Louis Arbessier

Acting

Louis Arbessier

Born 1907-04-09 · Vienne, Isère, France

Louis Arbessier (9 April 1907 – 23 March 1998) was a French film and television actor. He played Napoleon III in the 1952 musical film Imperial Violets. Amongst his television roles was that of Maigret. Arbessier was married and divorced four times, and had four children born between 1929 and 1964. His youngest son, Arnaud (born 1964), is a professional voice actor. Source: Article "Louis Arbessier" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Acting credits

The Truth poster
7.6

As Dominique Marceau is being tried for the murder of Gilbert Tellier, accounts by different witnesses paint a picture of the kind of relationship the two used to share.

The Truth

1960

The Great Spy Chase poster
6.8

A cold-war spy parody. After the death of an armaments manufacturer, an international group of spies is drawn into a high-stakes battle of wits to obtain the valuable military patents which have been inherited by the lovely widow.

The Great Spy Chase

1964

Les Misérables poster
7.2

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Les Misérables

1958

Pasha poster
6.7

Six months before his retirement from the criminal police, inspector Joss finds his colleague Gouvion dead, in a poorly faked suicide attempt. Joss loses his temper, and investigates on his own, which leads him through the bas-fond of Paris...

Pasha

1968

Thirst of Men poster
7.0

During the colonial period in Algeria, Sergeant Bouvard helps Broussole and his two daughters, Alise and Julie, settle in Hassi Ben Okba. Demobilized, he plants vines with them. Seduced by Julie's charms, he nevertheless marries Alise because she owns the land. He protects Julie from all her lovers but cheats on Alise with Adèle, a settler's wife. Unable to bear it any longer, he runs away with Julie to Oran. The death of his father brings him back to Bou-Okba. He stays with Alise until the day when, selling his wine in Oran, he is taken over by his passion. It is Julie who will tell him to resume married life and start a family of settlers.

Thirst of Men

1950

Royal Affairs in Versailles poster
6.7

Witty narration follows the history of Versailles Palace; founded by Louis XIII, enlarged by autocratic Louis XIV, whose personal affairs and amours, and those of his two successors, are pursued in more detail to the start of the Revolution, after which the story is brought rapidly up to date.

Royal Affairs in Versailles

1953

The Three Musketeers poster
6.3

The umpteenth adaptation of Dumas' novel finds d'Artagnan and his friends promoting the love affairs of Anne of Austria and the Duke of Buckingham, incurring the wrath of the Cardinal and exposing themselves to the cold cruelty of Milady de Winter. Also featured are the tender Mme Bonacieux, the hilarious Planchet, the Queen's ferrets and Bethune's executioner, against a backdrop of clanging swords.

The Three Musketeers

1953

Blood on His Sword poster
5.9

Charles le Temeraire asks in marriage Jeanne de Beauvais, daughter of King Louis XI, wishing to get her valuable lands in dowry. The King is wise to this, and since his daughter does not feel inclined to accept, he refuses. Charles sets up a plan to abduct the prince, in a way that the suspicions will fall upon Robert de Neuville, a noble enamoured of the princess. Robert manages to free her from the castle where she was being kept. Charles keeps setting traps, and managing people to perjure against Jeanne, and the King himself. Finally, Jeanne escapes alive from a pack of wolves, who set watching the lady alone in the snow covered woods, instead of attacking her. Charles does yet accuse her of being a witch - wishing to have her dead rather than being the wife of Robert... Robert will be her champion in a Judgement of God. Will the 'miracle of the wolfs' repeat itself, or fearless Charles defeat Robert in the sword duel?

Blood on His Sword

1961

Michael Strogoff poster
6.3

When Emir Feofar Khan, leader of the Tartar hordes, takes up arms and invades the steppes of Eastern Siberia, Czar Alexander II of Russia entrusts the brave officer Michael Strogoff with a dangerous mission.

Michael Strogoff

1956

Ondine poster
9.0

In the forest, knight-errant Hans meets and falls in love with Ondine, a water-sprite who is attracted to the world of mortal man.

Ondine

1975

Imperial Violets poster
5.7

Violeta, an Andalusian gypsy, foretells a lady she will become empress. The lady is Eugenia de Montijo, and when she marries emperor Luis Napoleón of France she takes the young girl with her. The empress'cousin readily makes her his focus of attention, then she discovers a criminal attempt against the empress.

