French cinema: 1930s
La Petite chocolatière (1932)
Marc Allégret
Shortly after getting engaged to his boss's daughter, mild-mannered civil servant Paul Normand invites an artist friend, Félicien Bédarride, and his girlfriend Rosette, to spend a few days with him at his house in the country...
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Marc Allégret
La Petite Lise (1930)
Jean Grémillon
Victor Berthier's punishment for murdering his odious wife is a ten-year stretch in a crowded prison in French Guiana. Released for good behaviour, Victor returns to Paris with one intention - to start a new life with his grown-up daughter Lise...
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Jean Grémillon
La Peur (1936)
Viktor Tourjansky
Irène is a happily married middle-aged woman. She has an adoring husband and young children she dotes on. In a moment of boredom whilst on holiday, she falls for the charms of a handsome young pianist, Jean...
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Viktor Tourjansky
Pièges (1939)
Robert Siodmak
The mysterious disappearance of eleven young women in Paris has so far stumped the capital's police. It is a sign of how desperate things are becoming that Superintendent Ténier has to resort to enlisting the help of Adrienne Charpentier, a close friend of the latest victim...
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Robert Siodmak
La Piste du sud (1938)
Pierre Billon
The location is a French military garrison in Tirzit, a North African stronghold lost in the Sahara Desert. Olcott, a man who distributes essential supplies in the region, arrives at the fortress in a desperate state...
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Pierre Billon
Poil de carotte (1932)
Julien Duvivier
Bullied by his matriarchal mother, abused by his siblings, ignored by his father, Poil de Carotte's childhood is as miserable as it could be... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
Bullied by his matriarchal mother, abused by his siblings, ignored by his father, Poil de Carotte's childhood is as miserable as it could be... [More...]
Poison (1935)
Man Ray
A man in his mid-forties (Man Ray) is enjoying the company of an attractive young woman in her twenties (the artist Meret Oppenheim)... [More...]
Man Ray
A man in his mid-forties (Man Ray) is enjoying the company of an attractive young woman in her twenties (the artist Meret Oppenheim)... [More...]
Pour un soir..! (1931)
Jean Godard
The singer Stella Maria is the star attraction at a popular nightclub. Seeing one of his comrades succumb to her lethal charms, a naval officer warns him off by relating the tragic story of a poor sailor who lost all that he had because of his love for this heartless siren... [More...]
Jean Godard
The singer Stella Maria is the star attraction at a popular nightclub. Seeing one of his comrades succumb to her lethal charms, a naval officer warns him off by relating the tragic story of a poor sailor who lost all that he had because of his love for this heartless siren... [More...]
Prends la route (1936)
Jean Boyer
Summoned by his aristocratic father, Jacques speeds across France in his treasured Bugatti for a meeting with the fiancée who has been selected for him... [More...]
Jean Boyer
Summoned by his aristocratic father, Jacques speeds across France in his treasured Bugatti for a meeting with the fiancée who has been selected for him... [More...]
Prince de minuit (1935)
René Guissart
If Henry's talents as a salesman in a Parisian record shop are seldom appreciated by his employer, Monsieur Galoubet, it is because he is frivolous by nature and cannot help flirting with his boss's daughter... [More...]
René Guissart
If Henry's talents as a salesman in a Parisian record shop are seldom appreciated by his employer, Monsieur Galoubet, it is because he is frivolous by nature and cannot help flirting with his boss's daughter... [More...]
Princesse Tam Tam (1935)
Edmond T. Gréville
Max de Mirecourt is one of the most popular writers of his age, but, distracted by his wife Lucie's flirtatious behaviour, he is having difficulty coming up with ideas for his next best-selling novel... [More...]
Edmond T. Gréville
Max de Mirecourt is one of the most popular writers of his age, but, distracted by his wife Lucie's flirtatious behaviour, he is having difficulty coming up with ideas for his next best-selling novel... [More...]
