French cinema: 1930s
Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (1936)
Jean Renoir
Amedée Lange is a modest employee at Monsieur Batala's publishing house, which is teetering on the brink of ruin. In a last ditch attempt to stave of his creditors, Batala decides to publish Lange's fanciful Wild West stories, altering the text to promote the products of his sponsors, such as Ranimax Pills...
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Jean Renoir
Crime et châtiment (1935)
Pierre Chenal
An impulsive young Russian student, Rodion Raskolnikov, believes that the intellectual class is morally superior to ordinary working class people and is therefore above the laws that society creates for itself...
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Pierre Chenal
Les Croix de bois (1932)
Raymond Bernard
At the outbreak of World War I, Gilbert Demachy, an idealistic young student, enlists and is sent to the Western Front to fight for his motherland, France...
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Raymond Bernard
La Dame de Malacca (1937)
Marc Allégret
Audrey Greenwood is glad to leave behind her a dull and uneventful career as a teacher at a provincial school as she embarks on a new life as the wife of Major Carter, a British Army officer...
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Marc Allégret
Dans les rues (1933)
Victor Trivas
Jacques is the wayward son of a poor war widow. Unable to find work, he falls in with a gang of delinquents who terrorise householders and shopkeepers in their neighbourhood...
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Victor Trivas
Les Dégourdis de la 11ème (1937)
Christian-Jaque
Montauban, 1906. On his wife's deathbed, Colonel Touplard swore that he would never look at another woman for as long as he lived... [More...]
Christian-Jaque
Montauban, 1906. On his wife's deathbed, Colonel Touplard swore that he would never look at another woman for as long as he lived... [More...]
Le Dernier milliardaire (1934)
René Clair
Casinario, a small principality on the Mediterranean coast, has run out of money. The country's ruler, an ageing queen, sends out an urgent appeal to Mr Banco, the wealthiest man in the world, to save her nation with a substantial loan that he can easily afford... [More...]
René Clair
Casinario, a small principality on the Mediterranean coast, has run out of money. The country's ruler, an ageing queen, sends out an urgent appeal to Mr Banco, the wealthiest man in the world, to save her nation with a substantial loan that he can easily afford... [More...]
Le Dernier tournant (1939)
Pierre Chenal
Frank, a young drifter, arrives at a remote service station on a mountain road near to Marseille. Here, the kindly old owner, Nick, offers him a job which he readily accepts... [More...]
Pierre Chenal
Frank, a young drifter, arrives at a remote service station on a mountain road near to Marseille. Here, the kindly old owner, Nick, offers him a job which he readily accepts... [More...]
Derrière la façade (1939)
Georges Lacombe
Two rival police inspectors, Boucheron and Baumer, investigate the murder of the owner of a well-to-do apartment block. Madame Mathieu has been found stabbed to death in the lift, and there is no shortage of suspects... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
Two rival police inspectors, Boucheron and Baumer, investigate the murder of the owner of a well-to-do apartment block. Madame Mathieu has been found stabbed to death in the lift, and there is no shortage of suspects... [More...]
Les Deux orphelines (1933)
Maurice Tourneur
On the eve of the French Revolution, two orphan girls, Henriette and Louise, make their way to Paris. Henriette is kidnapped by a libertine marquis to participate in a debauched party, leaving her blind sister at the mercy of an unscrupulous hag, La Frochard... [More...]
Maurice Tourneur
On the eve of the French Revolution, two orphan girls, Henriette and Louise, make their way to Paris. Henriette is kidnapped by a libertine marquis to participate in a debauched party, leaving her blind sister at the mercy of an unscrupulous hag, La Frochard... [More...]
Les Disparus de Saint-Agil (1938)
Christian-Jaque
In the college of St-Agil, three boys, Baume, Sorgue and Macroy, form a secret society "Les Chiche-capons". Each night, they sneak away from their dormitory and meet up in the science room to have an illicit smoke and plan a clandestine voyage to America, under the watchful gaze of their mascot, Martin the Skeleton... [More...]
