French cinema: 1940s
Cécile est morte (1944)
Maurice Tourneur
For six months, Cécile has been hounding the police for protection, so convinced is she that her life is in danger...
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Maurice Tourneur
La Chartreuse de Parme (1948)
Christian-Jaque
At the beginning of the 19th Century, the Marquis Fabrice del Dongo returns to Parma, his home town, after having completed his studies in Naples...
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Christian-Jaque
Le Ciel est à vous (1944)
Jean Grémillon
Pierre Gauthier is proud of the fact that, during WWI, he was employed as a mechanic to the celebrated aviator Georges Guynemer...
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Jean Grémillon
Le Colonel Chabert (1943)
René Le Hénaff
Paris, 1817. The wealthy Countess Ferraud is distressed when she begins to receive letters from her husband, Colonel Chabert, who was reported to have died during the Napoleonic wars ten years before...
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René Le Hénaff
Le Comédien (1948)
Sacha Guitry
At the age of eight, Lucien Guitry has already made up his mind to become an actor. The son of a shopkeeper, he plays truant from school so that he can memorise the great classics of the French stage...
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Sacha Guitry
Le Comte de Monte Cristo (1943)
Robert Vernay
On the day of his engagement to his beloved Mecédès the mariner Edmond Dantès is arrested for treason and sent to the Château d'If, an island prison... [More...]
Robert Vernay
On the day of his engagement to his beloved Mecédès the mariner Edmond Dantès is arrested for treason and sent to the Château d'If, an island prison... [More...]
Les Condamnés (1948)
Georges Lacombe
Dr Jean Severac and his wife Hélène are celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary. Outwardly, they appear to be a perfectly happy married couple, but in reality Hélène has a lover, the younger Dr Bernard Aubertin... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
Dr Jean Severac and his wife Hélène are celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary. Outwardly, they appear to be a perfectly happy married couple, but in reality Hélène has a lover, the younger Dr Bernard Aubertin... [More...]
Copie conforme (1947)
Jean Dréville
No one would think that Manuel Ismora, an esteemed society photographer, is an audacious thief and con artist. The newspapers are filled with accounts of Ismora's criminal exploits, which involve the fraudulent sale of a château and the theft of some valuable jewels, but the police are slow in bringing him to justice... [More...]
Jean Dréville
No one would think that Manuel Ismora, an esteemed society photographer, is an audacious thief and con artist. The newspapers are filled with accounts of Ismora's criminal exploits, which involve the fraudulent sale of a château and the theft of some valuable jewels, but the police are slow in bringing him to justice... [More...]
Le Corbeau (1943)
Henri-Georges Clouzot
The peace of the small French town of Saint-Robin is disturbed by a sudden outbreak of poison pen letters, which cast vile aspersions on prominent members of the community... [More...]
Henri-Georges Clouzot
The peace of the small French town of Saint-Robin is disturbed by a sudden outbreak of poison pen letters, which cast vile aspersions on prominent members of the community... [More...]
D'homme à hommes (1948)
Christian-Jaque
In 1858, the Swiss-born Henri Dunant is having difficulties managing a colony in Algeria. He decides to visit the Emperor Napoléon III, who is currently in the middle of a campaign in Italy, to ask for support to build a system of irrigation... [More...]
Christian-Jaque
In 1858, the Swiss-born Henri Dunant is having difficulties managing a colony in Algeria. He decides to visit the Emperor Napoléon III, who is currently in the middle of a campaign in Italy, to ask for support to build a system of irrigation... [More...]
La Dame d'onze heures (1948)
Jean-Devaivre
On his return from Africa, Stanislas Octave Seminario, who likes to be referred to by his initials S.O.S., visits his friends, the Pescaras, at their grand house in the country... [More...]
Jean-Devaivre
On his return from Africa, Stanislas Octave Seminario, who likes to be referred to by his initials S.O.S., visits his friends, the Pescaras, at their grand house in the country... [More...]
Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)
Robert Bresson
Having tricked her lover Jean into admitting that he no longer loves her, society lady Helène is inwardly consumed by anger and plots a cruel vengeance... [More...]
Robert Bresson
Having tricked her lover Jean into admitting that he no longer loves her, society lady Helène is inwardly consumed by anger and plots a cruel vengeance... [More...]
La Danse de mort (1948)
Marcel Cravenne
A proud military man, Edgar is now the director of a prison fortress located on a small island in the Adriatic. He runs the prison with an iron hand and is prepared to shoot dead any prisoner who attempts to escape... [More...]
Marcel Cravenne
A proud military man, Edgar is now the director of a prison fortress located on a small island in the Adriatic. He runs the prison with an iron hand and is prepared to shoot dead any prisoner who attempts to escape... [More...]
Dédée d'Anvers (1948)
Yves Allégret
The busy Belgian port of Antwerp is a haven for gangsters, pimps and traffickers. Sailors, tired after their long stretch at sea, come ashore in search of liquor and female company, both of which Monsieur René generously supplies at his popular bar... [More...]
Yves Allégret
The busy Belgian port of Antwerp is a haven for gangsters, pimps and traffickers. Sailors, tired after their long stretch at sea, come ashore in search of liquor and female company, both of which Monsieur René generously supplies at his popular bar... [More...]
Le Dernier des six (1941)
Georges Lacombe
Santerre and his five friends - Gribbe, Gernicot, Namotte, Perlonjour and Tignol - enter into a strange pact after they win a tidy little windfall in a bet... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
Santerre and his five friends - Gribbe, Gernicot, Namotte, Perlonjour and Tignol - enter into a strange pact after they win a tidy little windfall in a bet... [More...]
Les Dernières vacances (1948)
Roger Leenhardt
For generations, the Torrignes family have lived in a splendid old house in the south of France. By the early 1930s, the family's fortune has dried up and there is no other recourse than to sell the house... [More...]
Roger Leenhardt
For generations, the Torrignes family have lived in a splendid old house in the south of France. By the early 1930s, the family's fortune has dried up and there is no other recourse than to sell the house... [More...]
Le Dessous des cartes (1948)
André Cayatte
His criminal activities exposed, a crooked financier named Géraudy takes flight and intends to make his escape across the alpine border with the help of a young smuggler, Manu... [More...]
André Cayatte
His criminal activities exposed, a crooked financier named Géraudy takes flight and intends to make his escape across the alpine border with the help of a young smuggler, Manu... [More...]
Deux amis (1946)
Dimitri Kirsanoff
1870, during the Franco-Prussian War. Paris is under siege and food is so scarce that its inhabitants are forced to eat their household pets and any rats they can catch... [More...]
Dimitri Kirsanoff
1870, during the Franco-Prussian War. Paris is under siege and food is so scarce that its inhabitants are forced to eat their household pets and any rats they can catch... [More...]
Le Diable au corps (1947)
Claude Autant-Lara
Marthe Grangier, a nurse in a military hospital during the First World War, is pressurised into getting married by her parents... [More...]
Claude Autant-Lara
Marthe Grangier, a nurse in a military hospital during the First World War, is pressurised into getting married by her parents... [More...]
Le Diable boiteux (1948)
Sacha Guitry
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in Paris on 2nd February 1754. Afflicted with a game leg (which earned him the nickname Le Diable boiteux or Lame Devil), he was unable to follow his father in pursuit of military honours and instead opted for an ecclesiastical career... [More...]
Sacha Guitry
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was born in Paris on 2nd February 1754. Afflicted with a game leg (which earned him the nickname Le Diable boiteux or Lame Devil), he was unable to follow his father in pursuit of military honours and instead opted for an ecclesiastical career... [More...]
Domino (1943)
Roger Richebé
François Dominique, alias Domino, returns to Paris with his best friend Mirandole, having failed to make his fortune in Africa... [More...]
Roger Richebé
François Dominique, alias Domino, returns to Paris with his best friend Mirandole, having failed to make his fortune in Africa... [More...]
