Cinema - French films - 1930s

French cinema: 1930s (Page 1 of 8)

27 rue de la Paix (1937)

Richard Pottier

Gloria Grand is determined to divorce her wastrel husband Denis so that she can marry her true love, the lawyer Maître Bernard. One of Denis’ mistresses, a Parisian nightclub singer named Jenny Clarens, agrees to support Gloria’s case for divorce, but a short while later her dead body is found in the River Seine... [More...]

À nous la liberté (1931)

René Clair

Whilst serving a stretch in prison, Émile and Louis become firm friends and plan a break-out. Although Émile is re-captured by the prison guards, Louis manages to escape and sets about making an honest living. A few years later, Émile finds a way out of his cell and at once falls in love with an attractive young woman... [More...]

À propos de Nice (1930)

Jean Vigo

In the sunny seaside town of Nice, wealthy tourists enjoy the luxury hotels and gambling casinos. Scarcely noticed are the local working class people who clean the streets and prepare for the town’s annual carnival. [More...]

Abus de confiance (1938)

Henri Decoin

Lydia is a law student who, although she has many admirers, is struggling to make ends meet. With no family to help her, she turns to her friend Alice. The latter proposes a scheme that will allow Lydia to make some easy money. All she has to do is to pay a visit to the writer Jacques Ferny and pretend to be the daughter he has been looking for... [More...]

Adémaï aviateur (1933)

Jean Tarride

Whilst training to be an aviator in the French air force, Adémaï makes frequent visits to a nearby farm owned by Monsieur Morlot. His main reason for doing so is to spend time with the beautiful cowgirl Marguerite, to whom he has taken a distinct fancy. Unfortunately, Marguerite is more interested in Lucas, the man that Marie-Jeanne, the farmer’s daughter, is hoping to marry... [More...]

L’Âge d’or (1930)

Luis Buñuel

A party of dignitaries arrive on the shore of an island to pay homage to some dead heroes but are outraged to see a couple making love on the beach. The man is dragged away by police, but he manages to persuade them to release him for services he has rendered to the state. The man and the women subsequently meet up at a party, but their attempts to get together are constantly frustrated by their family, guests and other distractions..... [More...]

L’Alibi (1937)

Pierre Chenal

Whilst performing his famous mind-reading act at a Parisian nightclub, Professor Winckler recognises his most hated enemy in the audience. After the show, he pursues the man, an American gangster named Gordon, and shoots him dead. He then bribes Hélène, a young woman who works in the nightclub, to give him an alibi for the killing... [More...]

Allo Berlin? Ici Paris! (1932)

Julien Duvivier

Lily is in love, but with a man she has never seen. She and Erich both work as switchboard operators, she in Paris, he in Berlin. They talk to each other every day and now they are hopelessly in love. Finally, they decide to meet up in Paris. Lily has a photograph of Erich and so is surprised when the man who meets her at the station looks nothing like the man she had been expecting... [More...]

Angèle (1934)

Marcel Pagnol

Angèle is the daughter of a respectable farmer, Clarius, and lives with her parents and their valet Saturnin on their farm in the South of France. Her life is turned up-side-down when she meets an attractive young town man, Louis, who is taking a holiday in the countryside. Angèle knows nothing of Louis’ reputation as a gigolo and allows him to seduce her... [More...]

L’Atalante (1934)

Jean Vigo

This is the story of a young village woman, Juliette, who joins her new husband, Jean, a bargeman on his working barge, L’Atalante. After a while, Juliette grows tired of her new life traversing the canals of France and yearns to visit Paris. During a brief visit to the city, Juliette encounters a young pedler and appears to be attracted to him... [More...]

L’Atlantide (1932)

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Lieutenant Saint-Avit and Captain Morhange undertake an expedition to try to locate the lost city of Atlantis, which they believe to lie beneath the Sahara Desert. They discover an entrance to the lost city and soon find themselves prisoners of the all powerful Queen Antinea. Although Saint-Avit falls instantly in love with the queen, she instead chooses to marry the aloof Morhange... [More...]

L’Aventurier (1934)

Marcel L’Herbier

Étienne Ranson is the black sheep of his family. Having made his fortune in Tunisia, he returns to France and receives a cool reception from his uncle, Achille Guéroy, the owner of a glove factory in Grenoble. Guéroy is astounded when his nephew returns the money he had lent him and immediately looks at Étienne in a new light when it becomes apparent that he is now a very wealthy man... [More...]

Baccara (1935)

Yves Mirande

Elsa Barienzi, a foreigner living in Paris, faces being deported back to her own country when her sugar daddy, a wealthy financier named Gouldine, is ruined by his risky speculations. In desperation, she asks for help from the celebrated lawyer Maître Lebel, who is in love with her. Lebel offers a friend of his, André Leclerc, 150 thousand francs to marry Elsa so that she can acquire French citizenship... [More...]

Le Bal (1931)

Wilhelm Thiele

Comfortably installed in their luxurious apartment in Paris, the Kampfs have everything that money can buy, except the most important thing: the recognition of French high society. To obtain this coveted prize, they prepare a grand ball for two hundred guests. But not everyone in the Kampf household shares the enthusiasm for this grand social event... [More...]

La Bandera (1935)

Julien Duvivier

Having killed a man in Paris, Pierre Gilieth flees to Barcelona where he enlists in the Spanish Foreign Legion. Here, in the ranks of the Third Bandera, he meets up with fellow countrymen Mulot and Lucas, and the three men become close friends. Visiting a local inn, Pierre immediately falls under the spell of a beautiful Moroccan girl, Aïscha, and resolves to take her as his bride... [More...]

Barnabé (1938)

Alexander Esway

Barnabé, a simple provençal flute-player, arrives in Paris but has difficulty getting work. A cousin finds a job for him, organising an evening party for Madame Petit-Durand to celebrate her daughter’s twentieth birthday. When he arrives at château Petit-Durand, Barnabé is mistaken for the Count Paul de Marengo, the young man whom Madame Petit-Durand hopes will marry her daughter... [More...]

Les Bas-fonds (1936)

Jean Renoir

Having been dismissed from his official post for embezzlement, a baron gambles away the last of his fortune at the card table. Returning home, he is surprised by a young burglar, Pépel Wasska, whom he befriends. When the baron loses his house to his creditors, he moves into the crowded doss-house where Pépel is staying... [More...]

La Belle équipe (1936)

Julien Duvivier

Five impoverished unemployed labourers win 100,000 francs on the national lottery. They agree to use the money to convert a run down chateau into an open-air riverside café, which they will run as a co-operative enterprise. However, this idealistic venture soon begins to turn sour, as a combination of bad luck and pettry rivalries begin to break up this happy group of friends..... [More...]

Berlingot et compagnie (1939)

Fernand Rivers

François and Victor make a modest living selling homemade sweets at a fun fair. After they protect a young woman from the unwelcome attentions of a crook, their stall is burnt down in revenge. The two friends have to find another way to earn money, to feed not just themselves but the baby girl they have adopted... [More...]

La Bête humaine (1938)

Jean Renoir

Stationmaster Roubaud is outraged when he discovers that his young wife Séverine has been seduced by her godfather, the wealthy businessman Grandmorin. Consumed with jealousy, he coerces Séverine into helping him murder Grandmorin during a train journey from Paris to Le Havre. The only witness to the crime is Jacques Lantier, a railway worker, but he keeps his silence to protect Séverine, with whom he has suddenly fallen in love... [More...]

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