Imperial Violets

1952

Queen Margot poster
7.1

Marguerite de Valois, daughter of Catherine de Médicis, celebrates her wedding with Henri de Navarre. Officially, it's a rapprochement between the League and the Huguenots. In fact, it was an opportunity to bring all the Huguenots to Paris and kill them all at once. King Charles IX fails in his attempt on Coligny's life. Queen Margot tries to save her husband from the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre by preventing the annulment of his marriage, forcing Henri to share her bed. Two knights from opposing camps are wounded and, saved în extremis, are hidden together by the queen and her cousin. Margot falls in love with one of them, but has to run to warn her husband of a new attack...

Queen Margot

1954

The Coin poster
5.0

Bob recruits Jacques, a desperate blacksmith, to "recover" smuggled diamonds from de Belar. The heist goes badly wrong. The crooks kill each other for the money, but the diamonds are gone and Jacques returns to his life as an honest man.

The Coin

1959

The President poster
7.2

At 73, a former President of the French Council reflects on his political career while writing his memoirs, delving into his relationships with key figures, including the one set to become the next President.

The President

1961

The Dirty Game poster
6.0

A U.S. intelligence general recalls three Cold War cases of Soviet, French and Italian spies.

The Dirty Game

1965

Mesrine poster
5.9

Mesrine was the foremost criminal, public enemy N°1, the man most wanted in France, guilty of 39 crimes. "In the police or newspaper history, Mesrine broke all records". The film begins with his escape on May 8, 1978. Mesrine was the only man to escape from La Santé. We relive the 18 crazy months he spent on the run and his encounter with Sylvia who is swept into his madness.

Mesrine

1984

To Skin a Spy poster
5.8

A French secret agent gets a license to kill when he is sent to Vienna to plug a security leak in this routine spy saga. He is caught in the crossfire of international enemy agents trying to eliminate the French.

To Skin a Spy

1966

Liberty Bar poster
7.7

Superintendent Maigret is sent to Antibes to elucidate the murder of William Brown, a rich Australian who regularly disappeared to indulge in formidable drinking binges. In his footsteps, Maigret makes the rounds of bars until discovering the Liberty Bar, its welcoming patroness La Grosse Jaja and its equivocal clientele. It is without a doubt here that the key to the murder is to be found.

Liberty Bar

1960

Not Delivered poster
6.2

After resolving to start a new life with his girlfriend Jacqueline, Bastien Sassey decides to give up working as a courier for drugs traffickers. So that he and Jacqueline can make a fresh start he agrees to take on one more job for a large sum of cash, but he betrays his employer.

Not Delivered

1958

Under the Sign of the Bull poster
6.5

Albert is an eccentric inventor of missiles who comes under fire from his investors when his first prototype explodes. Even his sympathetic mistress has her doubts, as Albert lashes out in a verbal tirade condemning those of little faith in his genius.

Under the Sign of the Bull

1969

We Are All Murderers poster
6.7

Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We Are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.

We Are All Murderers

1952

Charlotte poster
4.0

Starting as an investigation, the film begins with the discovery of a murdered young woman. Gradually we go back in time to realize that this crime is altogether the logical continuation of a philosophy of life where neither sex nor death are taboo, and where a lust for pushing limits meets it ultimate conclusion.

Charlotte

1974

Mandat d'amener poster
9.0

Appointed public prosecutor in a small provincial town, Gérard Latour befriends Delanglade, whose young wife becomes his mistress. Shortly afterwards, a fire ravages Delanglade's factory. During the ensuing investigation, the Public Prosecutor discovers the troubled past of the industrialist and his front man, Jacques Perthuis, an ex-convict. They themselves set fire to the factory to collect the insurance premium. Gérard Latour, suspecting his mistress of complicity in her husband's machinations, leaves her after a stormy argument.

Mandat d'amener

1953

The Crab Basket poster
9.0

Charles is a student in Strasbourg. Abandoned by Liliane, his fiancée, who has inexplicably given up on marriage, he moves to Paris, where he decides to pursue a career in cinema. He founded a film club and became a journalist, then assistant to a famous director. Little by little, he came face to face with the various compromises inherent in this professional milieu. After writing a screenplay about his experiences, he enlists the help of Chantal, a young actress, to bring his film project to fruition.

The Crab Basket

1960