The 40 most popular 1940s french movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Last Refuge
1947 · 1h 30m · FR
Philippe and Sylvie have to do with Alvarez, a dangerous gang leader. They break up with him and commit robbery and murder. Sylvie suggests that Philippe take refuge in his quiet family. His younger sister Antoinette attracts and charms Philippe and excites the jealousy of Sylvie who informs Alvarez. The police get involved and Philippe is killed during a merciless fight.
Convicted
Convicted
1948 · 1h 40m
After losing her only child and falling for another man, a wife no longer loves her husband, but he thinks if he takes her back to some of the places they enjoyed in earlier years, it might rekindle their doomed marriage.


The Queen's Lover
1948 · 1h 33m · FR
Exiled from the court of Spain, Don Salluste, the chief of police, wants to take revenge on the Queen. One day he meets Ruy Blas, a young student who happens to be a lookalike of Don Cesar, his nephew. Salluste disguises Ruy Blas and presents him as Don Cesar. It doesn't take long before Ruy Blas, intelligent, virtuous and generous as he is becomes popular and the Queen, who has fallen in love with him, appoints him Prime Minister. All seems for the best in the best of worlds but Salluste has not forgotten his revenge, far from that ...


Sin and Desire
1949 · 1h 28m · FR
The tumultuous loves of a diver and a pretty bitch. Mario loves Perrucha, she only loves money. When, by dint of diving, the boy's health deteriorates, the girl goes to find an important industrialist. Such a story can only end badly and Mario strangles Perrucha.


Mirror
1947 · 1h 30m · FR
Portrait of a two-faced man. By day he is rich, brilliant and respectable financial officer Lussac; at night, he becomes "Mirror", a ruthless gang leader in Marseilles.


Stormy Waters
1941 · 1h 31m · FR
A married tugboat captain falls for a woman he rescues from a sinking ship.


Simple-Minded
1942 · 1h 28m · FR
A simpleton turns out to be the lucky charm of a village.


Children of Paradise
1945 · 3h 10m · FR
In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.


Tornavara
1943 · 1h 39m
In a lost village in Lapland, Gérard comes to the aid of his friend Anders, in conflict with his father, a rich owner of gold mines.


Signé illisible
1942 · 1h 40m
Strange things are happening in the small town of Breuil-le-Château. Provisions from the black market are stolen regularly and wealthy young men, including the squire's son, start vanishing... Ransom demands are sent but with an illegible signature. The investigation is trusted to Ducreux, the local police brigadier. He is assisted by Carlier, a film director in search of locations for his next movie, who has been mistaken for a police inspector from Paris. The two men will have more than their share of surprises.


Goodbye Darling
1946 · 1h 55m · FR
Chérie is a beautiful young woman who works as an escort girl. She meets a young and wealthy man who propose her to be his fictional wife so that his mother won't bother him anymore with this other girl, a rich one, she wants to see her son married to.


Sixième étage
1940 · 1h 36m · FR
The joys and miseries of the inhabitants of a building in a Parisian district.


Thunder Over Paris
1940 · 1h 37m
An international crook hunted by the police comes to Paris to save his daughter from the clutches of a blackmailer friend of a cabaret singer with eccentric outfits.


L'ange qu'on m'a donné
1946 · 1h 30m · FR
During the 1940 exodus, a young girl takes in a baby to whom she becomes deeply attached.


Manon
1949 · 1h 41m · FR
Port of Marseille, France, recently liberated from the German yoke. Caught as stowaways aboard a ship, Manon, a young woman who was accused of collaborating with the Nazis, and Robert, a freedom fighter who saved her from reprisals, tell the captain about the many challenges they have had to face in order to survive.


Fandango
1948 · 1h 30m · FR
In the Basque Country, two friends, José and François, live a cheerful life. The two sly foxes use their wit to boost the business of an innkeeper they have a connection with. José is in love with Angélica, the innkeeper"s daughter, while François courts petite Annette. José also happens to have a beautiful voice and one day a night club manager hears him and wants to hire him. He will have to choose between Angelica, the inn, his roots... and a singing career in Paris.


