French cinema: 1950s
La Jeune folle (1952)
Yves Allégret
Ireland 1922. A nationalist uprising against England has claimed its first victims. As she performs her domestic chores at a Dublin convent, orphan Catherine thinks only of her brother Kevin, a Republican who is on the run from the government forces...
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Yves Allégret
Jeux interdits (1952)
René Clément
June 1940. Whilst fleeing from the Nazis during World War II, a convoy of French refugees is attacked from the air by German planes...
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René Clément
Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951)
Robert Bresson
A young priest arrives in the small town of Ambricourt in Northern France to take on his first parish. Although he performs the duties of a priest with diligence and humility, he remains an outsider, shunned and even reviled by his neighbours...
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Robert Bresson
Le Jugement de Dieu (1952)
Raymond Bernard
In the 15th century, Prince Albert of Bavria must marry the far from attractive Bertha de Wurtemberg for political reasons...
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Raymond Bernard
Julietta (1953)
Marc Allégret
Whilst holidaying in Limoges, Madame Valender tries to marry her daughter Julietta to Hector d'Alpon, a wealthy prince, to make an impression on everyone...
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Marc Allégret
Juliette ou La clef des songes (1951)
Marcel Carné
A modest employee in a department store, Michel Grandier resorts to stealing a large sum of money from his boss, Mr Bellanger, so that he can realise his dream of taking his ideal woman, Juliette, on a long journey for an idyllic holiday... [More...]
Marcel Carné
A modest employee in a department store, Michel Grandier resorts to stealing a large sum of money from his boss, Mr Bellanger, so that he can realise his dream of taking his ideal woman, Juliette, on a long journey for an idyllic holiday... [More...]
Jusqu'au dernier (1957)
Pierre Billon
After a successful hold-up, Fernand Bastia betrays his gangster friends and flees with the booty, taking refuge in a travelling circus where his sister Marcella works... [More...]
Pierre Billon
After a successful hold-up, Fernand Bastia betrays his gangster friends and flees with the booty, taking refuge in a travelling circus where his sister Marcella works... [More...]
Les Lettres de mon moulin (1954)
Marcel Pagnol
Alphonse Daudet, purchases a windmill in Pampérigouste, an attractive region of rural France, so that he can write a series of short stories about country folk... [More...]
Marcel Pagnol
Alphonse Daudet, purchases a windmill in Pampérigouste, an attractive region of rural France, so that he can write a series of short stories about country folk... [More...]
Les Liaisons dangereuses (1959)
Roger Vadim
In modern day France, Juliette de Merteuil is a well-regarded society belle who is happily married to the Vicomte de Valmont, a distinguished diplomat... [More...]
Roger Vadim
In modern day France, Juliette de Merteuil is a well-regarded society belle who is happily married to the Vicomte de Valmont, a distinguished diplomat... [More...]
Lola Montès (1955)
Max Ophüls
By the 1850s, Lola Montès is one of most notorious women of her time. Her love affairs with composers, kings and other men of distinction are legendary... [More...]
Max Ophüls
By the 1850s, Lola Montès is one of most notorious women of her time. Her love affairs with composers, kings and other men of distinction are legendary... [More...]
Les Louves (1957)
Luis Saslavsky
During the Second World War, two Frenchmen - Gervais Larauch and Bernard Pradalié - escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp where they are being detained and head back to France... [More...]
Luis Saslavsky
During the Second World War, two Frenchmen - Gervais Larauch and Bernard Pradalié - escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp where they are being detained and head back to France... [More...]
La Lumière d'en face (1955)
Georges Lacombe
After a terrible road accident in which his fellow driver was killed, Georges Moreau had no choice but to give up his job as a long distance lorry driver... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
After a terrible road accident in which his fellow driver was killed, Georges Moreau had no choice but to give up his job as a long distance lorry driver... [More...]
