French cinema: 1940s
L'Aventure est au coin de la rue (1944)
Jacques Daniel-Norman
A wealthy young man, Pierre Trévoux, is tired of his dull life and yearns for adventure. After spending an evening in a night-club where is inspired by the singer Adria-Adria, he gets the better of a pickpocket, Roulet, forcing him to give him his ill-gotten gains for that evening...
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Jacques Daniel-Norman
Bal Cupidon (1949)
Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon
After causing a road accident by driving too fast, Flip finds himself in court, and prosecution lawyer Isabelle Plessis takes immense pleasure in seeing him sent to prison...
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Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon
Barry (1949)
Richard Pottier
In 1880, in a French alpine village near the border with Italy, Angelina is passionately in love with Sylvain Bavoizet, not knowing that she has an equally fervent admirer in Théotime, an old friend of hers who is twenty years her senior...
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Richard Pottier
La Bataille de l'eau lourde (1948)
Jean Dréville
Not long after Norway comes under Nazi Occupation at the start of World War II, the Germans commandeer a hydroelectric power plant in the mountains outside Rjukan...
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Jean Dréville
La Bataille du rail (1946)
René Clément
This episodic film recounts the exploits of French railway workers supporting the activities of the French Resistance during the Second World War...
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René Clément
Le Bataillon du ciel (1947)
Alexander Esway
Spring, 1944: a decisive moment in the Second World War. Colonel Rouvier, a respected soldier who lost an arm in combat in Tunisia, is put in charge of training a parachute regiment of the French Free Forces in England... [More...]
Alexander Esway
Spring, 1944: a decisive moment in the Second World War. Colonel Rouvier, a respected soldier who lost an arm in combat in Tunisia, is put in charge of training a parachute regiment of the French Free Forces in England... [More...]
Battement de coeur (1940)
Henri Decoin
On leaving a reformatory, Arlette finds herself alone and penniless in Paris. An orphan, she has no one to stay with and nowhere to go... [More...]
Henri Decoin
On leaving a reformatory, Arlette finds herself alone and penniless in Paris. An orphan, she has no one to stay with and nowhere to go... [More...]
Bécassine (1940)
Pierre Caron
Bécassine, a young Breton girl, works as a maid for the Marquise de Grand-Air, who lives with her daughter Annie and Uncle Coretin in a grand house by the sea... [More...]
Pierre Caron
Bécassine, a young Breton girl, works as a maid for the Marquise de Grand-Air, who lives with her daughter Annie and Uncle Coretin in a grand house by the sea... [More...]
La Belle et la bête (1946)
Jean Cocteau
Once upon a time, there was an old merchant who, having fallen on hard times, lives with his three daughters and his son at their modest house in the country... [More...]
Jean Cocteau
Once upon a time, there was an old merchant who, having fallen on hard times, lives with his three daughters and his son at their modest house in the country... [More...]
La Belle meunière (1948)
Marcel Pagnol
Tired of Vienna and his lack of success as a composer, Franz Schubert goes in search of inspiration by taking a walking holiday in the countryside around Salzburg... [More...]
Marcel Pagnol
Tired of Vienna and his lack of success as a composer, Franz Schubert goes in search of inspiration by taking a walking holiday in the countryside around Salzburg... [More...]
Bethsabée (1947)
Léonide Moguy
Georges Dubreuil, a spahi captain stationed at a French fortress in Morocco, is delighted when his fiancée, Arabella Delvert, comes to visit him... [More...]
Léonide Moguy
Georges Dubreuil, a spahi captain stationed at a French fortress in Morocco, is delighted when his fiancée, Arabella Delvert, comes to visit him... [More...]
Le Bienfaiteur (1942)
Henri Decoin
Monsieur Moulinet has earned the respect and admiration of all the good people of Barfleur-sur-Oron. Nicknamed “the benefactor”, he is renowned for his generosity... [More...]
Henri Decoin
Monsieur Moulinet has earned the respect and admiration of all the good people of Barfleur-sur-Oron. Nicknamed “the benefactor”, he is renowned for his generosity... [More...]
Blanc comme neige (1948)
André Berthomieu
Léon Ménard travels many kilometres from his home in the country to find work in Paris, with the intention that one day soon he will marry his girlfriend Charlotte... [More...]
André Berthomieu
Léon Ménard travels many kilometres from his home in the country to find work in Paris, with the intention that one day soon he will marry his girlfriend Charlotte... [More...]
La Boîte aux rêves (1945)
Yves Allégret
Four students fall under the spell of an attractive young woman named Nicole and take her home with them. In next to no time, she becomes their unpaid housekeeper and guardian angel, keeping from them the fact that she is the heiress to a fortune... [More...]
Yves Allégret
Four students fall under the spell of an attractive young woman named Nicole and take her home with them. In next to no time, she becomes their unpaid housekeeper and guardian angel, keeping from them the fact that she is the heiress to a fortune... [More...]
Boléro (1942)
Jean Boyer
Afflicted with a severe throat infection, Rémi Courmont finds himself confined to his Parisian apartment but his hopes of a peaceful recuperation are dashed by his downstairs neighbour, Anne-Marie Houillier... [More...]
Jean Boyer
Afflicted with a severe throat infection, Rémi Courmont finds himself confined to his Parisian apartment but his hopes of a peaceful recuperation are dashed by his downstairs neighbour, Anne-Marie Houillier... [More...]
La Bonne étoile (1943)
Jean Boyer
Auguste, known to his friends as Guste, ekes out a modest living as a fisherman in a small Mediterranean port in the south of France... [More...]
