“Dr. Michael Ambrose” (Alain Delon), a psychologist employed by Interpol, must stop a madman from triggering ARMAGEDDON in the 1977 Eurocrime thriller directed by Alain Jessua. A repairman named “Louis Carrier” (Jean Yanne) uses his newly inherited fortune to launch a campaign of terror that will make him a household name. Becoming more and more mentally unstable, Carrier threatens the police and various government institutions, while operating under the alias “Armageddon.” Ambrose heads the investigation and prepares a trap at an international conference of world leaders in Paris. Renato Salvatori and Michel Duchaussoy also star in this intense psychological game of cat-and-mouse, which examines the potentially dangerous impact of mass media.
Alain Delon in ARMAGEDDON
Alain Jessua said that Delon was reluctant to obey his direction. Delon was not very easy to work with, said Jessua, who felt that if Delon had followed his orders, his character would have been better.
Astor Piazzolla’s score was released on a Polydor LP in France. It was re-issued on CD in 1992 by Arcade Records in France, and in 1998 by ANS Records in the U.S. The film did below-average business at the French box office, and did not receive a U.S. theatrical release.
Universal gathered the usual ensemble cast for the final film of the AIRPORT series--THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79. Alain Delon gets top billing as “Paul Metrand,” the captain of the title airliner. The cast included Susan Blakely and John Davidson as reporters; Robert Wagner as a crooked arms dealer; Sylvia Kristel as the head stewardess; Eddie Albert as the airline owner; Sybil Danning as his trophy wife; Avery Schreiber as a Soviet Olympic coach with a deaf daughter; Andrea Marcovicci as the oldest Russian Olympic gymnast ever; Mercedes McCambridge as her busybody chaperone; Cicely Tyson as a mother to a child desperately in need of a heart transplant; Nicolas Coaster as the doctor to perform it; David Warner as the dieting flight engineer; Bibi Andersson as "Francine," a prostitute; Jimmie Walker as a pot-smoking sax player; Charo as "Margarita"; and Martha Raye as the woman who can't stay out of the bathroom.
And of course, George Kennedy played "Joe Patroni" for the last time. In this entry, Patroni is a veteran American pilot, who is on his first official flight on the supersonic aircraft. Kennedy was the only cast member to appear in all four AIRPORT films. In this one, not only does he co-pilot the plane, but he's the person who hooks up with prostitute Bibi Andersson in Paris.
Sylvia Kristel and Alain Delon in THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79
Through arrangements with Air France and Aérospatiale, owner and manufacturer of the Concorde, the filmmakers leased one of the supersonic aircraft. In a 28 December 1978 Los Angeles Times article, Alain Delon said that Air France insisted on script changes before granting permission to use its Concorde in the film. The airline wanted the pilots to be portrayed as professionals while they were operating the aircraft, which meant no alcohol or discussion of workplace romance on board. Delon stated that one of the deleted speeches involved his character “Metrand” discussing his intoxicated father.
Sylvia Kristel wrote in her memoirs that Alain Delon was unhappy with the size of his trailer and insisted he be given the trailer of director David Lowell Rich, which was larger. Rich complained to producer Jennings Lang, who supported Delon. At first Delon and Kristel did not get along, and he refused to get down on one knee in front of her for one scene. It wasn't until director Rich began to treat Kristel unkindly that Delon became more friendly toward her and they finished the production on good terms.
In 1981, ABC decided to add additional footage to the film for its television broadcast. Actors Sybil Danning, Eddie Albert, and George Kennedy were brought back for twenty-five minutes of extra scenes directed by Peter Rich, son of David Lowell Rich.
Produced on a budget of $14 million, the film earned a little over $13 million in the United States and Canada, thus ending the enormous domestic financial success of the AIRPORT films. But with its international cast, the film was very popular overseas, grossing $52 million, for a worldwide total of $65 million. Lalo Schifrin's score was finally released by La-La Land in 2018.
In THREE MEN TO KILL, Alain Delon plays “Michel Gerfaut,” a professional gambler who decides to help a middle-aged man who has seriously injured himself in what appears to be a car accident. He drives him to a nearby hospital, but the man dies while the doctors attempt to treat his wounds. Soon after, the gambler's life spins out of control – strangers with guns repeatedly try to kill him and force him and his beautiful girlfriend “Béa” (Dalila Di Lazzaro) to run for their lives.
Alain Delon in THREE MEN TO KILL
This was Delon’s seventh film with director Jacques Deray. The film was released in France on October 31, 1980. With more than 2 million tickets sold, the film ranked 16th at the French box-office that year. It was Delon's most commercially successful French film in seven years. But once again, the film received no U.S. theatrical release.
