French cinema: 1940s
Jour de fête (1949)
Jacques Tati
It is 14th July and the arrival of a travelling fair in the sleepy French country town of Sainte-Severe-sur-Indre is greeted with enthusiasm by the locals, especially the children...
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Jacques Tati
La Kermesse rouge (1947)
Paul Mesnier
Paris in the 1890s. When Agnès Bonnardet falls in love with a struggling Montmartre painter, Claude Sironi, her aristocratic relatives waste no time in acting to thwart a mésalliance that will bring disgrace on the family...
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Paul Mesnier
Le Lit à colonnes (1942)
Roland Tual
In 1880, the warders and inmates at a French prison are equally afraid of Clément Porey-Cave, an implacable prison governor...
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Roland Tual
Le Loup des Malveneur (1943)
Guillaume Radot
Legend has it that, many years ago, the first of the Malveneurs was transformed into a wolf by a curse and became a ravenous beast that preyed on the locals...
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Guillaume Radot
Lumière d'été (1943)
Jean Grémillon
Michèle, a young dress designer from Paris, arranges to meet up with her boyfriend Roland, a temperamental artist, at a mountain resort in Provence...
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Jean Grémillon
Macadam (1946)
Jacques Feyder
The Hôtel Bijou in Montmartre, Paris, shares the seedy reputation of its owner, Madame Rose, a woman who killed her husband because he was too honest... [More...]
Jacques Feyder
The Hôtel Bijou in Montmartre, Paris, shares the seedy reputation of its owner, Madame Rose, a woman who killed her husband because he was too honest... [More...]
Madame Sans-Gêne (1941)
Roger Richebé
In 1792, Cathérine Hübscher is employed as a modest laundry maid in the rue Sainte-Anne in Paris. With the help of her fiancé, Sergeant Lefebvre, she saves an Austrian nobleman, Count Neipperg, from the militia... [More...]
Roger Richebé
In 1792, Cathérine Hübscher is employed as a modest laundry maid in the rue Sainte-Anne in Paris. With the help of her fiancé, Sergeant Lefebvre, she saves an Austrian nobleman, Count Neipperg, from the militia... [More...]
La Main du diable (1943)
Maurice Tourneur
A man arrives at an isolated mountain inn clutching a small box. During a momentary power-cut the box suddenly goes missing, and its owner is stricken with terror... [More...]
Maurice Tourneur
A man arrives at an isolated mountain inn clutching a small box. During a momentary power-cut the box suddenly goes missing, and its owner is stricken with terror... [More...]
La Maison sous la mer (1947)
Henri Calef
Flore, a good-looking woman in her early thirties, leads a contented but pretty humdrum life in the northern French town of Flamanville... [More...]
Henri Calef
Flore, a good-looking woman in her early thirties, leads a contented but pretty humdrum life in the northern French town of Flamanville... [More...]
La Malibran (1944)
Sacha Guitry
When she learns of the premature death of her friend, the celebrated singer Maria Malibran, the Countess Merlin recalls several important episodes in her life... [More...]
Sacha Guitry
When she learns of the premature death of her friend, the celebrated singer Maria Malibran, the Countess Merlin recalls several important episodes in her life... [More...]
Manon (1949)
Henri-Georges Clouzot
A cargo ship leaves Marseilles loaded with Jews, survivors of the Holocaust who hope to begin a new life in the recently founded state of Israel... [More...]
Henri-Georges Clouzot
A cargo ship leaves Marseilles loaded with Jews, survivors of the Holocaust who hope to begin a new life in the recently founded state of Israel... [More...]
Le Mariage de Chiffon (1942)
Claude Autant-Lara
Madame de Bray's overriding concern is to find a suitable husband for her 18-year-old daughter Chiffon. She believes she has found the ideal candidate in a distinguished colonel, the Duke of Aubières, even if he is her daughter's senior by more than thirty years... [More...]