Madame de... (1953)
Max Ophüls
A wealthy Countess decides to sell her earrings to pay off a small debt, leading her husband, an important general, to believe that the jewels have been lost... [More...]
Max Ophüls
A wealthy Countess decides to sell her earrings to pay off a small debt, leading her husband, an important general, to believe that the jewels have been lost... [More...]
Maigret tend un piège (1958)
Jean Delannoy
A mysterious serial killer is at work in the Marais district of Paris. So far he has claimed the lives of four victims, all young women, all savagely stabbed to death... [More...]
Jean Delannoy
A mysterious serial killer is at work in the Marais district of Paris. So far he has claimed the lives of four victims, all young women, all savagely stabbed to death... [More...]
Les Mains sales (1951)
Fernand Rivers
In September 1943, Illyria, a country in Eastern Europe, is drawn into the war against Nazi Germany. Hugo Barine is the privileged son of a member of the ruling elite but he is so disgusted by the way ordinary people are exploited by the present régime that he joins the Proletarian Party, which is committed to the idea of creating a classless society... [More...]
Fernand Rivers
In September 1943, Illyria, a country in Eastern Europe, is drawn into the war against Nazi Germany. Hugo Barine is the privileged son of a member of the ruling elite but he is so disgusted by the way ordinary people are exploited by the present régime that he joins the Proletarian Party, which is committed to the idea of creating a classless society... [More...]
La Maison Bonnadieu (1951)
Carlo Rim
In 1910, Félix Bonnadieu is the manager of a provincial factory that manufactures women's corsets. He knows that his wife Gabrielle is having an affair with a younger man, Pascal Mascaret, and is determined to break up the relationship... [More...]
Carlo Rim
In 1910, Félix Bonnadieu is the manager of a provincial factory that manufactures women's corsets. He knows that his wife Gabrielle is having an affair with a younger man, Pascal Mascaret, and is determined to break up the relationship... [More...]
Manèges (1950)
Yves Allégret
As his wife Dora lies close to death in a hospital bed after a horrific car accident, Robert looks back with guilt and tenderness on their brief life together... [More...]
Yves Allégret
As his wife Dora lies close to death in a hospital bed after a horrific car accident, Robert looks back with guilt and tenderness on their brief life together... [More...]
Manon des sources (1953)
Marcel Pagnol
In a small Provençal village, the locals tell a newly installed schoolteacher the story of Manon, a young shepherdess who lives a wild and solitary life in the surrounding hills... [More...]
Marcel Pagnol
In a small Provençal village, the locals tell a newly installed schoolteacher the story of Manon, a young shepherdess who lives a wild and solitary life in the surrounding hills... [More...]
Marianne de ma jeunesse (1955)
Julien Duvivier
The Heiligenstadt estate in Bavaria has become a private school for the male offspring of the well-to-do. There, the boys have organised themselves into two factions - the Sages, led by the sensible Manfred, and the Brigands, led by the hot-headed Alexis... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
The Heiligenstadt estate in Bavaria has become a private school for the male offspring of the well-to-do. There, the boys have organised themselves into two factions - the Sages, led by the sensible Manfred, and the Brigands, led by the hot-headed Alexis... [More...]
Marie-Octobre (1959)
Julien Duvivier
Marie-Hélène Dumoufin, formerly known as Marie-Octobre, hosts a party at her house with the aim of concluding some unfinished business... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
Marie-Hélène Dumoufin, formerly known as Marie-Octobre, hosts a party at her house with the aim of concluding some unfinished business... [More...]
Maternité clandestine (1953)
Jean Gourguet
In the suburbs of Paris, a gang of wayward adolescents led by Maurice survive on the spoils of their petty crimes. Under the instructions of small-time hoodlum André, the gang must hold up a cashier on his way home one evening... [More...]
Jean Gourguet
In the suburbs of Paris, a gang of wayward adolescents led by Maurice survive on the spoils of their petty crimes. Under the instructions of small-time hoodlum André, the gang must hold up a cashier on his way home one evening... [More...]
