French film photo galley for 1940

French films of the 1940s

La Fiancée des ténèbres (1945)

With its unsettling mix of neo-realistic photography and fairy-tale like settings, La Fiancée des ténèbres is an impressive example of the fantasy genre in French cinema of the 1940s. Although little known, it is an extraordinary work of cinema, which employs techniques that make it feel and appear quite different to the majority of films from this period... [More...]

La Cage aux rossignols (1945)

Although it is often overlooked today and is virtually unheard of outside France, La Cage aux rossignols was one of the most successful French films of the 1940s. Attracting an audience of over five million, it was the most popular French film to be seen in France in 1945, the year following the Liberation. It was even more successful than Les Enfants du paradis... [More...]

Les Caves du Majestic (1945)

Albert Préjean stars as the famed Parisian detective created by Georges Simenon in this, the third and last of the Maigret films made by Continental Films during the Nazi Occupation of France. Noticeably different in tone to the preceding two films (Picpus and Cécile est morte), Les Caves du Majestic is more successful at evoking the famous atmosphere of Simenon’s novels... [More...]

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne is an unusual film for director Robert Bresson, primarily because it adheres, more than any of his other films, to the film-making conventions of the day. As a consequence, the film is more accessible than some of his subsequent works but, lacking Bresson’s idiosyncrasies and religious symbolism... [More...]

Les Enfants du paradis (1945)

Often rated as the greatest film ever made, and certainly a major triumph of French cinema, Les Enfants du paradis offers us a timeless tale of unrequited love, made under the most difficult of circumstances. It is the pinnacle of the astonishingly successful partnership of the director-writer team Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert and even today the film feels relevant and intensely... [More...]

Naïs (1945)

Iconic comic actor Fernandel gives one of his most poignant performances in this touching rural melodrama. The film was scripted by Marcel Pagnol and resembles many of his earlier works, notably Angèle (1934) and La Fille du puisatier (1940). The character of Naïs was played by Jacqueline Bouvier, who became Pagnol’s second wife shortly after the film was completed.... [More...]

Étoile sans lumière (1946)

Despite being a somewhat lacklustre melodrama (typifying the blandness of French cinema immediately after the Liberation), Étoile sans lumière retains a certain interest value with enthusiasts of cinema and French culture, almost exclusively because of its remarkable cast list. Yves Montand makes his film debut... [More...]

L'Idiot (1946)

An exceptional cast, a well-honed script and some impressive production values make this one of the best screen adaptations of the celebrated Dostoyevsky novel "The Idiot". This was the first film to be directed by Georges Lampin, a French director of Russian birth, who made only a dozen films, the most famous of which is another Dostoyevsky adaptation... [More...]

La Bataille du rail (1946)

Now regarded as a classic of French cinema, La Bataille du Rail was almost universally praised when it was released in 1946. It won the Grand Prize at the first Festival of Cannes in 1946 and established René Clément as a great director. Whilst it is undoubtedly an impressive film, it is probably its historical significance that gives it its legendary status... [More...]

La Belle et la bête (1946)

This is one of the most important films in the history of cinema. By pushing film technology to its creative limits and avoiding sentimentality, Jean Cocteau succeeds in creating a film that is both visually entrancing and emotionally rewarding, whilst re-telling a familiar tale in a fresh and innovative way. The most striking thing about this film is the visual imagery... [More...]

La Symphonie pastorale (1946)

Jean Delannoy’s interpretation of André Gide’s powerful and moving novel is an impressive and memorable piece of cinema. The pastor is treated sympathetically, although the contradiction with his position of authority is not evaded. We share Gertrude’s ambivalence when she recovers her sight and finds that her protector’s love is somewhat more than paternalistic... [More...]

Les Portes de la nuit (1946)

Les Portes de la nuit marked the beginning of a dramatic decline in the fortunes of its director Marcel Carné. Prior to and during World War II, Carné was one of the most respected and popular directors of his generation in France, responsible for such uncontested masterpieces as Hôtel du Nord (1938) and Les Enfants du paradis (1945)... [More...]

Martin Roumagnac (1946)

After an unsuccessful attempt to break into Hollywood in the 1940s, actor Jean Gabin returned to French cinema in 1946 with this bleak film noir melodrama, which also starred his partner at the time, Marlene Dietrich. The couple had originally been slated to star together in Marcel Carne’s Les Portes de la nuit but instead opted for this film... [More...]

Pétrus (1946)

An excellent cast (which includes some of the biggest French actors of the day) elevates this humdrum melodrama to something that just about passes for entertainment. Marc Allégret’s direction is competent but hardly inspired, and Marcel Achard’s screen adaptation of his own stage play is flat and unevenly paced... [More...]

Un ami viendra ce soir (1946)

Un ami viendra ce soir was one of the surprisingly few films made in France immediately after the Second World War which attempted to recount the experiences of the war. The only other film of note made at this time and tackling the same subject is René Clément’s La Bataille du rail (1946). Both of these films are heavily preoccupied with repaying the debt owed to the... [More...]

Un revenant (1946)

Despite being overlooked these days, Un Revenant is one of director Christian-Jacque’s finest films, with some impressive photography, good acting performances and well-conceived scenario. It is a perceptive analysis of the fragility of young love, and the destructive powers that it can unleash. The moving François-Karina subplot echoes or reinforces the distant love affair and... [More...]

Antoine et Antoinette (1947)

In this, one of his most highly rated films, Jacques Becker uses the plot of René Clair’s 1931 musical farce, Le Million, as a pretext for an intimate portrait of working class life in France. He approaches his subject with the characteristic warmth and perspicacity which made him a favourite with New Wave directors such as François Truffaut... [More...]

L'École des facteurs (1947)

Although massively overshadowed by Jacques Tati’s subsequent works, L’École des facteurs merits consideration as a small comic masterpiece in its own right. Replete with visual jokes (many of which are as fresh as funny as they were when the film was made), it ought to be ranked along side the silent slapstick classics of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton which clearly... [More...]

Les Jeux sont faits (1947)

Les Jeux sont faits is one of a number of great French films made in the 1940s which have never really achieved the viewership and recognition they deserve. Admittedly the film is less technically accomplished than works such as Les Enfants du paradis or Les Visiteurs du soir, and the cast list is certainly less awe-inspiring (although Micheline Presle is stunning in this film)... [More...]

Monsieur Vincent (1947)

This compelling portrait of St Vincent de Paul, a strikingly humanist work, features Pierre Fresnay in arguably his best film performance. The film has the distinction of being the first French language film to win an Academy Award (in 1948).... [More...]

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