Toute la ville accuse (1956)
Directed by Claude Boissol

Film Synopsis

One Christmas Eve, François Neyrac, an impecunious young writer, arrives in a small town where he has just bought a modest house.  As he explores the town, he sees a gang of children staring longingly through the window of a sweet shop.  François may be poor but he has a kind heart and cannot resist buying the children some cakes and toys with the little money that he has in his pocket.   The next day, the writer is surprised to find a bag containing 10 millions francs on his doorstep.  The day after, there is another bag, filled with the same amount of money.  Once he has convinced himself that the banknotes are genuine, François consults a notary, who tells him that he can keep the money because it looks as though someone intended it as a gift.  With the money safely lodged in a bank, François decides to put it to good use.  He buys presents for the children to make them happy and helps his community out by settling unpaid bills.  All is well until some gangsters begin to pressurise the writer into sharing his new-found wealth with them.  Once hailed by the whole town as a great benefactor, François soon finds himself accused of being a member of the gang...