth seeing. It's a fun time capsule of the early 1970's in New York and an engaging story. Look for a fun cameo by Natalie Schafer as one of Ann's customers.

There seems to be some confusion about whether this is out on DVD or not. It's listed on Amazon as having been released in 2010, but is unavailable. It can be found on VHS and can be watched on Amazon on demand. There is no video of it on YouTube whatsoever. The poster above can be found on Amazon.com

Obscurity factor: 9 (Confusion about DVD, on VHS, not on YouTube, largely forgotten)