Claude Bolling’s score was released by Music Box Records in 2017.
In the Alain Delon - Catherine Deneuve film LE CHOC (THE SHOCK), the story was the familiar one about a hitman, "Martin Terrier" (Delon), who tells his only friend "Michel" (Etienne Chicot) that he will retire after his most recent job. However, Michel advises that the Organization will never let him go. Terrier visits the manager of his money, "Jeanne Faulques" (Stéphane Audran), and he learns that she had invested part of his money in a turkey farm in the countryside. He drives to the place to spend a couple of days and has a love affair with "Claire" (Deneuve), who runs the farm and has a loveless marriage with her husband "Félix "(Philippe Léotard).
Alain Delon and Catherine Deneuve in LE CHOC
Writer-director Robin Davis did not want to be pigeon-holed as a director of crime films and refused for two years many proposals to direct this type of film. But when producers Alain Sarde and Alain Terzian came to see him to ask him to make a film with Alain Delon, the idea interested him. There were no plans yet what the film would be. Davis suggested the idea of a French BONNIE AND CLYDE, and the name Catherine Deneuve came quickly on the table. The director then read all sorts of novels and fell onto Jean-Patrick Manchette's "La position du tireur couché" (“The Position of the Prone Shooter”). He saw in the main character the opportunity to revisit the usual role for Alain Delon. "Terrier in the book was a totally crazy guy who lived in a cellar, ate cold spaghetti, was perpetually drunk and helpless, with a nihilistic relationship to women, in a completely crazy story."
Davis wrote a first draft that was close to the novel's depiction of Terrier and read it to the producers and the star. "At the end, this approach fell apart: Alain Delon is a myth. A myth does not eat cold spaghetti in a cellar." Davis then reversed the polarities, and the anti-hero became a hero, a classic character of the police genre—the killer who decides to hang it up, a role already interpreted by the actor in NO WAY OUT (1973) by Duccio Tessari.
Catherine Deneuve did not get along well with Robin Davis and was unhappy with him, so much so that Alain Delon had to direct the scenes where she appeared. The 1982 film did not get a U.S. theatrical release, but did good business elsewhere around the world, grossing $11.3 million. Philippe Sarde's score was released on a General Music LP, and re-issued on CD by Universal Music France in 2009.
OUR HISTORY (aka OUR STORY) starred Alain Delon as “Robert Avranche,” a middle-aged alcoholic whose life is turned upside down by a train ride. Sitting alone in a compartment as he reflects on the emptiness of his world, a beautiful woman, “Donatienne Pouget” (Nathalie Baye), suddenly enters, makes love to him, and just as suddenly leaves the train, compelling him to follow her.
Alain Delon and Nathalie Baye in OUR HISTORY
Bertrand Blier wrote and directed this 1984 drama. Blier won a César Award for Best Writing for his screenplay.
Alain Delon won a César Award as Best Actor for his performance in this film. It was Delon’s third and final nomination for the award and his only win. Delon was not at the ceremony, and the presenter, French comedian Coluche (Michel Colucci), accepted the award on Delon's behalf. Coluche held on to the award, and 16 months later, when Coluche died in a tragic motorcycle accident at age 41, the award was nowhere to be found.
Laurent Rossi’s score for the film was released on a Carrere LP, but has never been re-issued on CD. OUR HISTORY was moderately popular in France, with a $6.6. million gross, but never had a U.S. theatrical release.
For Bob. Found this from recent variety piece. Vanessa Paradis: ".. When asked about working alongside French cinema legends Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo in Patrice Leconte’s 1998 action comedy “Half a Chance,” she didn’t beat about the bush.
“Jean-Paul Belmondo was always surrounded by people; there was a lot of laughter while Alain Delon was alone – just him and his dogs,” she recalled. “But when the two of them got together, you could tell they were very fond of each other. They were happy to make this film together.” Paradis acknowledged the unique privilege of collaborating with such iconic figures. “I knew how lucky I was back then, but today I realize it even more,” she said, adding with a grin, “I got to spend four months with them, have them fight over me.”
Alain Delon worked with famed French director Jean-Luc Godard in the generically titled NOUVELLE VAGUE (NEW WAVE). As was true of many Godard films of this period, the plot was scarcely discernible among the cacophonous sound design, the seemingly arbitrary shot sequences, and the elusive characterizations. In general, La Contessa Elena Torlato-Favrini (Domiziana Giordano) is a wealthy Italian industrialist living in a sprawling estate near Lake Geneva, Switzerland. She is attended by “Jules the Gardener” (Roland Amstutz), his wife “Yvonne” (Violaine Barret), their daughter “Cécile” (Laurence Côte), the chauffeur “Laurent” (Hubert Ravel), and the mysterious “Della La Rue” (Laurence Guerre). At the film's opening, Elena goes for a drive by herself and encounters “Roger Lennox” (Alain Delon), an apparent drifter. Elena stops to help Roger, who has evidently been forced off the road by a truck and is severely incapacitated. Roger offers Elena his hand, and Elena accepts his offer. The series of exchanges constituting their relationship begins.