Maxime (1958)
Henri Verneuil
Paris, 1914. Maxime Cherpray is an ageing Don Juan who, despite being well-bred and well-educated, has little money and lives in a small apartment... [More...]
Henri Verneuil
Paris, 1914. Maxime Cherpray is an ageing Don Juan who, despite being well-bred and well-educated, has little money and lives in a small apartment... [More...]
Minne, l'ingénue libertine (1950)
Jacqueline Audry
Minnie is a flighty young woman who, bored with her mundane bourgeois existence, takes refuge in her childish fantasies. On her wedding night, she regales her husband Antoine with a lurid account of a passionate liaison she once had with a hoodlum... [More...]
Jacqueline Audry
Minnie is a flighty young woman who, bored with her mundane bourgeois existence, takes refuge in her childish fantasies. On her wedding night, she regales her husband Antoine with a lurid account of a passionate liaison she once had with a hoodlum... [More...]
La Minute de vérité (1952)
Jean Delannoy
On the evening of his wedding anniversary, a respectable doctor, Pierre Richard, is called away to attend to a suicide victim... [More...]
Jean Delannoy
On the evening of his wedding anniversary, a respectable doctor, Pierre Richard, is called away to attend to a suicide victim... [More...]
Miquette et sa mère (1950)
Henri-Georges Clouzot
In 1900, 18-year-old Miquette Grandier lives in a small provincial town with her widowed mother, Madame Grandier, the owner of a tobacco shop... [More...]
Henri-Georges Clouzot
In 1900, 18-year-old Miquette Grandier lives in a small provincial town with her widowed mother, Madame Grandier, the owner of a tobacco shop... [More...]
Le Miroir à deux faces (1958)
André Cayatte
Deciding it is time for him to marry, schoolmaster Pierre Tardivet places an ad in the newspaper for his ideal partner. Of the many replies he receives, he selects Marie-Josée Vauzange, a middle-aged spinster who, whilst gentle and cultivated, is far from being an object of beauty... [More...]
André Cayatte
Deciding it is time for him to marry, schoolmaster Pierre Tardivet places an ad in the newspaper for his ideal partner. Of the many replies he receives, he selects Marie-Josée Vauzange, a middle-aged spinster who, whilst gentle and cultivated, is far from being an object of beauty... [More...]
Les Misérables (1958)
Jean-Paul Le Chanois
France, 1815. Sentenced to five years' hard labour for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean escapes from prison in Toulon and goes on the run... [More...]
Jean-Paul Le Chanois
France, 1815. Sentenced to five years' hard labour for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean escapes from prison in Toulon and goes on the run... [More...]
Les Mistons (1957)
François Truffaut
In the historic town of Nîmes, an attractive young woman named Bernadette finds she has some unwelcome admirers in a gang of schoolboys who insist on following her about during the long summer holidays... [More...]
François Truffaut
In the historic town of Nîmes, an attractive young woman named Bernadette finds she has some unwelcome admirers in a gang of schoolboys who insist on following her about during the long summer holidays... [More...]
Mon oncle (1958)
Jacques Tati
Monsieur Hulot rents a modest rooftop apartment in an old part of Paris, where traders sell their goods in the streets and young boys play games on unsuspecting passers-by... [More...]
Jacques Tati
Monsieur Hulot rents a modest rooftop apartment in an old part of Paris, where traders sell their goods in the streets and young boys play games on unsuspecting passers-by... [More...]
Monsieur Fabre (1951)
Henri Diamant-Berger
Avignon, 1861. When he is not fulfilling his duties as a schoolmaster and family man, Jean-Henri Fabre occupies himself in the study of insects, his main passion in life... [More...]
Henri Diamant-Berger
Avignon, 1861. When he is not fulfilling his duties as a schoolmaster and family man, Jean-Henri Fabre occupies himself in the study of insects, his main passion in life... [More...]