Actor Lino Ventura (1919)

Army of Shadows (1969) is a World War II suspense-drama film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Philippe Gerbier, the head of a French Resistance cell, is arrested on suspicion of Resistance activity by Vichy French police. Despite being acquitted due to insufficient evidence, he is sent to an internment camp. Gerbier and a young Communist collaborate on an escape plan, but before they can carry it out, he is transferred to Paris. While awaiting interrogation by the Gestapo, Gerbier manages to kill a guard and flee. In Marseille, he reunites with Félix Lepercq, Guillaume ‘Le Bison’ Vermersch, and ...

The French crime-thriller film, Second Wind (1966), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Lino Ventura, follows incarcerated gangster Gustave ‘Gu’ Minda. Known for his loyalty to the French underworld and refusal to give up his accomplices to the police, Gu escapes from prison and travels to Paris to visit his sister Manouche and her bodyguard Alban. Meanwhile, Manouche’s current boyfriend Jacques Ribaldi is killed in her restaurant by rival gangster Paul Ricci’s henchmen. Concerned for her safety, Paul’s brother Jo sends two men to ...