French cinema: 1930s
Napoléon Bonaparte (1935)
Abel Gance
France, 1815. On the eve of Napoléon Bonaparte's escape from Elba and his triumphant return to Paris, the writer Stendhal reflects on the heroic life of the Emperor with those who were personally acquainted with him...
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Abel Gance
La Nuit du carrefour (1932)
Jean Renoir
At the Carrefour des Trois-Veuves, some thirty kilometres north of Paris, insurance agent Michonnet is surprised when his car is stolen...
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Jean Renoir
Les Nuits moscovites (1934)
Alexis Granowsky
Moscow, 1916. To restore her family's wealth and reputation, Natasha Kovrine agrees to become engaged to the wealthy grain merchant Brioukhov, even though he is many years her senior...
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Alexis Granowsky
L'Or des mers (1932)
Jean Epstein
Hoëdic is one of the poorer islands in the Breton archipelago off the coast of northwestern France. It is a desolate expanse of rock inhabited by a hundred fishing families who, unable to work for half of the year, live in extreme poverty, dependent on alms supplied by their kindly rector...
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Jean Epstein
Les Otages (1938)
Raymond Bernard
For many years, the tranquillity of a rural French town has been disturbed by the on-going feud between the mayor Beaumont and the country gentleman Rossignol...
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Raymond Bernard
Partie de campagne (1936)
Jean Renoir
In the summer of 1860, Monsieur Dufour, a successful Parisian shopkeeper, decides to spend a day in the country, in the company of his mother-in-law, his wife Juliette, his daughter Henriette and his future son-in-law Anatole... [More...]
Jean Renoir
In the summer of 1860, Monsieur Dufour, a successful Parisian shopkeeper, decides to spend a day in the country, in the company of his mother-in-law, his wife Juliette, his daughter Henriette and his future son-in-law Anatole... [More...]
Pension Mimosas (1935)
Jacques Feyder
In 1924, Louise Noblet and her husband Gaston run a small hotel, the Pension Mimosas, on the French Riviera. Their clients are mostly small-time gamblers hoping to strike it lucky at a nearby casino... [More...]
Jacques Feyder
In 1924, Louise Noblet and her husband Gaston run a small hotel, the Pension Mimosas, on the French Riviera. Their clients are mostly small-time gamblers hoping to strike it lucky at a nearby casino... [More...]
Pépé le Moko (1937)
Julien Duvivier
The French outlaw Pépé le Moko has gained a reputation as the most notorious gangster in Algiers, loyally served by his band of armed cohorts... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
The French outlaw Pépé le Moko has gained a reputation as the most notorious gangster in Algiers, loyally served by his band of armed cohorts... [More...]
Le Petit chose (1938)
Maurice Cloche
The 1848 revolution in France brings ruin to the Eyssette family, which is forced to sell a once prosperous business and move to Lyon... [More...]
Maurice Cloche
The 1848 revolution in France brings ruin to the Eyssette family, which is forced to sell a once prosperous business and move to Lyon... [More...]
La Petite Lise (1930)
Jean Grémillon
Victor Berthier's punishment for murdering his odious wife is a ten-year stretch in a crowded prison in French Guiana. Released for good behaviour, Victor returns to Paris with one intention - to start a new life with his grown-up daughter Lise... [More...]
Jean Grémillon
Victor Berthier's punishment for murdering his odious wife is a ten-year stretch in a crowded prison in French Guiana. Released for good behaviour, Victor returns to Paris with one intention - to start a new life with his grown-up daughter Lise... [More...]
Poil de carotte (1932)
Julien Duvivier
Bullied by his matriarchal mother, abused by his siblings, ignored by his father, Poil de Carotte's childhood is as miserable as it could be... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
Bullied by his matriarchal mother, abused by his siblings, ignored by his father, Poil de Carotte's childhood is as miserable as it could be... [More...]
