This atmospheric work excels mainly on the strength of the performance of its lead actor,
Raimu, arguably one of French cinema’s greatest talents... [More...]
Although the crime thriller had not yet achieved the popularity in France which it would
in the following decade, the 1940s was really where the genre had its origins... [More...]
Although slow moving, La Vérité sur Bébé Donge offers
a typically Simenonesque dark study about the tragedy of an unfulfilled love... [More...]
Henri Decoin shows his mastery of the crime thriller genre in this entertaining whodunnit,
which owes more to Agatha Christie than to the French film noir tradition... [More...]
In contrast to many French period films, L’Affaire des poisons is a decidedly dark,
humourless affair, having perhaps more in common with the contemporary thriller genre
than the tradition of historical drama... [More...]
Jean Becker’s 1953 film
Touchez pas au grisbi allowed actor Jean
Gabin to re-invent his screen persona, becoming the tough patriarchal figure that would
predominate in his post-WWII film career... [More...]
