French cinema: 1940s
Falbalas (1945)
Jacques Becker
Philippe Clarence is the genius couturier who runs one of the most successful fashion houses in Paris. His unsurpassed talent for design is matched only by the ease with which he draws women towards him, women he toys with whilst they amuse him, and then casually discards at his leisure...
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Jacques Becker
Fantômas contre Fantômas (1949)
Robert Vernay
Brutally rejected by his one true love Irène de Charras, the renowned surgeon François de Bréval commits suicide by crashing his car into a tree at high speed...
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Robert Vernay
Farrebique ou Les quatre saisons (1946)
Georges Rouquier
The Aveyron district of southern France is noted for its high rocky plateaus which give the countryside a distinctive, almost Neolithic character...
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Georges Rouquier
La Ferme du pendu (1945)
Jean Dréville
The scene is the Vendée, an agricultural region of France in the 1930s. After the death of his father, François Raimondeau has one thought in mind - to prevent the family farm from being broken up and sold...
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Jean Dréville
La Fiancée des ténèbres (1945)
Serge de Poligny
The composer Roland Samblaca returns to his home town Carcassonne in the South of France with his family. Whilst visiting an ancient castle, he meets and is enchanted by a young woman, Sylvie, who lives in the castle with her adoptive guardian, Monsieur Toulzac...
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Serge de Poligny
La Fille du puisatier (1940)
Marcel Pagnol
France, 1939. Pascal Amoretti and his assistant Felipe earn an honest living by digging wells in their picturesque region of Provence... [More...]
Marcel Pagnol
France, 1939. Pascal Amoretti and his assistant Felipe earn an honest living by digging wells in their picturesque region of Provence... [More...]
La Foire aux chimères (1946)
Pierre Chenal
Frank Davis is the unimpeachable director of a company that prints what he claims to be unforgeable banknotes. In his fifties, he is an object of ridicule on account of the facial disfigurement he acquired in an accident... [More...]
Pierre Chenal
Frank Davis is the unimpeachable director of a company that prints what he claims to be unforgeable banknotes. In his fifties, he is an object of ridicule on account of the facial disfigurement he acquired in an accident... [More...]
Le Furet (1949)
Raymond Leboursier
Paris is in the grip of a crime wave. A series of seemingly unrelated murders have taken place, and on each occasion the police are forewarned of the crime by a letter signed 'Le Furet'... [More...]
Raymond Leboursier
Paris is in the grip of a crime wave. A series of seemingly unrelated murders have taken place, and on each occasion the police are forewarned of the crime by a letter signed 'Le Furet'... [More...]
Gigi (1949)
Jacqueline Audry
Gigi is a girl on the threshold of womanhood, after being brought up in the protective cocoon of her wealthy grandmother, Mamita... [More...]
Jacqueline Audry
Gigi is a girl on the threshold of womanhood, after being brought up in the protective cocoon of her wealthy grandmother, Mamita... [More...]
Goupi mains rouges (1943)
Jacques Becker
The Goupis are a proud, self-sufficient family living in the Charentes region of France. Most of them live at an inn that is run with an iron hand by the shrewish Goupi Tisane and her tight-fisted brother Goupi Mes Sous... [More...]
Jacques Becker
The Goupis are a proud, self-sufficient family living in the Charentes region of France. Most of them live at an inn that is run with an iron hand by the shrewish Goupi Tisane and her tight-fisted brother Goupi Mes Sous... [More...]
Hans le marin (1949)
François Villiers
Once the US navy ship Alabama has docked at the port of Marseille, three of its crew, including a Canadian Eric Martin, head straight for the Kit-Cat bar... [More...]
François Villiers
Once the US navy ship Alabama has docked at the port of Marseille, three of its crew, including a Canadian Eric Martin, head straight for the Kit-Cat bar... [More...]
Histoires extraordinaires (1949)
Jean Faurez
France, at the time of the Second Empire. One dreary night, three gendarmes regale a new recruit with tales of murder and intrigue with which they have had first hand experience... [More...]
Jean Faurez
France, at the time of the Second Empire. One dreary night, three gendarmes regale a new recruit with tales of murder and intrigue with which they have had first hand experience... [More...]
L'Homme au chapeau rond (1946)
Pierre Billon
Shortly after the death of his wife, Nicolas is shocked to discover that he is not the biological father of their infant daughter, Liza... [More...]
Pierre Billon
Shortly after the death of his wife, Nicolas is shocked to discover that he is not the biological father of their infant daughter, Liza... [More...]
L'Homme de Londres (1943)
Henri Decoin
A port swathed in dense fog sees the coming and going of boats all day. During the night, Maloin is the man who controls the trains that transport goods to and from the port... [More...]
Henri Decoin
A port swathed in dense fog sees the coming and going of boats all day. During the night, Maloin is the man who controls the trains that transport goods to and from the port... [More...]
Huit hommes dans un château (1942)
Richard Pottier
René and Jacqueline Paladine are a pair of crime writers in search of inspiration for their next novel. After watching a newsreel reporting the sinking of an ocean liner, their curiosity is aroused when one of the survivors dies in mysterious circumstances... [More...]
Richard Pottier
René and Jacqueline Paladine are a pair of crime writers in search of inspiration for their next novel. After watching a newsreel reporting the sinking of an ocean liner, their curiosity is aroused when one of the survivors dies in mysterious circumstances... [More...]
L'Idiot (1946)
Georges Lampin
After a long stay in Switzerland, where he has been receiving treatment for epilepsy, a Russian prince, Muychkine, returns to Saint Petersburg... [More...]
Georges Lampin
After a long stay in Switzerland, where he has been receiving treatment for epilepsy, a Russian prince, Muychkine, returns to Saint Petersburg... [More...]