Poison (1935)
Man Ray
A man in his mid-forties (Man Ray) is enjoying the company of an attractive young woman in her twenties (the artist Meret Oppenheim)... [More...]
Man Ray
A man in his mid-forties (Man Ray) is enjoying the company of an attractive young woman in her twenties (the artist Meret Oppenheim)... [More...]
Prix de beauté (1930)
Augusto Genina
Lucienne, a typist for a Parisian newspaper, decides to a enter a beauty competition, despite her boyfriend André's fierce objections... [More...]
Augusto Genina
Lucienne, a typist for a Parisian newspaper, decides to a enter a beauty competition, despite her boyfriend André's fierce objections... [More...]
Le Puritain (1938)
Jeff Musso
Francis Ferriter is a Dublin journalist and staunch Catholic who leads a fanatical campaign against declining moral standards in his city... [More...]
Jeff Musso
Francis Ferriter is a Dublin journalist and staunch Catholic who leads a fanatical campaign against declining moral standards in his city... [More...]
Le Quai des brumes (1938)
Marcel Carné
Jean, a deserter from the French colonial army, arrives in the misty port of Le Havre where he immediately strikes up a rapport with the owner of an inn frequented by the town's lowlife... [More...]
Marcel Carné
Jean, a deserter from the French colonial army, arrives in the misty port of Le Havre where he immediately strikes up a rapport with the owner of an inn frequented by the town's lowlife... [More...]
Quatorze Juillet (1933)
René Clair
Anna, a modest flower seller, is in love with Jean, a Paris taxi driver. They plan to spend the evening of the 14th of July in each other's arms, dancing the night away at an open air ball... [More...]
René Clair
Anna, a modest flower seller, is in love with Jean, a Paris taxi driver. They plan to spend the evening of the 14th of July in each other's arms, dancing the night away at an open air ball... [More...]
Rapt (1934)
Dimitri Kirsanoff
High up in the Swiss mountains, two close-knit village communities sit opposite one another, separated by language and a wide valley that neither is inclined to cross... [More...]
Dimitri Kirsanoff
High up in the Swiss mountains, two close-knit village communities sit opposite one another, separated by language and a wide valley that neither is inclined to cross... [More...]
Regain (1937)
Marcel Pagnol
One by one, the inhabitants of a remote little village in Haute-Provence depart, until only the poacher Panturle remains... [More...]
Marcel Pagnol
One by one, the inhabitants of a remote little village in Haute-Provence depart, until only the poacher Panturle remains... [More...]
La Règle du jeu (1939)
Jean Renoir
The aviator André Jurieux returns to France after a record-breaking flight, but is heart-broken when the woman he loves, Christine de la Chesnaye, is not there to meet him... [More...]
Jean Renoir
The aviator André Jurieux returns to France after a record-breaking flight, but is heart-broken when the woman he loves, Christine de la Chesnaye, is not there to meet him... [More...]
Le Roman d'un tricheur (1936)
Sacha Guitry
A man in his mid-fifties sits alone in a café writing his memoirs which he intends titling The Story of a Cheat. His tale begins when, at the age of 12, he is denied a meal of tasty mushrooms as a punishment for stealing money from the till of his family's grocery shop... [More...]
Sacha Guitry
A man in his mid-fifties sits alone in a café writing his memoirs which he intends titling The Story of a Cheat. His tale begins when, at the age of 12, he is denied a meal of tasty mushrooms as a punishment for stealing money from the till of his family's grocery shop... [More...]
Le Roman de Werther (1938)
Max Ophüls
The setting is the German city of Wetzlar, towards the end of the 18th century. Werther is a young man of a romantic temperament, a poet and musician who occupies an important position at the town hall... [More...]
Max Ophüls
The setting is the German city of Wetzlar, towards the end of the 18th century. Werther is a young man of a romantic temperament, a poet and musician who occupies an important position at the town hall... [More...]