Claude Autant-Lara
Madame de Bray's overriding concern is to find a suitable husband for her 18-year-old daughter Chiffon. She believes she has found the ideal candidate in a distinguished colonel, the Duke of Aubières, even if he is her daughter's senior by more than thirty years... [More...]
La Marie du port (1949)
Marcel Carné
In 1949, Odile le Flem, a woman in her mid-thirties, makes a reluctant return to the small Normandy town where she grew up, Port-en-Bessin, to attend the funeral of her recently deceased father... [More...]
Marcel Carné
In 1949, Odile le Flem, a woman in her mid-thirties, makes a reluctant return to the small Normandy town where she grew up, Port-en-Bessin, to attend the funeral of her recently deceased father... [More...]
Martin Roumagnac (1946)
Georges Lacombe
In a small provincial town, Blanche Ferrand and her uncle own a shop which sells seed and birds. Blanche resents her drab milieu but has no difficulty attracting male suitors who might offer her an escape... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
In a small provincial town, Blanche Ferrand and her uncle own a shop which sells seed and birds. Blanche resents her drab milieu but has no difficulty attracting male suitors who might offer her an escape... [More...]
Maya (1949)
Raymond Bernard
When the cargo ship Saint-Jacques docks at a seaport, the crew waste no time going ashore to enjoy the distractions offered by the town... [More...]
Raymond Bernard
When the cargo ship Saint-Jacques docks at a seaport, the crew waste no time going ashore to enjoy the distractions offered by the town... [More...]
Menaces (1940)
Edmond T. Gréville
France in 1938. Despite the Munich Agreement, the outbreak of war seems imminent. In a small Parisian hotel, several disparate individuals take refuge from the storm clouds that are gathering over Europe... [More...]
Edmond T. Gréville
France in 1938. Despite the Munich Agreement, the outbreak of war seems imminent. In a small Parisian hotel, several disparate individuals take refuge from the storm clouds that are gathering over Europe... [More...]
Millionnaires d'un jour (1949)
André Hunebelle
In a moment of distraction journalist Bernard Lajarrige makes the fatal error of publishing the wrong winning number of the national lottery in his newspaper... [More...]
André Hunebelle
In a moment of distraction journalist Bernard Lajarrige makes the fatal error of publishing the wrong winning number of the national lottery in his newspaper... [More...]
Miroir (1947)
Raymond Lamy
A prominent figure in the world of high finance, Pierre Lussac appears to be the model French citizen. He has wealth, influence and the unwavering admiration of the bourgeois set to which he belongs... [More...]
Raymond Lamy
A prominent figure in the world of high finance, Pierre Lussac appears to be the model French citizen. He has wealth, influence and the unwavering admiration of the bourgeois set to which he belongs... [More...]
Mission à Tanger (1949)
André Hunebelle
In 1942, the Moroccan city of Tangier is a hotbed of international espionage. It is here that Alexandre Segard runs a spy ring, under the cover of an import-export company... [More...]
André Hunebelle
In 1942, the Moroccan city of Tangier is a hotbed of international espionage. It is here that Alexandre Segard runs a spy ring, under the cover of an import-export company... [More...]
Mission spéciale (1946)
Maurice de Canonge
May 1940. Commissioner Chabrier, a National Security operative, is about to capture a gang of spies who, under a cover of respectability, have been supplying secrets to the German High Command... [More...]
Maurice de Canonge
May 1940. Commissioner Chabrier, a National Security operative, is about to capture a gang of spies who, under a cover of respectability, have been supplying secrets to the German High Command... [More...]
Monseigneur (1949)
Roger Richebé
Louis Mennechain, a modest Parisian locksmith, can hardly believe his ears when an amiable historian named Piétrefond reveals that he is the direct descendent of King Louis XVI and therefore the rightful king of France... [More...]
Roger Richebé
Louis Mennechain, a modest Parisian locksmith, can hardly believe his ears when an amiable historian named Piétrefond reveals that he is the direct descendent of King Louis XVI and therefore the rightful king of France... [More...]