Prix de beauté (1930)
Augusto Genina
Lucienne, a typist for a Parisian newspaper, decides to a enter a beauty competition, despite her boyfriend André's fierce objections... [More...]
Augusto Genina
Lucienne, a typist for a Parisian newspaper, decides to a enter a beauty competition, despite her boyfriend André's fierce objections... [More...]
Le Puritain (1938)
Jeff Musso
Francis Ferriter is a Dublin journalist and staunch Catholic who leads a fanatical campaign against declining moral standards in his city... [More...]
Jeff Musso
Francis Ferriter is a Dublin journalist and staunch Catholic who leads a fanatical campaign against declining moral standards in his city... [More...]
Le Quai des brumes (1938)
Marcel Carné
Jean, a deserter from the French colonial army, arrives in the misty port of Le Havre where he immediately strikes up a rapport with the owner of an inn frequented by the town's lowlife... [More...]
Marcel Carné
Jean, a deserter from the French colonial army, arrives in the misty port of Le Havre where he immediately strikes up a rapport with the owner of an inn frequented by the town's lowlife... [More...]
Quatorze Juillet (1933)
René Clair
Anna, a modest flower seller, is in love with Jean, a Paris taxi driver. They plan to spend the evening of the 14th of July in each other's arms, dancing the night away at an open air ball... [More...]
René Clair
Anna, a modest flower seller, is in love with Jean, a Paris taxi driver. They plan to spend the evening of the 14th of July in each other's arms, dancing the night away at an open air ball... [More...]
Raphaël le tatoué (1939)
Christian-Jaque
Modeste Manosque finds himself in trouble when he is spotted by his employer at Luna Park one evening in the company of a pretty blonde Aline... [More...]
Christian-Jaque
Modeste Manosque finds himself in trouble when he is spotted by his employer at Luna Park one evening in the company of a pretty blonde Aline... [More...]
Rapt (1934)
Dimitri Kirsanoff
High up in the Swiss mountains, two close-knit village communities sit opposite one another, separated by language and a wide valley that neither is inclined to cross... [More...]
Dimitri Kirsanoff
High up in the Swiss mountains, two close-knit village communities sit opposite one another, separated by language and a wide valley that neither is inclined to cross... [More...]
Le Récif de corail (1938)
Maurice Gleize
To escape arrest after killing a man in Brisbane, Trott Lennard joins the crew of a cargo ship bound for Mexico. En route, Lennard has the opportunity to disembark at a paradisiacal island but decides to continue his voyage... [More...]
Maurice Gleize
To escape arrest after killing a man in Brisbane, Trott Lennard joins the crew of a cargo ship bound for Mexico. En route, Lennard has the opportunity to disembark at a paradisiacal island but decides to continue his voyage... [More...]
Regain (1937)
Marcel Pagnol
One by one, the inhabitants of a remote little village in Haute-Provence depart, until only the poacher Panturle remains... [More...]
Marcel Pagnol
One by one, the inhabitants of a remote little village in Haute-Provence depart, until only the poacher Panturle remains... [More...]
La Règle du jeu (1939)
Jean Renoir
The aviator André Jurieux returns to France after a record-breaking flight, but is heart-broken when the woman he loves, Christine de la Chesnaye, is not there to meet him... [More...]
Jean Renoir
The aviator André Jurieux returns to France after a record-breaking flight, but is heart-broken when the woman he loves, Christine de la Chesnaye, is not there to meet him... [More...]
Rendez-vous aux Champs-Élysées (1937)
Jacques Houssin
Maxime Germont is a Parisian playboy whose extravagant lifestyle comes to an abrupt end when the bailiffs come knocking on his door one day... [More...]
Jacques Houssin
Maxime Germont is a Parisian playboy whose extravagant lifestyle comes to an abrupt end when the bailiffs come knocking on his door one day... [More...]
Rigolboche (1936)
Christian-Jaque
In Dakar, the singer Lina Bourget manages a seedy nightclub. One of her clients, Lucien Mirvaux, tries to extort money from her... [More...]