Jean Boyer
Auguste, known to his friends as Guste, ekes out a modest living as a fisherman in a small Mediterranean port in the south of France... [More...]
Le Bossu (1944)
Jean Delannoy
France, 1699. Philippe de Gonzague kills the Duke of Nevers in the hope of stealing both his wife and his fortune. Having failed to save the Duke's life, the swordmaster Henri de Lagardère flees to Spain with his infant daughter Aurore, swearing that one day he will have his revenge... [More...]
Jean Delannoy
France, 1699. Philippe de Gonzague kills the Duke of Nevers in the hope of stealing both his wife and his fortune. Having failed to save the Duke's life, the swordmaster Henri de Lagardère flees to Spain with his infant daughter Aurore, swearing that one day he will have his revenge... [More...]
Boule de suif (1945)
Christian-Jaque
Normandy, 1870. With Rouen occupied by the Prussian army, a prostitute named Élisabeth Rousset decides to leave the town in a stage coach bound for Le Havre... [More...]
Christian-Jaque
Normandy, 1870. With Rouen occupied by the Prussian army, a prostitute named Élisabeth Rousset decides to leave the town in a stage coach bound for Le Havre... [More...]
Le Briseur de chaînes (1941)
Jacques Daniel-Norman
The Mourets appear to be a happily united family, living a tranquil self-sufficient existence in Saint-Viaud. The head of the household is an old woman known as Mamouret... [More...]
Jacques Daniel-Norman
The Mourets appear to be a happily united family, living a tranquil self-sufficient existence in Saint-Viaud. The head of the household is an old woman known as Mamouret... [More...]
Le Café du cadran (1947)
Jean Gehret
Julien Couturier and his wife Louise give up their peaceful life in the Auvergne to run a small bar-café in the thriving heart of Paris... [More...]
Jean Gehret
Julien Couturier and his wife Louise give up their peaceful life in the Auvergne to run a small bar-café in the thriving heart of Paris... [More...]
La Cage aux rossignols (1945)
Jean Dréville
Clément Mathieu has written a book, La Cage aux Rossignols, which recounts his recent experiences as a teacher in a typical French boys' school... [More...]
Jean Dréville
Clément Mathieu has written a book, La Cage aux Rossignols, which recounts his recent experiences as a teacher in a typical French boys' school... [More...]
Le Capitaine Fracasse (1943)
Abel Gance
Penniless and alone, the young Baron of Cigognac is ready to join his ancestors in the family vault beneath his run-down chateau... [More...]
Abel Gance
Penniless and alone, the young Baron of Cigognac is ready to join his ancestors in the family vault beneath his run-down chateau... [More...]
Le Capitan (1946)
Robert Vernay
France under the reign of King Louis XIII. In 1615, the Duke of Angoulême leads a faction of noblemen who conspire to drive from the royal court all Florentines, including their powerful leader Concini... [More...]
Robert Vernay
France under the reign of King Louis XIII. In 1615, the Duke of Angoulême leads a faction of noblemen who conspire to drive from the royal court all Florentines, including their powerful leader Concini... [More...]
Caprices (1942)
Léo Joannon
Lise and Philippe are two comfortably off young people who, to relieve their crushing boredom, resort to what they believe is some harmless playacting... [More...]
Léo Joannon
Lise and Philippe are two comfortably off young people who, to relieve their crushing boredom, resort to what they believe is some harmless playacting... [More...]
La Carcasse et le tord-cou (1948)
René Chanas
Tord-Cou is a misanthropic drunken old man who scrapes a living as a country policeman in a little village on the Grand Vau plateau in the remote depths of rural France... [More...]
René Chanas
Tord-Cou is a misanthropic drunken old man who scrapes a living as a country policeman in a little village on the Grand Vau plateau in the remote depths of rural France... [More...]
Carmen (1945)
Christian-Jaque
Seville, Spain. As soon as Don José, a naive young lieutenant, sets eyes on the dark haired beauty Carmen he makes himself her slave, like so many men before him... [More...]
Christian-Jaque
Seville, Spain. As soon as Don José, a naive young lieutenant, sets eyes on the dark haired beauty Carmen he makes himself her slave, like so many men before him... [More...]
Carré de valets (1947)
André Berthomieu
Madame de La Bastide has high hopes that her son Jacques will follow in his father's footsteps and become a highly respected lawyer... [More...]
André Berthomieu
Madame de La Bastide has high hopes that her son Jacques will follow in his father's footsteps and become a highly respected lawyer... [More...]
Le Carrefour des enfants perdus (1944)
Léo Joannon
Marseille, 1940. In the chaotic aftermath of France's capitulation to Nazi Germany, three former inmates of a reform school meet up by chance... [More...]
Léo Joannon
Marseille, 1940. In the chaotic aftermath of France's capitulation to Nazi Germany, three former inmates of a reform school meet up by chance... [More...]
Cavalcade d'amour (1940)
Raymond Bernard
For hundreds of years, the château de Maupré has brought misfortune to its inhabitants, as those who choose to wed within its walls are destined to wed unhappily... [More...]
Raymond Bernard
For hundreds of years, the château de Maupré has brought misfortune to its inhabitants, as those who choose to wed within its walls are destined to wed unhappily... [More...]
Les Caves du Majestic (1945)
Richard Pottier
Madame Petersen, the wife of a successful Swedish businessman, is murdered at the Majestic Hotel in Paris and Chief Inspector Maigret is called in to investigate... [More...]
Richard Pottier
Madame Petersen, the wife of a successful Swedish businessman, is murdered at the Majestic Hotel in Paris and Chief Inspector Maigret is called in to investigate... [More...]