René Wheeler

The Chorus

In 1940s France, a new teacher at a school for disruptive boys gives hope and inspiration.

Release Date:2004-03-17

Department:Writing

Job:Original Film Writer

Vote Count:2441

Les Mystères de Paris

TV mini series. An adaptation of Eugene Sue's popular novel.

Release Date:1980-11-15

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Episode Count:6

Vote Count:1

La Porteuse de pain

Release Date:1973-01-16

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Episode Count:13

Vote Count:2

The House in the Woods

During World War One, in a small rural French village far away from the front, a gamekeeper and his wife take in children displaced by the war.

Release Date:1971-09-12

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Episode Count:7

Vote Count:9

Arsène Lupin

Arsène Lupin is a French TV show which was co-produced with German, Canadian, Belgian, Dutch, Swiss, Italian and Austrian TV stations. It was only loosely based on Maurice Leblancs novels. Georges Descrières' portrayal of Arsène Lupin showed more similarity to Graf Yoster than to Maurice Leblanc's original. He behaved in the first place as a perfect gentleman who never got angry. He was always relaxed, because whatever could possibly had bothered him in daily life was taken care of by his butler. It wasn't questioned how he had come to his financial independence although the series sometimes discreetly implied that he was a professional criminal. Besides rescuing damsels in distress Lupin took on criminals, competing with their wit and intelligence. Either he stole paintings from rich people who had to be considered white-collar criminals or he acted as a detective who derailed criminal schemes. However, when he was attacked, he could defend himself effortlessly by using elegant jujutsu methods. Among the guest stars were German actors such as Günter Strack and Sky du Mont. Jean-Paul Salomé said in his commentary on the DVD version of his film Arsène Lupin he had like this series as a child. German TV, one the investors, would broadcast the show eventually between 18:00-20:00 o'clock because it was only allowed to show commercials within that very timeslot. For them to get a financial return on investment the show had to be appropriate for families and also for children who would watch it alone. Subsequently it was nearby to ask to defuse and flatten some of Leblanc's plots in order to avoid possible complaints that could force the station to broadcast the show beyond the "Vorabendprogramm".

Release Date:1971-03-18

Department:Writing

Job:Dialogue

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:15

Peace in the Fields

This is a film which was made in Belgium in the early '60s and was never released. However, it somehow got included in the American Oscar category for "Best Foreign Film," and was finally released in its home country in 1971. It explores the issues of prejudice and superstition in the Belgian countryside through the troubles of a middle-aged farmer whose mother has been accused of being a witch. In French, this picture is based on a true story which took place in the late 1920s and early '30s.

Release Date:1970-01-01

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:3

Les Compagnons de Jehu

Release Date:1966-09-21

Department:Creator

Job:Creator

Vote Count:1

Chicken Soup

The fiancée of a gangster who has been shot by the police takes an entire police station hostage, armed with a revolver and a bottle of nitroglycerine...

Release Date:1963-06-12

Department:Writing

Job:Adaptation

Crime Does Not Pay

Husband try to kill his wife with a help of the plan he saw in a film. But reality is not a film.

Release Date:1962-07-06

Department:Writing

Job:Scenario Writer

Vote Count:12

Towards Ecstasy

Catherine married Jérôme, a wealthy landowner living in North Africa, from a bourgeois but noxious background. While living in total family harmony, she is seized by a mystical crisis following a vision of a cleric in ecstasy. She abandons her home and worldly possessions to take a job as a maid. After a bumpy road that severely tested her spirituality, Catherine found peace by returning to live with her devoted partner.

Release Date:1960-09-22

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Young Girls Beware

Raven, a mobster just released from prison, settles the score by murdering Mendetta and her partner, who had turned him in. Having taken over Mendetta's various bars, he finds himself at war with other mobsters who want to kill him.

Release Date:1957-07-04

Department:Writing

Job:Dialogue

Vote Count:7

Reproduction interdite

An art dealer in dire straits, after being ripped off by two crooks, one of whom owns a genuine painting by Gauguin while the other is an expert copyist, finds them again and, instead of killing them as he originally intended, joins in their game – with ultimately disastrous results.

Release Date:1957-02-06

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:7

Bold Adventure

In the 16th century, as Flanders is invaded by the Spanish, Till the Mischievous uses stratagems to enter the service of Ferdinand Alvare de Toledo, Duke of Alba, and from there organize resistance against the invaders.

Release Date:1956-11-07

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:8

Forgive Our Trespasses

In a port area of ​​France, clashes between a gang of young delinquents and a tribe of gypsies.

Release Date:1956-08-01

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:1

The Wicked Go to Hell

Making his directorial debut, Robert Hossein also assumes the leading role, playing an escaped convict. Hossein and his fellow escapees cross the path of Marina Vlady, with whom they all fall in love. Alas for our "heroes," Vlady intends to avenge the death of her sweetheart at the hands of Hossein and his confreres. Not only do these heels go to Hell, but they do so with a spectacular flourish. Les Salauds Vont en Enfer was adapted by Rene Wheeler from a play by Frederic Dard.

Release Date:1955-12-07

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:9

Rififi

Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend Mado has become the lover of local gangster Pierre Grutter during Tony's absence. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean, but their actions after the job is completed threaten the lives of everyone involved.

Release Date:1955-04-13

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:574

Castles in Spain

When the seductive Frenchwoman Geneviève Dupré, secretary to a Spanish businessman, travels to Madrid to announce the death of her boss to his brother, the famous bullfighter Mario Montes, it's love at first sight. Set in Spain, this melodrama is full of light, betrayal and blood, and takes place in the murky world of bullfighting.

