French cinema: 1940s
Les Mystères de Paris (1943)
Jacques de Baroncelli
France, 1830. In the guise of a down-and-out named Rodolphe, the Grand-Duke of Gérolstein enters the lower depths of Paris in search of his missing daughter Fleur de Marie, the fruit of one of his erstwhile amorous adventures...
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Jacques de Baroncelli
Naïs (1945)
Raymond Leboursier
Toine, a farmhand on a farm in rural Provence, has the misfortune to have been born with a hump on his back. For years he has secretly loved Naïs, the only child of his grouchy employer, Micoulin, but he is too conscious of his deformity to dare broach the subject with her...
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Raymond Leboursier
Ne bougez plus (1941)
Pierre Caron
Who exactly are the two tramps who have come to pose for an advertising agency, to have their pictures taken by the fashionable photographer Patrice Farfadou...
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Pierre Caron
Ne le criez pas sur les toits (1943)
Jacques Daniel-Norman
Professor Moucherotte, a distinguished research chemist, is on the point of developing a revolutionary new fuel called Benzyl...
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Jacques Daniel-Norman
Non coupable (1947)
Henri Decoin
Michel Ancelin was once a respected surgeon but now, an embittered alcoholic, he lives out his declining years as a family doctor in a dull provincial town in the company of his mistress, Madeleine...
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Henri Decoin
Nous les gosses (1941)
Louis Daquin
Nicolas is playing football with his classmates in the school playground when he accidentally kicks the ball through a windowpane... [More...]
Louis Daquin
Nicolas is playing football with his classmates in the school playground when he accidentally kicks the ball through a windowpane... [More...]
Nuit de décembre (1940)
Curtis Bernhardt
In 1919, Pierre Darmont, a world-class pianist, falls in love with an attractive young woman named Anne, but after a night of passion she mysteriously walks out of his life, never to return... [More...]
Curtis Bernhardt
In 1919, Pierre Darmont, a world-class pianist, falls in love with an attractive young woman named Anne, but after a night of passion she mysteriously walks out of his life, never to return... [More...]
La Nuit fantastique (1942)
Marcel L'Herbier
Denis is an impoverished student in Paris who scrapes a living by working nights in the Halles market. Sick with near-exhaustion, he begins to dream about an elusive woman in white, with whom he becomes infatuated - to the chagrin of his girlfriend Nina... [More...]
Marcel L'Herbier
Denis is an impoverished student in Paris who scrapes a living by working nights in the Halles market. Sick with near-exhaustion, he begins to dream about an elusive woman in white, with whom he becomes infatuated - to the chagrin of his girlfriend Nina... [More...]
Occupe-toi d'Amélie (1949)
Claude Autant-Lara
Paris, 1910. Spectators at the Palais Royal watch in anticipation as the curtain rises on a stage production of Georges Feydeau's play Occupe-toi d'Amélie... [More...]
Claude Autant-Lara
Paris, 1910. Spectators at the Palais Royal watch in anticipation as the curtain rises on a stage production of Georges Feydeau's play Occupe-toi d'Amélie... [More...]
On demande un assassin (1949)
Ernst Neubach
Bob Laurent is at the end of his tether. Ruined, rejected and generally disgusted with life, he hires a hoodlum, Willy le Boxeur, to kill him in two days' time... [More...]
Ernst Neubach
Bob Laurent is at the end of his tether. Ruined, rejected and generally disgusted with life, he hires a hoodlum, Willy le Boxeur, to kill him in two days' time... [More...]
Orphée (1949)
Jean Cocteau
Orphée is a poet who arouses anger wherever he goes, even though his work is still greatly admired. At a street café, his most vociferous opponents, a group of young firebrands called the Bacchantes, start a fight... [More...]
Jean Cocteau
Orphée is a poet who arouses anger wherever he goes, even though his work is still greatly admired. At a street café, his most vociferous opponents, a group of young firebrands called the Bacchantes, start a fight... [More...]
Panique (1947)
Julien Duvivier
Recently released from prison, an attractive young woman Alice meets up with her lover Alfred. The latter, a vicious crook, has murdered an old woman at a fairground... [More...]
Julien Duvivier
Recently released from prison, an attractive young woman Alice meets up with her lover Alfred. The latter, a vicious crook, has murdered an old woman at a fairground... [More...]
Par la fenêtre (1948)
Gilles Grangier
In Paris, Pilou is an exterior decorator who always sings while he works. He sings even though he is sad at having left his girlfriend Yvette in the village where he grew up... [More...]
Gilles Grangier
In Paris, Pilou is an exterior decorator who always sings while he works. He sings even though he is sad at having left his girlfriend Yvette in the village where he grew up... [More...]
Parade en 7 nuits (1941)
Marc Allégret
Anicet, an employee in the municipal dog pound, has become so attached to the dogs under his care that he is convinced they can talk to themselves... [More...]
Marc Allégret
Anicet, an employee in the municipal dog pound, has become so attached to the dogs under his care that he is convinced they can talk to themselves... [More...]
Paradis perdu (1940)
Abel Gance
In 1913, an aspiring young artist, Pierre, falls in love with a beautiful seamstress, Janine. Their Elysian summer is cut short when war breaks out and Pierre is sent to fight on the Western Front... [More...]
Abel Gance
In 1913, an aspiring young artist, Pierre, falls in love with a beautiful seamstress, Janine. Their Elysian summer is cut short when war breaks out and Pierre is sent to fight on the Western Front... [More...]
Les Parents terribles (1948)
Jean Cocteau
Yvonne and Georges consider themselves a perfectly respectable bourgeois couple, although she is virtually a bedridden recluse and he occupies himself with his strange inventions... [More...]
