Blast From the Past: Sami Frey

'Black Widow, she mates and she kills.'

Frey with Theresa Russell 

I recently caught part of 1987's Black Widow on my 80's movie channel and I couldn't really remember if I'd ever seen it before.  Parts of it seemed familiar, but I finished watching it as I couldn't remember remember how it ended.  Maybe it's familiarity was due to how similar so many of the thrillers in the 80's and 90's were.  They all seemed to have the same look, feel and even the acting and story telling seemed the same.  Maybe they all just had the same writers and cast directors. 

The casting director for Black Widow does require a shout out though.  Not just for hiring Theresa Russell and Debra Winger, but French actor and heart throb Sami Frey.  Frey played Paul in the film, and was central to that twist ending that I didn't really remember. 

Manon 70 (1968)

'The immortal story of beautiful Manon, who - although she loves the tolerant De Grieux - takes many lovers to satisfy her thirst for luxury.'

Frey was a fixture in French cinema throughout the sixties and seventies.  He co-starred along side some of the most well known French actresses including Catherine Deneuve and Brigitte Bardot.  The promotional images along had me checking out Frey and Deneuve in 1970's Manon 70.  Both Frey and Deneuve's beauty made the subtitles almost obsolete as I couldn't stop staring at their incredible faces and bodies.

Sweet Movie (1974)

'After winning the "most virgin" contest, Miss Canada is married to a rich milk tycoon. But she quickly flees the marriage to experience the world around her, full of sweetness and anarchy.'

I also checked out 1974's Sweet Movie as I read that Frey had a nude scene in it.  Although the film was filled with nudity, Frey's didn't really show very much.  He did however, experience a sexually charged cramp which led to to him needing help to be separated from the woman he was in when the cramping occurred.  I may cap some of the other scenes in Sweet Movie, but some of the film's nudity wasn't really that 'sexy'.  Many were mixed in with violence and a variety of bodily functions and fluids... if you know what I mean. 

Black Widow (1987)

'A federal investigator tracks down a gold-digging woman who moves from husband to husband to kill them and collect the inheritance.'