Paul and Michelle (1974)

The continuation of Friends (1971). The story begins three years after Paul Harrison is forced to leave Michelle Latour and their baby, Sylvie, alone in the Camargue after the police ... See full summary »

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Lewis Gilbert (story), Vernon Harris

Stars:

Anicée Alvina, Sean Bury, Keir Dullea

Cast

Credited cast:
Anicée Alvina	...	Michelle Latour
Sean Bury	...	Paul Harrison
Keir Dullea	...	Garry
Ronald Lewis	...	Sir Robert
Catherine Allégret	...	Joanna
Georges Beller	...	Daniel
Anne Lonnberg	...	Susannah
Sara Stout	...	Sylvie
Steve Gilbert	...	Nic
Anthony Clarke	...	Hush
Peggy Frankston	...	Lilli
Peter Graves	...	Sir Henry
Toby Robins	...	Jane
André Maranne	...	Bellancourt
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jenny Arasse	...	Sister Mercier

Storyline

The continuation of Friends (1971). The story begins three years after Paul Harrison is forced to leave Michelle Latour and their baby, Sylvie, alone in the Camargue after the police finally locate his workplace. As a minor, the boy must be returned to his father and step-mother who live in Paris. Paul is sent to England to go to school. Upon completion of his graduation from prep school with honors ("all the prizes"), Paul begins to search for Michelle, learning from her cousin that Michelle had to take refuge in a nunnery. Paul visits with one of the nuns there, Sister Mercier, and quickly finds out that Michelle was placed in a Pâtisserie owned by Monsieur Bellancourt in Nice where Paul subsequently discovers she lived and worked for about six months... then one day, Michelle suddenly walked out. Advised by a fellow employee who has seen Michelle in the market place the week before, Paul learns that Michelle is still in Nice. After a series of near-misses, Paul eventually finds ...

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Plot Keywords:

topless female nudity | female nudity | sequel | character name in title | 

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Taglines:

Their love story was so unique it inspired two motion pictures, "Friends" in 1971. And now "Paul and Michelle."

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paul e Michelle

Filming Locations:

Studio de Billancourt, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lewis Gilbert Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last feature film of Ronald Lewis.

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Quotes

[Garry decides to go to New York. Paul and Michelle eventually move to Paris. Michelle is coming home from a hard day's work and she see Paul with an attractive and seductive schoolmate named Susannah. Paul sees Michelle running upstairs]
Paul Harrison: Michelle, Michelle. Well, what are you doing here?
Michelle Latour: [angrily] I felt sick. They sent me home. And what were you doing... leaving Sylvie? I saw you!
Paul Harrison: What do you mean "you saw me"? I wasn't trying to hide.
Michelle Latour: You left her alone!
Paul Harrison: I was out for twenty minutes. She was ...
[...]

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Connections

Follows Friends (1971)

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Soundtracks

Paul And Michelle
Music by Michel Colombier
Lyrics by Don Black
Sung by Russell Stone

User Reviews

A film with no real "raison d'etre"

This is the sequel to the unlikely 1971 hit "Friends", a movie about rich British boy living in Paris who meets a poor, orphaned French girl and runs off with her to "play house" in the countryside, only to end up with a child. It's three years later and Paul has just graduated as head boy from a tony private school and is planning to attend the Sorbonne in the fall. He decides to spend the summer seeking out Michelle and his illegitimate child (apparently they'd never heard of legally obligated child support in France at the time). He finds her living with another man (Keir Dullea), who is an accomplished judo master. Just when you think Paul is finally going to get his teeth kicked down his throat (after he takes Michelle to a cheap hotel for sex on their first get-reacquainted date), Dullea's character does something quite unbelievable instead which clears the way for the movie to needlessly cover the EXACT same ground it had already trod in the first film.

The best reason to see this film is no doubt beautiful French actress Anicee Alvina, who is obviously no less appealing here at 20 than she was at 17 in the earlier film. Once again, she has plenty of nude scenes (including a flashback) that are each, of course, completely essential to the plot. Far be it from me to complain about THAT, but by this time Alvina had begun to appear in deranged Alain Robbe-Grillet art/porn films and the above-par Italian giallo "Anima Persae", which make just as good of use her, but are also much more worthwhile viewing than this rather saccharine film. And Alvina also didn't have to speak English in those films. Usually, cute French girls with accents are even more sexy, but Alvina seems to speak English only phonetically in both of these movies, and it gets more than a little irritating.

I also can't rave about Elton John, who provided the surprising hit song for the first film, but the music in this sequel is much, much worse than even the worst dreck in the Elton John oeuvre. This film is not really a bad film, but it simply has no reason to really exist, no real "raison d'etre" (hey, I think my French is better than Alvina's English). They should probably have just quit while they were ahead. . .