Domiziana Giordano and Alain Delon in NOUVELLE VAGUE
Most of the dialogue in the 1990 film consists of quotations from various sources, mostly literary. Godard took the soundtrack music from the catalogue of ECM Records, and in 1997 ECM released a complete soundtrack to the film from beginning to end, including the film's music, dialogue, and ambient sounds. Although the film played the New York Film Festival, it did not get a commercial release in the U.S. It was a poor performer at the French box office.
Alain Delon was one of about 30 stars that made cameo appearances in famed French director Agnes Varda’s salute to movies called LES CENT ET UNE NUITS DE SIMON CINEMA (THE HUNDRED AND ONE NIGHTS OF SIMON CINEMA, aka ONE HUNDRED AND ONE NIGHTS).
The comedic film has the 100-year-old eccentric movie producer/director/actor “Simon Cinema” (Michel Piccoli), a symbol for movie history, hire attractive young film school graduate student “Camille” (Julie Gayet) to be his muse and help the senile old man remember details about his illustrious career in the movies. The struggling student, in love with an aspiring director named “Mica” (Mathieu Demy, Varda’s son), schemes to con the wealthy Simon out of his fortune.
Simon is visited by his friends Marcello Mastroianni and Gerard Depardieu, who recall their films with a nostalgic fondness. An argument ensues about which scene in a bathtub came first–Mastroianni’s in 8 1/2 or Piccoli’s in CONTEMPT. Meanwhile, the sometimes bed-ridden Simon sees ghosts of the Lumiere Brothers and chatters away about films from CITIZEN KANE to KING KONG and movie personalities from a talking cow as Luis Buñuel to Buster Keaton.
The 1995 art house film grossed just $295,000 in France. When it was finally released in the U.S. in 1999, it grossed under $150,000. It was the last of Delon’s films to receive a theatrical release in the U.S.
The film had no original score. Agnès Varda supervised a 2K digital restoration of the film in 2014, made by the Éclair laboratory from the original negative.
Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo worked again in the action comedy HALF A CHANCE, nearly three decades after their falling out after the production of 1970’s BORSALINO. The story finds car thief “Alice” (Vanessa Paradis) being pursued by the Russian mafia and aided by two men – “Léo” (Belmondo) and “Julien” (Delon) – one of whom is her real father, though neither she nor they will know which one it is until a DNA test says for certain. Léo owns a collection of superhot racing cars; Julien is a retired high-end thief. Both have “skills” which, in the fullness of time, will come in handy.
Alain Delon, Vanessa Paradis, and Jean-Paul Belmondo in HALF A CHANCE
Patrice Leconte directed and co-wrote the 1998 film. Alexandre Desplat’s score was released by RCA/BMG in France and Japan only. The $32 million production grossed about $8 million at the French box office, but the lack of an American theatrical release likely meant that the film lost money.
Universal gathered the usual ensemble cast for the final film of the AIRPORT series--THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79. Alain Delon gets top billing as “Paul Metrand,” the captain of the title airliner. The cast included Martha Raye as the woman who can't stay out of the bathroom.
Martha Raye was the best thing in this clunker. Her comic timing was perfection.
Alain Delon spent the last 15 years of his career primarily in French television—appearing in series, miniseries, and made-for-television films. His occasional theatrical films did not receive U.S. distribution. After leaving screen acting in 2012, he returned one final time in 2019, appearing as himself in the comedy-drama TOUTE RESSEMBLANCE (Any Resemblance), about a French talk show host (Franck Dubosc).
In 1991, Alain Delon was appointed Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'Honneur, in recognition of his career in film. He was promoted to Officier (Officer) in 2005. The Legion d'Honneur is the highest French decoration.
During the height of his career, Delon was the highest paid actor in French film. He once said “I am not a star. I am an actor. I have been fighting for years to make people forget that I am just a pretty boy with a beautiful face. It's a hard fight, but I will win it. I want the public to realize that above all I am an actor, a very professional one who loves every minute of being in front of the camera. But one who becomes very miserable the instant the director shouts, 'Cut!'”
Because Delon was not a “star” in the U.S., American audiences have a big opportunity to seek out the films of Alain Delon, the actor. They will be richly rewarded if they do. Farewell, Alain.