Christian-Jaque
In Dakar, the singer Lina Bourget manages a seedy nightclub. One of her clients, Lucien Mirvaux, tries to extort money from her... [More...]
Le Roi (1936)
Pierre Colombier
The long awaited visit by King Jean IV of Cerdagne to France becomes an occasion for wild revelry in the French capital. The deputy mayor, Monsieur Boudier, hopes to receive the monarch at his magnificent private residence, but first he must convince the Marquis de Chamarande, whose son is courting Suzanne, Boudier's daughter... [More...]
Pierre Colombier
The long awaited visit by King Jean IV of Cerdagne to France becomes an occasion for wild revelry in the French capital. The deputy mayor, Monsieur Boudier, hopes to receive the monarch at his magnificent private residence, but first he must convince the Marquis de Chamarande, whose son is courting Suzanne, Boudier's daughter... [More...]
Les Rois du sport (1937)
Pierre Colombier
Jules and Fernand, two waiters in a Marseilles café, are both keen sports enthusiasts. They enter the annual waiters' race, which Jules wins... [More...]
Pierre Colombier
Jules and Fernand, two waiters in a Marseilles café, are both keen sports enthusiasts. They enter the annual waiters' race, which Jules wins... [More...]
Le Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre (1935)
Abel Gance
Maxime Hauterive de Champcey, an impoverished aristocrat, has difficulty finding work but finally manages to obtain the post of estate manager to a wealthy family, the Laroques... [More...]
Abel Gance
Maxime Hauterive de Champcey, an impoverished aristocrat, has difficulty finding work but finally manages to obtain the post of estate manager to a wealthy family, the Laroques... [More...]
Le Roman d'un tricheur (1936)
Sacha Guitry
A man in his mid-fifties sits alone in a café writing his memoirs which he intends titling The Story of a Cheat. His tale begins when, at the age of 12, he is denied a meal of tasty mushrooms as a punishment for stealing money from the till of his family's grocery shop... [More...]
Sacha Guitry
A man in his mid-fifties sits alone in a café writing his memoirs which he intends titling The Story of a Cheat. His tale begins when, at the age of 12, he is denied a meal of tasty mushrooms as a punishment for stealing money from the till of his family's grocery shop... [More...]
Le Roman de Werther (1938)
Max Ophüls
The setting is the German city of Wetzlar, towards the end of the 18th century. Werther is a young man of a romantic temperament, a poet and musician who occupies an important position at the town hall... [More...]
Max Ophüls
The setting is the German city of Wetzlar, towards the end of the 18th century. Werther is a young man of a romantic temperament, a poet and musician who occupies an important position at the town hall... [More...]
Le Rosier de Madame Husson (1932)
Dominique Bernard-Deschamps
Madame Husson, the most respected personage in a small Normandy town, has resolved to arrest the moral decline in her community... [More...]
Dominique Bernard-Deschamps
Madame Husson, the most respected personage in a small Normandy town, has resolved to arrest the moral decline in her community... [More...]
Rouletabille aviateur (1932)
Steve Sekely
An aeroplane transporting gold from the Bank of France to Hungary is intercepted by airborne gangsters. The plane crashes in flames and its precious cargo is loaded aboard a lorry, the ingots concealed in sacks of flour... [More...]
Steve Sekely
An aeroplane transporting gold from the Bank of France to Hungary is intercepted by airborne gangsters. The plane crashes in flames and its precious cargo is loaded aboard a lorry, the ingots concealed in sacks of flour... [More...]
La Route impériale (1935)
Marcel L'Herbier
Lieutenant Brent, a young British officer, finds himself in front of a military tribunal after he is suspected of trading secrets with Iraqi rebels... [More...]
Marcel L'Herbier
Lieutenant Brent, a young British officer, finds himself in front of a military tribunal after he is suspected of trading secrets with Iraqi rebels... [More...]