Le Rosier de Madame Husson (1932)
Dominique Bernard-Deschamps
Madame Husson, the most respected personage in a small Normandy town, has resolved to arrest the moral decline in her community... [More...]
Dominique Bernard-Deschamps
Madame Husson, the most respected personage in a small Normandy town, has resolved to arrest the moral decline in her community... [More...]
Le Sang d'un poète (1930)
Jean Cocteau
A factory chimney is just about to fall down... In May 1745, a bare-chested artist is painting a portrait of a woman. When the portrait's mouth suddenly comes to life, the artist attempts to erase it... [More...]
Jean Cocteau
A factory chimney is just about to fall down... In May 1745, a bare-chested artist is painting a portrait of a woman. When the portrait's mouth suddenly comes to life, the artist attempts to erase it... [More...]
Sans famille (1934)
Marc Allégret
London. After the funeral of Lord Mulligan, his brother James intends that he will inherit his fortune. To do so, he hires a crook named Driscoll to abduct and kill Mulligan's rightful heir, three-year-old Robert... [More...]
Marc Allégret
London. After the funeral of Lord Mulligan, his brother James intends that he will inherit his fortune. To do so, he hires a crook named Driscoll to abduct and kill Mulligan's rightful heir, three-year-old Robert... [More...]
Le Schpountz (1938)
Marcel Pagnol
Casimir and Irénée work in their uncle's grocer's shop in a Provençal village. Whilst Casimir sticks to his job, Irénée only dreams of becoming a film star... [More...]
Marcel Pagnol
Casimir and Irénée work in their uncle's grocer's shop in a Provençal village. Whilst Casimir sticks to his job, Irénée only dreams of becoming a film star... [More...]
Sous les toits de Paris (1930)
René Clair
In a working class district of Paris in 1930, a young man named Albert makes a modest living as a street singer. One day, he meets an attractive young Rumanian woman, Pola, and instantly falls in love with her... [More...]
René Clair
In a working class district of Paris in 1930, a young man named Albert makes a modest living as a street singer. One day, he meets an attractive young Rumanian woman, Pola, and instantly falls in love with her... [More...]
Sous les yeux d'occident (1936)
Marc Allégret
In Russia during the early 1900s, Razumov is a brilliant student with a dazzling career ahead of him. He has no interest in politics and is unmoved when he learns that the Prime Minister has just been shot dead... [More...]
Marc Allégret
In Russia during the early 1900s, Razumov is a brilliant student with a dazzling career ahead of him. He has no interest in politics and is unmoved when he learns that the Prime Minister has just been shot dead... [More...]
Taris, roi de l'eau (1931)
Jean Vigo
French swimming champion Jean Taris is the subject of this short documentary, an early commission for the film director Jean Vigo after he completed his innovative first documentary À propos de Nice in 1930... [More...]
Jean Vigo
French swimming champion Jean Taris is the subject of this short documentary, an early commission for the film director Jean Vigo after he completed his innovative first documentary À propos de Nice in 1930... [More...]
La Tête d'un homme (1933)
Julien Duvivier
In a crowded Parisian café, Willy Ferrière, a penniless playboy, declares that he is willing to pay a hundred thousand francs to anyone who will kill his aunt, thereby allowing him to inherit a vast fortune... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
In a crowded Parisian café, Willy Ferrière, a penniless playboy, declares that he is willing to pay a hundred thousand francs to anyone who will kill his aunt, thereby allowing him to inherit a vast fortune... [More...]
Toni (1935)
Jean Renoir
In the early 1930s, Toni, a young Italian labourer, arrives in France and finds work at a quarry. His landlady Marie takes a liking to him, but he is only interested in another woman, Josepha... [More...]
Jean Renoir
In the early 1930s, Toni, a young Italian labourer, arrives in France and finds work at a quarry. His landlady Marie takes a liking to him, but he is only interested in another woman, Josepha... [More...]