Christian-Jaque
In the college of St-Agil, three boys, Baume, Sorgue and Macroy, form a secret society "Les Chiche-capons". Each night, they sneak away from their dormitory and meet up in the science room to have an illicit smoke and plan a clandestine voyage to America, under the watchful gaze of their mascot, Martin the Skeleton... [More...]
Don Quichotte (1933)
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Don Quixote squanders his fortune by buying books about chivalry, which he reads assiduously. After doing so for many years, he believes he is himself a knight, sent on a divine mission to wrong all of the injustices in the world... [More...]
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Don Quixote squanders his fortune by buying books about chivalry, which he reads assiduously. After doing so for many years, he believes he is himself a knight, sent on a divine mission to wrong all of the injustices in the world... [More...]
Le Drame de Shanghaï (1938)
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
In the 1930s, China is a country that is descending into anarchy in the midst of an escalating civil war. The popular leader Cheng is dedicated to uniting his nation, but he has many enemies who are determined that he should fail... [More...]
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
In the 1930s, China is a country that is descending into anarchy in the midst of an escalating civil war. The popular leader Cheng is dedicated to uniting his nation, but he has many enemies who are determined that he should fail... [More...]
Drôle de drame (1937)
Marcel Carné
England, circa 1900. The unassuming botanist Irvin Molyneux has a dark secret: he earns his living by writing lurid crime novels under the pseudonym Felix Chapel... [More...]
Marcel Carné
England, circa 1900. The unassuming botanist Irvin Molyneux has a dark secret: he earns his living by writing lurid crime novels under the pseudonym Felix Chapel... [More...]
L'École des contribuables (1934)
René Guissart
Gaston Valtier is an idler who is more than content to live the life of a man of leisure than work for his living, if only to avoid having to pay income tax... [More...]
René Guissart
Gaston Valtier is an idler who is more than content to live the life of a man of leisure than work for his living, if only to avoid having to pay income tax... [More...]
Entrée des artistes (1938)
Marc Allégret
One of the high points of director Marc Allégret's career, Entrée des artistes offers both a compelling melodrama and a rare insight into the training of actors at France's leading drama school, the Paris Conservatoire... [More...]
Marc Allégret
One of the high points of director Marc Allégret's career, Entrée des artistes offers both a compelling melodrama and a rare insight into the training of actors at France's leading drama school, the Paris Conservatoire... [More...]
L'Équipage (1935)
Anatole Litvak
France, 1916. An idealistic young man Jean Herbillon enlists in the French flying corps, unaware that his chances of survival are less than that of an infantryman... [More...]
Anatole Litvak
France, 1916. An idealistic young man Jean Herbillon enlists in the French flying corps, unaware that his chances of survival are less than that of an infantryman... [More...]
L'Étrange Monsieur Victor (1937)
Jean Grémillon
No one would guess that the respectable Toulon shopkeeper Monsieur Victor is leading a double life. Who would think that this apparent model citizen, a devoted husband and scrupulously honest man of business, could possibly be mixed up in crime... [More...]
Jean Grémillon
No one would guess that the respectable Toulon shopkeeper Monsieur Victor is leading a double life. Who would think that this apparent model citizen, a devoted husband and scrupulously honest man of business, could possibly be mixed up in crime... [More...]
La Famille Duraton (1939)
Christian Stengel
The Martins are an ordinary French family who live a simple but contented life in the country. When a stranger, Sammy Walter, injures himself in a car accident just outside their front door they naturally come to his help... [More...]
Christian Stengel
The Martins are an ordinary French family who live a simple but contented life in the country. When a stranger, Sammy Walter, injures himself in a car accident just outside their front door they naturally come to his help... [More...]
Fanny (1932)
Marc Allégret
Such is the status accorded to single mothers in France of the 1930s that Fanny has no choice but to surrender herself to a marriage of convenience... [More...]
Marc Allégret
Such is the status accorded to single mothers in France of the 1930s that Fanny has no choice but to surrender herself to a marriage of convenience... [More...]
