
Acting
Amidou
Born 1935-08-02 · Rabat, French Morocco
From Wikipedia Hamidou Benmessaoud (Arabic: حميدو بنمسعود; 2 August 1935 – 19 September 2013), best known as Amidou, was a Moroccan-French film, television and stage actor. Born in Rabat, at 17 Amidou moved to Paris to attend the CNSAD. In 1968 he made his debut on stage, in Jean Genet's Les paravents. Amidou is probably best known for his association with director Claude Lelouch, with whom he has shot eleven films, including the Lelouch's film debut Le propre de l'homme (1960). He made his debut in a Maroccan film in 1969, starring in Soleil de printemps directed by Latif Lahlou. His career includes roles in Spaghetti Westerns like Buddy Goes West and several American productions, including William Friedkin's Sorcerer, John Frankenheimer's Ronin and John Huston's Escape to Victory. In 1969 Amidou was awarded best actor at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival for his role in Life Love Death by Claude Lelouch, later he won best actor awards at the Cairo Film Festival (for Pursuit by Leila Triquie) and at the Tangier Film Festival (for Rachid Boutounes' Here and There). In 2005, he received at the hands of Martin Scorsese a Lifetime Career Award at the International Film Festival of Marrakech. He was also the first Moroccan actor to have won an acting award at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art. Amidou died on 19 September 2013 in Paris, France. He was 78.
Acting credits
7.5Four men from different parts of the globe, all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South American town, agree to risk their lives transporting several cases of dynamite (which is so old that it is dripping unstable nitroglycerin) across dangerous jungle terrain.
Sorcerer
1977
6.9On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.
Spy Game
2001
6.2A Marine Colonel is brought to court-martial after ordering his men to fire on demonstrators surrounding the American embassy in Yemen.
Rules of Engagement
2000
7.0A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.
Ronin
1998
6.9A group of POWs in a German prison camp during World War II play the German National Soccer Team in this powerful film depicting the role of prisoners during wartime.
Escape to Victory
1981
10.0As Haj Moussa is caught by border guards while trying to reach Gibraltar in a small boat, he is sent to prison, and his family tries to help him return home, while his wife tries to procure money for the household and run the business.
Lalla Hobby
1996
5.2Catherine is left unmarried and pregnant when her mobster sweetheart is killed in this gangster comedy. With the help of another unmarried mother-to-be, Catherine goes looking for the stash of cash buried by her lover before his death. Soon other thugs and her suspicious neighbors are following their every move in an attempt to recover the lost loot...
Sorrel Flower
1967
6.0In 1972, disenchanted about the dreary conventions of English life, 25-year-old Julia heads for Morocco with her daughters, six-year-old Lucy and precocious eight-year-old Bea.
Hideous Kinky
1999
7.1A thief known as Simon the Swiss faces up and downs in his criminal profession.
The Crook
1970
6.2No synopsis available yet.
Aïcha : Vacances infernales
2012
6.2Outlaw drifter Buddy is mistaken for a doctor after his Indian companion inadvertently steals a bag of surgical instruments.
Buddy Goes West
1981
6.2Rid of her rival Gloria, Aïcha will do everything to make her boss proud, with Ginette's help. Patrick presents her with a love ultimatum: their mothers must meet. And to top it off, things are getting worse in the neighborhood.
Aïcha : La grande débrouille
2011
5.1In a bold coup a Palestinian terrorist group captures the yacht Rosebud and kidnaps the millionaires five daughters on it. At first they demand film clips to be shown on major European TV stations. Undercover agent Martin is hired to hunt the terrorists down.
Rosebud
1975
5.5François Toledo, married businessman and father, falls head-over-heels in love with Janine, a work colleague. However, he is soon found out: after three dates, he strangles some prostitutes, when, the victim of blackmail, he becomes dishonored. He is taken to court, and sentenced to be killed by a guillotine.
Life Love Death
1969
6.3A few miles from Paris, on the other side of the northern ring road, stands a ghetto neighborhood with countless rows of dilapidated apartment buildings, their concrete crumbling and iron rusting. A multiracial community has long been rooted here, while most native French families have deserted the area. In tower 216 lives a "model" family of Algerian origin, the Bouamazzas. Our heroine, Aïcha, 25, the eldest daughter, is held up as an example by the whole community. But Aïcha can no longer bear the weight of the community: she wants to spread her wings, gain her independence, and finally cross the Rubicon.
Aïcha
2009
3.2B.J. Cassidy, a rich businesswoman, has to invest several billion dollars for fiscal reasons. She undertakes to buy back a small French factory, specialized in chocolate truffles...
Hot Chocolate
1992
6.4The mistress of a wealthy man misses material comforts when she leaves him for a younger lover.
Heartbeat
1968
4.6Britt, deluxe call-girl, is punished by the brothel owner because she was not accomodating enough to a customer. From now on, she must obey to all customers sadistic wishes, or else.
The Punishment
1973
6.5The struggle between a ruthless leader of a bank robbers and the cops who are determined to put him in jail for long.
Brigade Anti Gangs
1966
8.0In North Africa, a father and his illegitimate son are in love with the same woman.
Bitter Champagne
1986
5.4The story of Ali Baba, who takes on forty thieves to save the Caliph of Baghdad and prevent a war between the Orient and the Occident.
Ali Baba and the 40 thieves
2007
5.8A jazz singer and a British jewel thief are brought together by their mutual desire to forget the past.
And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...
2002
4.0A young student visits the home of a friend who has all the good looks, women and luck. Every day, through binoculars from his friend's window, he sees a young girl in front of her home. Although attractive, the woman's face has been badly scarred. He finds out her phone number and the two engage in pleasant conversation. He gets up enough nerve to ask to meet her in person, but the socially inept young man becomes paralyzed with fear. He again summons the courage to meet with her before he is plagued with fear once again.
The Girl Across the Way
1968
5.6Seven small rogues dream of stealing the beautiful jewels which are in Paris for an exhibition.
3000 Million Without an Elevator
1972