French cinema: 1940s
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...
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Pierre Chenal
Frédérica (1942)
Jean Boyer
Gilbert Legrant, a successful singer-songwriter, is about to get married to Lilette, without much in the way of enthusiasm...
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Jean Boyer
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'...
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Raymond Leboursier
Le Gardian (1946)
Jean de Marguenat
In the Camargue region of southern France, Renaud is a cowboy who intends to marry Livette, the young daughter of a wealthy farmer, against the wishes of her parents...
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Jean de Marguenat
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...
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Jacqueline Audry
Les Gosses mènent l'enquête (1947)
Maurice Labro
During Easter, a handful of boarders who have no homes to go to must remain at their school, François 1er, for the duration of the holidays... [More...]
Maurice Labro
During Easter, a handful of boarders who have no homes to go to must remain at their school, François 1er, for the duration of the holidays... [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...]
Gringalet (1946)
André Berthomieu
Lucien Bavaud is a highly successful industrialist who runs his factories with ruthless efficiency. After his wife's death, Lucien lives alone in his grand house with his son and mother-in-law, neither of whom he gets on with... [More...]
André Berthomieu
Lucien Bavaud is a highly successful industrialist who runs his factories with ruthless efficiency. After his wife's death, Lucien lives alone in his grand house with his son and mother-in-law, neither of whom he gets on with... [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...]
L'Héritier des Mondésir (1940)
Albert Valentin
When the old Baron of Mondésir dies, he leaves his entire estate to his illegitimate son Bien-Aimé, the village postman... [More...]
Albert Valentin
When the old Baron of Mondésir dies, he leaves his entire estate to his illegitimate son Bien-Aimé, the village postman... [More...]
L'Héroïque Monsieur Boniface (1949)
Maurice Labro
Monsieur Boniface is a timid soul whose artistic leanings are amply satisfied by his job as a shop window-dresser. Returning to his lodgings one evening he is surprised to find a corpse in his bed... [More...]
Maurice Labro
Monsieur Boniface is a timid soul whose artistic leanings are amply satisfied by his job as a shop window-dresser. Returning to his lodgings one evening he is surprised to find a corpse in his bed... [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...]
L'Homme du Niger (1940)
Jacques de Baroncelli
Breval, the commander of a French garrison in the Sudan, persuades the politician François Mourrier of the necessity to construct a dam across the River Niger to improve farming conditions in the region... [More...]
Jacques de Baroncelli
Breval, the commander of a French garrison in the Sudan, persuades the politician François Mourrier of the necessity to construct a dam across the River Niger to improve farming conditions in the region... [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...]
L'Invité de la onzième heure (1945)
Maurice Cloche
Dr Rémi Lambert is a distinguished inventor who is inordinately proud of his latest creation - a machine that is capable of reading human thoughts... [More...]
Maurice Cloche
Dr Rémi Lambert is a distinguished inventor who is inordinately proud of his latest creation - a machine that is capable of reading human thoughts... [More...]
Je n'aime que toi (1949)
Pierre Montazel
Renaldo Cortez is a world famous singer who lives only for his art. Feeling neglected, his wife Irène looks for attention elsewhere and soon begins an affair with a young man, Gérard, with whom she elopes... [More...]
Pierre Montazel
Renaldo Cortez is a world famous singer who lives only for his art. Feeling neglected, his wife Irène looks for attention elsewhere and soon begins an affair with a young man, Gérard, with whom she elopes... [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...]
Le Lit à colonnes (1942)
Roland Tual
In 1880, the warders and inmates at a French prison are equally afraid of Clément Porey-Cave, an implacable prison governor... [More...]
Roland Tual
In 1880, the warders and inmates at a French prison are equally afraid of Clément Porey-Cave, an implacable prison governor... [More...]
Le Loup des Malveneur (1943)
Guillaume Radot
Legend has it that, many years ago, the first of the Malveneurs was transformed into a wolf by a curse and became a ravenous beast that preyed on the locals... [More...]
Guillaume Radot
Legend has it that, many years ago, the first of the Malveneurs was transformed into a wolf by a curse and became a ravenous beast that preyed on the locals... [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...]