La Femme du boulanger (1938)
Marcel Pagnol
The baker Aimable Castenet has recently settled into the small Provençal village of Sainte Cécile and soon makes himself popular with the locals with his delicious bread, the finest they have ever tasted... [More...]
Marcel Pagnol
The baker Aimable Castenet has recently settled into the small Provençal village of Sainte Cécile and soon makes himself popular with the locals with his delicious bread, the finest they have ever tasted... [More...]
La Fin du jour (1939)
Julien Duvivier
After a final performance, the faded star Raphael Saint-Clair is ready to take up residence at the Abbaye de Saint-Jean-la-Rivière, a retirement home for actors who have fallen on hard times... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
After a final performance, the faded star Raphael Saint-Clair is ready to take up residence at the Abbaye de Saint-Jean-la-Rivière, a retirement home for actors who have fallen on hard times... [More...]
Fric-Frac (1939)
Claude Autant-Lara
Marcel is an honest, perhaps too trusting, young man who works for a small firm of jewellers in Paris. His employer's daughter Renée has made up her mind to marry him but he shows her no interest and resents her attempts to control his life... [More...]
Claude Autant-Lara
Marcel is an honest, perhaps too trusting, young man who works for a small firm of jewellers in Paris. His employer's daughter Renée has made up her mind to marry him but he shows her no interest and resents her attempts to control his life... [More...]
Les Gaietés de l'escadron (1932)
Maurice Tourneur
Despite the best efforts of its commander, Captain Hurluret, the barracks of the 51st Rifles has yet to be acquainted with the notion of military discipline... [More...]
Maurice Tourneur
Despite the best efforts of its commander, Captain Hurluret, the barracks of the 51st Rifles has yet to be acquainted with the notion of military discipline... [More...]
Les Gens du voyage (1938)
Jacques Feyder
Flora, a tough, strong-willed lion-tamer, is the star attraction at the Barlay travelling Circus. However, even she is ill-prepared when her former lover, Fernand, returns to her after twenty years... [More...]
Jacques Feyder
Flora, a tough, strong-willed lion-tamer, is the star attraction at the Barlay travelling Circus. However, even she is ill-prepared when her former lover, Fernand, returns to her after twenty years... [More...]
Le Golem (1936)
Julien Duvivier
In the early years of the 17th century, the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II rules Bohemia with an iron grip whilst pursuing the alchemists' dream of endowing inanimate matter with life... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
In the early years of the 17th century, the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II rules Bohemia with an iron grip whilst pursuing the alchemists' dream of endowing inanimate matter with life... [More...]
Golgotha (1935)
Julien Duvivier
Judaea, during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. When the self-proclaimed prophet Jesus Christ arrives in Jerusalem, he receives a rapturous welcome from the ordinary people of the city... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
Judaea, during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. When the self-proclaimed prophet Jesus Christ arrives in Jerusalem, he receives a rapturous welcome from the ordinary people of the city... [More...]
Le Grand jeu (1934)
Jacques Feyder
Pierre Martel is a young Parisian financier whose taste for the high life leads him to embezzle his clients' money. When his fraud is exposed, his wealthy uncle steps in to bail him out, on condition that he leaves France immediately... [More...]
Jacques Feyder
Pierre Martel is a young Parisian financier whose taste for the high life leads him to embezzle his clients' money. When his fraud is exposed, his wealthy uncle steps in to bail him out, on condition that he leaves France immediately... [More...]
La Grande illusion (1937)
Jean Renoir
1916. During World War I, two French aviators, Lieutenant Maréchal and Capitaine de Boeldieu, are shot down by German artillery whilst on a reconnaissance mission... [More...]
Jean Renoir
1916. During World War I, two French aviators, Lieutenant Maréchal and Capitaine de Boeldieu, are shot down by German artillery whilst on a reconnaissance mission... [More...]
Gueule d'amour (1937)
Jean Grémillon
France, 1936. Military man Lucien Bourrache is not only a credit to the Spahi regiment but also the idol of every woman he meets... [More...]
Jean Grémillon
France, 1936. Military man Lucien Bourrache is not only a credit to the Spahi regiment but also the idol of every woman he meets... [More...]