Jean Cocteau
Yvonne and Georges consider themselves a perfectly respectable bourgeois couple, although she is virtually a bedridden recluse and he occupies himself with his strange inventions... [More...]
Paris 1900 (1947)
Nicole Védrès
A vibrant montage of moving image depicting life in Paris in the dying days of the Belle Époque, from the turn of the 20th century to the start of the First World War... [More...]
Nicole Védrès
A vibrant montage of moving image depicting life in Paris in the dying days of the Belle Époque, from the turn of the 20th century to the start of the First World War... [More...]
La Part de l'ombre (1945)
Jean Delannoy
A retired violist lives in self-enforced seclusion at his château with his daughter Agnès. He does nothing to encourage the hoards of aspiring young musicians who turn up on his doorstep asking for his patronage and advice... [More...]
Jean Delannoy
A retired violist lives in self-enforced seclusion at his château with his daughter Agnès. He does nothing to encourage the hoards of aspiring young musicians who turn up on his doorstep asking for his patronage and advice... [More...]
Pas de week-end pour notre amour (1949)
Pierre Montazel
When it is announced that the world famous singer Franck Reno is about to get married his fans are understandably up in arms... [More...]
Pierre Montazel
When it is announced that the world famous singer Franck Reno is about to get married his fans are understandably up in arms... [More...]
Pas si bête (1947)
André Berthomieu
Léon Ménard is not quite so stupid as he seems. His experience of the world may be limited, he may have the air of a country bumpkin, but this gauche Normandy peasant has a keen eye when it comes to detecting schemers and charlatans... [More...]
André Berthomieu
Léon Ménard is not quite so stupid as he seems. His experience of the world may be limited, he may have the air of a country bumpkin, but this gauche Normandy peasant has a keen eye when it comes to detecting schemers and charlatans... [More...]
Patrie (1946)
Louis Daquin
Flanders in the late 16th century. With his country under occupation by the armies of the King of Spain, the nobleman Count Rysoor enters into a pact with William of Orange to lead a revolt that will free his people from Spanish rule... [More...]
Louis Daquin
Flanders in the late 16th century. With his country under occupation by the armies of the King of Spain, the nobleman Count Rysoor enters into a pact with William of Orange to lead a revolt that will free his people from Spanish rule... [More...]
Pattes blanches (1949)
Jean Grémillon
Odette, an attractive young woman, arrives in the fishing town of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany and becomes the mistress of Jock, the owner of the local inn... [More...]
Jean Grémillon
Odette, an attractive young woman, arrives in the fishing town of Saint-Brieuc in Brittany and becomes the mistress of Jock, the owner of the local inn... [More...]
Le Pays sans étoiles (1946)
Georges Lacombe
After an accident in which he suffers a head injury, Simon Legouge, a modest notary's clerk, begins to experience a series of strange visions... [More...]
Georges Lacombe
After an accident in which he suffers a head injury, Simon Legouge, a modest notary's clerk, begins to experience a series of strange visions... [More...]
Le Père Goriot (1945)
Robert Vernay
Eugène de Rastignac, a penniless provincial nobleman, lives at the boarding house of Madame Vauquier in Paris. Armed with a letter of introduction from his mother, he pays a visit to his cousin Madame de Bauseant, who offers him advice on how to make his way in the world... [More...]
Robert Vernay
Eugène de Rastignac, a penniless provincial nobleman, lives at the boarding house of Madame Vauquier in Paris. Armed with a letter of introduction from his mother, he pays a visit to his cousin Madame de Bauseant, who offers him advice on how to make his way in the world... [More...]
Le Père tranquille (1946)
René Clément
Monsieur Martin is a contented man who lives a peaceful existence in the small French town of Moisson with his wife and two children, Monique and Pierre... [More...]
René Clément
Monsieur Martin is a contented man who lives a peaceful existence in the small French town of Moisson with his wife and two children, Monique and Pierre... [More...]
Les Petites du quai aux fleurs (1944)
Marc Allégret
After his wife walked out on him, Frédéric Grimaud was left to bring up his four daughters single-handedly... [More...]
Marc Allégret
After his wife walked out on him, Frédéric Grimaud was left to bring up his four daughters single-handedly... [More...]
Les Petits riens (1942)
Raymond Leboursier
At a reception, a group of friends each recall a small incident in their past which provided a significant turning point in their lives... [More...]
Raymond Leboursier
At a reception, a group of friends each recall a small incident in their past which provided a significant turning point in their lives... [More...]
Pétrus (1946)
Marc Allégret
Migo, an attractive dancer at a popular nightclub in Montmartre, has had enough of her two-timing boyfriend Rodrigue. So, one evening, she takes out her gun and fires two shots at the cheating louse... [More...]
Marc Allégret
Migo, an attractive dancer at a popular nightclub in Montmartre, has had enough of her two-timing boyfriend Rodrigue. So, one evening, she takes out her gun and fires two shots at the cheating louse... [More...]
Picpus (1943)
Richard Pottier
Whilst moving into her new apartment in the rue Picpus, Paris, Madame Dumont discovers a dead body in her wardrobe. Inspector Maigret is called into investigate... [More...]
Richard Pottier
Whilst moving into her new apartment in the rue Picpus, Paris, Madame Dumont discovers a dead body in her wardrobe. Inspector Maigret is called into investigate... [More...]
Pierre et Jean (1943)
André Cayatte
In 1913, Alice, a young mother, is unhappily married to her vain and uncouth husband Roland, who forces her to open a shop to make a living... [More...]
André Cayatte
In 1913, Alice, a young mother, is unhappily married to her vain and uncouth husband Roland, who forces her to open a shop to make a living... [More...]