Tainted
1946 · 1h 30m
Louberger, director of an orphanage, is full of praise for a former boarder, Mr. Sauval, who has become their benefactor. One night he arrives and he does not seem to be exactly the man described by Louberger. He has in fact become a crooked lawyer and he is wanted for a crime he has just committed. Despite his efforts he will not escape the police but he will manage to remain, in the eyes of the children, at the height of his legend.


Monsieur Hector
1940 · 1h 25m · FR
In a palace in Nice, a modest valet is confused with his master, a viscount chased by a man-eater.


Le Gardian
1946 · 1h 30m · FR
The guardian is engaged to a girl from a good family, but the intervention of a gypsy will make his heart lean. This one comes in fact to take revenge and will try to kill him.


Beauty and the Beast
1946 · 1h 36m · FR
The story of a gentle-hearted beast in love with a simple and beautiful girl. She is drawn to the repellent but strangely fascinating Beast, who tests her fidelity by giving her a key, telling her that if she doesn't return it to him by a specific time, he will die of grief. She is unable to return the key on time, but it is revealed that the Beast is the genuinely handsome one. A simple tale of tragic love that turns into a surreal vision of death, desire, and beauty.


Sacred Fire
1942 · 1h 43m · FR
A young woman from the countryside travels to Paris to become an actress. Despite all kinds of difficulties, affronts and emotional adventures, she succeeded in gaining a place in the world of entertainment and becomes a great movie star.


Paris Frills
1945 · 1h 51m · FR
Philippe Clarence, a famous Parisian dressmaker, seduces his friend's fiancee. But, for the first time in his life, this is for real. The film is also a sharp picture of the fashion world.


Patricia
1942 · 1h 30m · FR
Mademoiselle Bressac is a bossy spinster who manages "Le Clos", her estate, with an iron hand. But is she really a bad person? Her manners are abrupt but they only hide a heart of gold. Doesn't she bring up four orphans, Dominique, Fabien, Chantal and Jean? And as if it were not enough, she has accepted to educate another child, her niece Patricia, entrusted to her care by her irresponsible father. Thanks to her, the five young people have grown up in harmony and now they are about to find their place in society. Two of them, Jean and Patricia, who love each other, live only for the estate.


Special Mission
1946 · 3h 3m · FR
The exploits of Chief Police Inspector Chabrier, first before the invasion of France in May 1940 as he fights against spies preparing the coming the Germans, particularly Emmy de Welder, the alleged manager of the Rouen hospital. Later, Chabrier and his men go underground and resist the occupiers whatever the price to pay. When the Liberation comes Chabrier resumes his activities at the French National Police.


Hyménée
1947 · 1h 35m · FR
Although Pierre is married, he is in love with his sister in law Marianne, while he is loved by his cousin Agnés, a spinster. Marianne loves him but she prefers to marry Rémy, and ultimately Agnés leaves Pierre to his wife and kids.


Feu Nicolas
1943 · 1h 38m · FR
Nicolas, the owner of a small café, has had enough of his current life. Business-wise, customers are more and more scarce. As for the love side, the situation is not any better as Jacqueline, his charming wife, not content to be spendthrift, might well be cheating on him.. To escape this harrowing reality Nicolas decides to simulate his suicide and disappears. Lucky or unlucky draw? Both in fact as, on the one hand, Nicolas finds serenity but, on the other he wins a huge sum of money in a lottery. How will he manage to get the money now?


The Crowned Fish Tavern
1947 · 1h 44m · FR
Captain Palmer's daughter, Maria, is neglected by her husband, the cynical Leo, who lives with the beautiful Sylvia. To defeat his son-in-law, Palmer has the idea of putting Sylvia back in the presence of Pierre, her first love. Leo takes revenge by creating many difficulties for Palmer who retaliates by starting a violent fight where Leo is killed. Everything seems to point to Pierre, but...