Release Date:1954-08-09

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

Theodora, Slave Empress

Teodora, a Roman courtesan and former slave girl, marries the Roman emperor Justinian and assumes the throne as Empress of Rome. But the divide between nobility and slave is too great. Teodora seeks justice for her people, and revolution and armed conflict erupt in both Byzantium and Rome.

Release Date:1954-07-02

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:11

The Love of a Woman

Marie, a young doctor, settles down on the Ouessant Island. She will be able to win the diffidence of the local population but she will have to fight for her independence after falling in love with an italian engineer.

Release Date:1953-12-13

Department:Writing

Job:Dialogue

Vote Count:14

Midnight... Quai de Bercy

Having recently moved into her new apartment, Irène Cazenave, the widow of a well-known police officer, is forced by one of her husband's colleagues to take part in an investigation. The building's provocative concierge has been found murdered. We watch a parade of suspects, only to learn at the end that Irène killed the janitor under blackmail. She kills herself.

Release Date:1953-05-21

Department:Writing

Job:Dialogue

Vote Count:2

The Seven Deadly Sins

A compilation of segments covers the seven deadly sins of greed, wrath, envy, pride, lust, sloth, and gluttony.

Release Date:1952-03-27

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:13

Fan-Fan the Tulip

Fanfan is a young handsome peasant. He joins the army to escape marriage because a gypsy girl predicted he will get glory and the king's daughter as a wife. But the gypsy girl was in fact Adeline, the daughter of the recruiting officer. Once he has discovered the stratagem, Fanfan refuses to forget this dream and decides to fulfill the destiny of the fake prediction.

Release Date:1952-03-20

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:104

Utopia

Stan and Ollie are marooned on an atoll. This was their last film together.

Release Date:1951-10-17

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:64

L'homme de joie

A boudoir adventure during which the seductive Madame Jolivet, shocked by the behavior of her husband who appears with an actress, calls on the services of a young man, known as "the man of joy".

Release Date:1950-12-08

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

The First Weapons

A sensitive teen-age boy survives the brutalities of a country training school.

Release Date:1950-08-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:3

Jour de Fête

Jour de Fête tells the story of an inept and easily-distracted French mailman who frequently interrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as inspect the traveling fair that has come to his small community. Influenced by too much wine and a newsreel account of rapid transportation methods used by the United States postal system, he goes to hilarious lengths to speed the delivery of mail while aboard his bicycle.

Release Date:1949-05-11

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:222

The Loves of Colette

François, a young student at a provincial college, likes Colette, the daughter of the headmaster. Turlot his colleague, who commits suicide, left a diary where he writes of his relationship with Colette.

Release Date:1948-04-14

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:3

The Lovers of the Pont Saint-Jean

On the banks of the Rhône, not far from Tain l'Hermitage, Alcide Garonne, an old ferryman - and incidentally a poacher - lives out of wedlock with Victorine Rousset nicknamed Maryse, a colorful tramp. When Garrone's son, Pilou, a worker, falls in love with Augusta, the mayor's daughter, the unconventional old couple tries to protect the unconventional young pair from the disapproval of self righteous villagers.

Release Date:1947-12-23

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:7

Danger of Death

Loiseau the pharmacist mistakenly mixes potassium cyanide into a batch of cough syrup and sells five bottles. With horror he discovers his mistake and sets out to find the buyers. He finds only four. The fifth, not a regular customer, comes back to the pharmacy...

Release Date:1947-12-17

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:5

The Faceless Enemy

Professor Artus, a scientist specializing in artificial life, wants to try an experiment on an automaton; he is entrusted with a death row inmate. The professor is soon found murdered. It is Inspector Wens, helped by a journalist, who must solve the case. Franck Villard in the role of Wens succeeds Fresnay.

Release Date:1946-11-20

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Alert Nights

Hélène, a young waitress working in a bar frequented by German soldiers, saves the life of Pierre, a Resistance fighter. Her jealous lover has her arrested first and then released. Later on, Hélène is wounded while walking in the streets. Pierre has her transported to friends with the hope of taking her to London with him. Unfortunately, owing to lack of space in the plane, Pierre has to fly alone. Hélène has to wait several weeks before being able to board a new plane. When the day comes at last, the Germans are waiting for the plane on the clandestine airfield.

Release Date:1946-09-25

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

A Cage of Nightingales

In France, in 1930, a supervisor of a boarding school for young offenders seeks to awaken the music by forming a choir, despite the skepticism of his boarding school director.

Release Date:1945-09-06

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

Vote Count:15

A Star to the Sun

Martine, who has become a major star of the song in Paris, wants to return to visit her hometown. Confronted with Merlerault, a very haughty and noble character who wants to teach her how to live, she succumbs after a time of anger, to the charms of the gentleman. They get married but she forgot to tell her husband that her father is in fact the most famous poacher in the area.

Release Date:1943-02-24

Department:Writing

Job:Screenplay

The Five Cents of Lavarede

Some try to travel around the world with a time constraint, but Lavarède has to perform an even harder task than Phineas Fogg. His assignment is to go around the globe with a mere five cents coin. Worse, he can't even spend it or else he will not come into the money of his inheritance. To make sure Lavarède plays by the rules of the game, two supervisors stick to him like a shadow. Will the young man meet this unbelievable challenge?

Release Date:1939-03-07

Department:Writing

Job:Adaptation

Vote Count:3