Impasse des deux anges (1948)
Maurice Tourneur
Marianne is about to give up her successful career as a stage actress so that she can marry a wealthy aristocrat and live the life she has always aspired to... [More...]
Maurice Tourneur
Marianne is about to give up her successful career as a stage actress so that she can marry a wealthy aristocrat and live the life she has always aspired to... [More...]
Les Inconnus dans la maison (1942)
Henri Decoin
Hector Loursat was once a highly respected criminal lawyer. But then his wife suddenly walked out on him and he fell to pieces... [More...]
Henri Decoin
Hector Loursat was once a highly respected criminal lawyer. But then his wife suddenly walked out on him and he fell to pieces... [More...]
Je suis avec toi (1943)
Henri Decoin
As she is on her way to New York by ocean liner to sort out an inheritance, Elisabeth La Ferrière is convinced that her husband François will take advantage of her absence to start an extramarital affair... [More...]
Henri Decoin
As she is on her way to New York by ocean liner to sort out an inheritance, Elisabeth La Ferrière is convinced that her husband François will take advantage of her absence to start an extramarital affair... [More...]
Jericho (1946)
Henri Calef
In February 1944, the Germans still occupy the town of Amiens in northern France. The tide of the war is rapidly turning but the town's inhabitants continue to live in fear of what Fate has in store for them... [More...]
Henri Calef
In February 1944, the Germans still occupy the town of Amiens in northern France. The tide of the war is rapidly turning but the town's inhabitants continue to live in fear of what Fate has in store for them... [More...]
Les Jeux sont faits (1947)
Jean Delannoy
Pierre Dumaine is the leader of a resistance movement in an unnamed police state. He is preparing an insurrection when he is shot dead by an informer... [More...]
Jean Delannoy
Pierre Dumaine is the leader of a resistance movement in an unnamed police state. He is preparing an insurrection when he is shot dead by an informer... [More...]
Jour de fête (1949)
Jacques Tati
It is 14th July and the arrival of a travelling fair in the sleepy French country town of Sainte-Severe-sur-Indre is greeted with enthusiasm by the locals, especially the children... [More...]
Jacques Tati
It is 14th July and the arrival of a travelling fair in the sleepy French country town of Sainte-Severe-sur-Indre is greeted with enthusiasm by the locals, especially the children... [More...]
La Kermesse rouge (1947)
Paul Mesnier
Paris in the 1890s. When Agnès Bonnardet falls in love with a struggling Montmartre painter, Claude Sironi, her aristocratic relatives waste no time in acting to thwart a mésalliance that will bring disgrace on the family... [More...]
Paul Mesnier
Paris in the 1890s. When Agnès Bonnardet falls in love with a struggling Montmartre painter, Claude Sironi, her aristocratic relatives waste no time in acting to thwart a mésalliance that will bring disgrace on the family... [More...]
Lumière d'été (1943)
Jean Grémillon
Michèle, a young dress designer from Paris, arranges to meet up with her boyfriend Roland, a temperamental artist, at a mountain resort in Provence... [More...]
Jean Grémillon
Michèle, a young dress designer from Paris, arranges to meet up with her boyfriend Roland, a temperamental artist, at a mountain resort in Provence... [More...]
Macadam (1946)
Jacques Feyder
The Hôtel Bijou in Montmartre, Paris, shares the seedy reputation of its owner, Madame Rose, a woman who killed her husband because he was too honest... [More...]
Jacques Feyder
The Hôtel Bijou in Montmartre, Paris, shares the seedy reputation of its owner, Madame Rose, a woman who killed her husband because he was too honest... [More...]
La Main du diable (1943)
Maurice Tourneur
A man arrives at an isolated mountain inn clutching a small box. During a momentary power-cut the box suddenly goes missing, and its owner is stricken with terror... [More...]
Maurice Tourneur
A man arrives at an isolated mountain inn clutching a small box. During a momentary power-cut the box suddenly goes missing, and its owner is stricken with terror... [More...]
Manon (1949)
Henri-Georges Clouzot
A cargo ship leaves Marseilles loaded with Jews, survivors of the Holocaust who hope to begin a new life in the recently founded state of Israel... [More...]
Henri-Georges Clouzot
A cargo ship leaves Marseilles loaded with Jews, survivors of the Holocaust who hope to begin a new life in the recently founded state of Israel... [More...]
Maya (1949)
Raymond Bernard
When the cargo ship Saint-Jacques docks at a seaport, the crew waste no time going ashore to enjoy the distractions offered by the town... [More...]
Raymond Bernard
When the cargo ship Saint-Jacques docks at a seaport, the crew waste no time going ashore to enjoy the distractions offered by the town... [More...]
Monsieur Vincent (1947)
Maurice Cloche
In the early 1600s, during the reign of King Louis XIII, Vincent de Paul gives up his privileged position as a private tutor to the aristocratic Gondy family, so that he can devote himself to the needs of the poor and infirm... [More...]
Maurice Cloche
In the early 1600s, during the reign of King Louis XIII, Vincent de Paul gives up his privileged position as a private tutor to the aristocratic Gondy family, so that he can devote himself to the needs of the poor and infirm... [More...]
Montmartre-sur-Seine (1941)
Georges Lacombe
In Montmartre, Paris, Michel is in love with Lily, but she only has eyes for Maurice, a handsome shop assistant. Unaware of Lily's interest in him, Maurice loves Juliette, but the arrival of another man, Claude, threatens his budding romance... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
In Montmartre, Paris, Michel is in love with Lily, but she only has eyes for Maurice, a handsome shop assistant. Unaware of Lily's interest in him, Maurice loves Juliette, but the arrival of another man, Claude, threatens his budding romance... [More...]