More of that Vinyl: French Postcards (1979, Willard Huyck)

A moment from Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz's woefully underrated French Postcards, treated miserably on home video with a shabbily "rescored" soundtrack.  Here, we see Joel (Miles Chapin) trying to make a date with Toni (Valerie Quennessen) via rotary telephone from what appears to be a student lounge in the dorm.   

Led Zeppelin III (appropriately with the alternate cover used for the French LP) and the Beach Boys' (sublime) Sunflower are visually represented in the background though not on the actual soundtrack.

Do You Believe in Magic: Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz Talk French Postcards

David Marshall Grant and Miles Chapin cruise the streets of Paris while a city bus does a little advertising for another studio's new film, Les Dents de la Mer 2nd Partie (Jaws 2)

Lucky Miles Chapin gets to dance with Valerie Quennessen in a Paris nightclub stuck somewhere between disco and New Wave

The original version of the charming 1979 film French Postcards begins with a French-language version of the popular song, "Do You Believe in Magic?" (Croyez-vous en la Magie). Of course, if you pick up the new DVD from Legend/Paramount, you will hear an anonymous muzak-sounding track in its place.  Writer-director team Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz talk about this and just about everything else about French Postcards at Cinema Verdict.  Willard and Gloria are both very sad about Valerie Quennessen's early passing and share some interesting stories about her.

One last bit of trivia about this film: Future director Jean-Jacques Beineix (Diva, The Moon in the Gutter, Betty Blue) served as First Assistant Director.