The Cheat
1949 · 1h 31m · FR
The life of a weak-willed man is thrust into a downward spiral by the scheming of his manipulative girlfriend and her mother.


Mermoz
1943 · 1h 40m · FR
Biography and apology of the famous pilot, nicknamed by some the Archangel, who organized the airmail network of South America, flew the first over the Andes Cordillera, maintained the mystique of the South Atlantic, militated in the Crosses of Fire and perished at the controls of "La Croix du Sud" during its twenty-fourth crossing.


L'Escalier sans fin
1943 · 1h 40m · FR
An untiring lady social worker, Émilienne, has as one of her charges a stableman who was wounded by his mistress. Unfortunately, Émilienne's young sister who was helping her at work decides to go away with the stableman.


Bécassine
1940 · 1h 33m · FR
A little Breton tries to save her boss's daughter an unhappy marriage.


Sideral Cruises
1942 · 1h 28m · FR
Robert and Françoise Monier make a hot air balloon to fly to the stratosphere. After a visit to Venus, they return home, but have only aged 15 days whereas 25 years have passed on Earth.


Les Dames du bois de Boulogne
1945 · 1h 24m · FR
A love story that follows the maneuverings of a society lady as she connives to initiate a scandalous affair between her aristocratic ex-lover and a prostitute.


Two Friends
1946 · 28m · FR
The story closes in Paris in January 1871, at the height of the siege, and introduces the main character, Monsieur Morissot, a watchmaker who has enrolled in the National Guard. Morissot, who is bored, hungry, and depressed, is walking along the boulevard when by chance he bumps into an old friend, Monsieur Sauvage, with whom he used to go fishing before the war. The two old friends reminisce over several glasses of absinthe in a café;, talking wistfully of the pleasant Sunday afternoons they used to spend fishing on the banks of the Seine before the war. Tipsy from the absinthe, the friends, for want of anything else to do, decide to go fishing in their old spot, and having obtained a laissez-passer from their officer, walk along the river to Argenteuil, a few miles west of the city, in the no man's land between the French and Prussian lines.


Miquette
1940 · 1h 40m · FR
Miquette is a young woman whose beauty and vivacity increase the clientele of her mother's tobacco shop. A Barrymoresque actor believes that Miquette has star potential, but he hasn't sufficient capital to finance her theatrical debut. He manages to get the money by practicing a bit of genteel blackmail on an aging marquis who has romantic designs on the heroine.


The Devil's Envoys
1942 · 2h 1m · FR
At the end of the 15th century, a man and a woman, posing as traveling minstrels, are sent by the Devil to a castle to seduce its inhabitants.


Patrouille blanche
1942 · 1h 29m
An Oriental villain named Halloway is called in by wealthy oil interests who want to destroy a dam project for hydroelectric power that may threaten their profits.


Last Love
1949 · 1h 39m · FR
Hélène has an affair with Alain for ten years, but does not want to divorce her husband. Alain receives one letter from a girl Michelle one day. Hélène, who is very jealous, receives that letter by chance and interprets it incorrectly.


Vingt-quatre heures de perm'
1945 · 1h 35m · FR
Two friends, mobilized together and idle, send their photos to two young workers. The photos are inverted, resulting in a real sentimental imbroglio which finds its best conclusion in the context of the Théâtre aux Armées.


Le Socle
1948 · 16m
The bases, under the occupation, lost their statues. These now anonymous steles rightly intrigue many visitors. Have you ever wondered who is up there? Ask Paul Colline, the most amusing guide in Paris, he will be able to answer you while sparing the goat, the cabbage and your political opinions.
1940s cinema is split by the war: propaganda and home-front melodrama, then the darker, more cynical film noir that followed. Italian neorealism emerged from the rubble at the decade's end.
French cinema invented much of what we consider film language, then reinvented it again with the Nouvelle Vague of the late 1950s. It remains Europe's most prolific film industry, with a strong tradition of state support for auteur work.