Douce (1943)
Claude Autant-Lara
Paris, 1887. Engelbert de Bonafé is a wealthy man who lives in a splendid house with his hard-to-please mother, the Countess de Bonafé, and his 17-year-old daughter Douce, whose name reflects her gentle personality... [More...]
Claude Autant-Lara
Paris, 1887. Engelbert de Bonafé is a wealthy man who lives in a splendid house with his hard-to-please mother, the Countess de Bonafé, and his 17-year-old daughter Douce, whose name reflects her gentle personality... [More...]
La Duchesse de Langeais (1942)
Jacques de Baroncelli
Paris, 1820. Antoinette, the Duchess of Langeais, is a prominent socialite who delights in flirting with men who seek in vain to win a place in her affections and her bed... [More...]
Jacques de Baroncelli
Paris, 1820. Antoinette, the Duchess of Langeais, is a prominent socialite who delights in flirting with men who seek in vain to win a place in her affections and her bed... [More...]
L'École buissonnière (1949)
Jean-Paul Le Chanois
In 1920, Monsieur Pascal, a veteran of the First World War, arrives in a small Provençal town to take up a teaching post... [More...]
Jean-Paul Le Chanois
In 1920, Monsieur Pascal, a veteran of the First World War, arrives in a small Provençal town to take up a teaching post... [More...]
L'École des facteurs (1947)
Jacques Tati
The French postal service is keen to keep up with its American equivalent and so introduces a programme of modernisation that will make it more efficient than ever before... [More...]
Jacques Tati
The French postal service is keen to keep up with its American equivalent and so introduces a programme of modernisation that will make it more efficient than ever before... [More...]
L'Émigrante (1940)
Léo Joannon
Christiane is the owner of a popular night club whose habitués includes Monrozat, a sad wreck of a man who is desperately looking for a woman to accompany him to South America to start a new life... [More...]
Léo Joannon
Christiane is the owner of a popular night club whose habitués includes Monrozat, a sad wreck of a man who is desperately looking for a woman to accompany him to South America to start a new life... [More...]
Les Enfants du paradis (1945)
Marcel Carné
Paris, circa 1830. Frederick LeMaître is a young romantic who dreams of becoming a great actor. Unable to find a role worthy of his talents, he gratefully accepts a small part in a mime show at the Funambules Theatre on the busy Boulevard du Crime... [More...]
Marcel Carné
Paris, circa 1830. Frederick LeMaître is a young romantic who dreams of becoming a great actor. Unable to find a role worthy of his talents, he gratefully accepts a small part in a mime show at the Funambules Theatre on the busy Boulevard du Crime... [More...]
L'Enfer des anges (1941)
Christian-Jaque
Since leaving a reformatory, a young man named Jean has found it impossible to find work, but he perseveres, determined to make a fresh start... [More...]
Christian-Jaque
Since leaving a reformatory, a young man named Jean has found it impossible to find work, but he perseveres, determined to make a fresh start... [More...]
Entre onze heures et minuit (1949)
Henri Decoin
It was between the hours of eleven o'clock at night and midnight that the crime took place. Jérôme Vidauban, a trafficker wanted by the police, is shot dead in a Paris subway by an unknown assassin... [More...]
Henri Decoin
It was between the hours of eleven o'clock at night and midnight that the crime took place. Jérôme Vidauban, a trafficker wanted by the police, is shot dead in a Paris subway by an unknown assassin... [More...]
L'Éternel retour (1943)
Jean Delannoy
Patrice travels to a remote island to find a young wife for his uncle Marc. There he meets a beautiful blonde named Nathalie, who agrees to return to the mainland to marry Patrice's uncle, if only to escape her life of penury... [More...]
Jean Delannoy
Patrice travels to a remote island to find a young wife for his uncle Marc. There he meets a beautiful blonde named Nathalie, who agrees to return to the mainland to marry Patrice's uncle, if only to escape her life of penury... [More...]