Monsieur Chasse (1947)
Willy Rozier
As he pursues an extramarital affair, the bourgeois Monsieur Duchatel lets his attractive young wife Léontine think he is spending his free time hunting... [More...]
Willy Rozier
As he pursues an extramarital affair, the bourgeois Monsieur Duchatel lets his attractive young wife Léontine think he is spending his free time hunting... [More...]
Monsieur des Lourdines (1943)
Pierre de Hérain
Dying of boredom at his family estate in the country, Anthime des Lourdines flees to Paris to live the life of a reckless prodigal... [More...]
Pierre de Hérain
Dying of boredom at his family estate in the country, Anthime des Lourdines flees to Paris to live the life of a reckless prodigal... [More...]
Monsieur Grégoire s'évade (1946)
Jacques Daniel-Norman
Alex Grégoire leads the most mundane of existences. A humble clerk for an insurance company, he can have no idea of the improbable adventures that lie in store for him when he wins a crossword competition... [More...]
Jacques Daniel-Norman
Alex Grégoire leads the most mundane of existences. A humble clerk for an insurance company, he can have no idea of the improbable adventures that lie in store for him when he wins a crossword competition... [More...]
Monsieur Hector (1940)
Maurice Cammage
The vicomte de Saint-Amand, a skiing champion, sends his valet Hector ahead of him to prepare his apartment in Nice. Whilst his master is away, Hector dresses up in one of the vicomte's suits and meets and falls in love with Suzanne, a washroom attendant who has herself borrowed the fur coat of one of her clients... [More...]
Maurice Cammage
The vicomte de Saint-Amand, a skiing champion, sends his valet Hector ahead of him to prepare his apartment in Nice. Whilst his master is away, Hector dresses up in one of the vicomte's suits and meets and falls in love with Suzanne, a washroom attendant who has herself borrowed the fur coat of one of her clients... [More...]
Monsieur La Souris (1942)
Georges Lacombe
His fortune lost through an amorous adventure that turned sour, Antonin Ramatuel is reduced to living like a tramp, subsisting on the few francs he can take off the good folk of Paris... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
His fortune lost through an amorous adventure that turned sour, Antonin Ramatuel is reduced to living like a tramp, subsisting on the few francs he can take off the good folk of Paris... [More...]
Monsieur Vincent (1947)
Maurice Cloche
In the early 1600s, during the reign of King Louis XIII, Vincent de Paul gives up his privileged position as a private tutor to the aristocratic Gondy family, so that he can devote himself to the needs of the poor and infirm... [More...]
Maurice Cloche
In the early 1600s, during the reign of King Louis XIII, Vincent de Paul gives up his privileged position as a private tutor to the aristocratic Gondy family, so that he can devote himself to the needs of the poor and infirm... [More...]
Montmartre-sur-Seine (1941)
Georges Lacombe
In Montmartre, Paris, Michel is in love with Lily, but she only has eyes for Maurice, a handsome shop assistant. Unaware of Lily's interest in him, Maurice loves Juliette, but the arrival of another man, Claude, threatens his budding romance... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
In Montmartre, Paris, Michel is in love with Lily, but she only has eyes for Maurice, a handsome shop assistant. Unaware of Lily's interest in him, Maurice loves Juliette, but the arrival of another man, Claude, threatens his budding romance... [More...]
Les Musiciens du ciel (1940)
Georges Lacombe
In Paris, Victor makes a dishonest living as a petty criminal. When his partner in crime is arrested for manufacturing forged coins, Victor begins begging on the street, pretending he is blind... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
In Paris, Victor makes a dishonest living as a petty criminal. When his partner in crime is arrested for manufacturing forged coins, Victor begins begging on the street, pretending he is blind... [More...]
Le Mystère Saint-Val (1945)
René Le Hénaff
Désiré Le Sec works for an insurance company owned by his uncle but has aspirations of being a great detective... [More...]
René Le Hénaff
Désiré Le Sec works for an insurance company owned by his uncle but has aspirations of being a great detective... [More...]