1940s French Movies

A little Breton tries to save her boss's daughter an unhappy marriage.

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.

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.

René Sabin, engineer, disappointed by failures, leaves his village in the South to go to Paris with friends. In the capital, he befriends dubious people, in particular Alex Krakow who does not disdain shady business. Then comes the war. René is mobilized then returns to the country, and finds with joy his fiancée.

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.

An experimental short film shot in slow motion and set to Ottokar Nováček's violin composition Perpetuum mobile, the film depicts a love triangle between two men and a woman.

In the Camargue a local young playboy named Frédéri falls in love with a young woman from Arles. His family thinks she is unsuitable as a wife because she had a fling with a soldier. His entourage attempt to cheer him up but he intends to commit suicide.

The life of a weak-willed man is thrust into a downward spiral by the scheming of his manipulative girlfriend and her mother.

Michel Desnoyer has turned his private life into a comic stage play. But the volcanic Ecaterina is not at all pleased to find out that Michel's sister is the mistress of the man she loves.

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...

Satire of publishing circles, featuring a ferocious boss, Moscat, a successful but handsome author, Maréchal, another successful but bitter author, Bourgine, a writer plagued with ambition, Brégaillon and the hero, Marc Fournier Zola Prize winner. Naive, the latter quickly becomes formidable, especially since his wife's infidelities have provided him with the material for a new novel.

A gangster, arrested by the police, manages to escape during his transfer to Paris. He takes refuge in the suburbs where his accomplices and his mistress await him.

An ambitious and perverse adventurer sows dissension and ruin in a wealthy family of industrialists.

Serenade represented the return to the screen of international favorite Lillian Harvey after an absence of two years. Based loosely on the life of composer Franz Schubert, the film casts Bernard Lancret as Schubert, Harvey as his dancer sweetheart, and Louis Jouvet as a possessive Baron who has his own designs on our heroine.

Danielle Darrieux stars as Arabella Delvaire in this baroque adaptation of Pierre Benoit's novel Bethshabee. Arabella is a woman of the world who arrives at a remote Foreign Legion outpost for a rendezvous with her current lover, Captain Duveuil. It so happens that one of Arabella's previous amours, Captain Somerville (Paul Meurisse), is also serving at the same post. So much for joining the Foreign Legion to forget. A climactic knife duel "solves" the film's various plot complications. Despite its Foreign Legion background, Bethsabee has next to no action, which must have made things difficult when the film was distributed to the U.S.

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.

Sylvio, a successful singer, has found a way to take a peaceful vacation, safe from his female adulators: to travel incognito. He puts up at an old castle whose landlord, Count Fabrice, a ruined nobleman, seeks a hidden treasure. Posing as the nephew of the castle gardener, Sylvio enjoys happy days and even finds the time to fall in love with Gracieuse, the count's daughter. Unfortunately for him, his impresario ends up locating him...

In the harbor of Toulon, on the “Ocean” training ship, the apprenticeship of the cabin boys and experts of the Navy is punctuated by permissions in town, friendships, bullying, and loves.

A traveller is stuck in an unknown town because his connecting train will only arrive in six hours. He decides to kill time by taking a stroll. He is not prepared to get confused with somebody else. In fact the citizens are eagerly awaiting the visit of a famous man and the clueless traveller is his doppelgänger. Soon he experiences what that means.

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.

A gang of drug pushers is rampant on the French Riviera. The police has been informed and arrests an accomplice who is about to collect the drugs dropped off from a yacht. This person happens to be a public figure of a nearby village...

Lucrèce, a famous actress, is bothered first, then flattered by the passionate testimonies of love given to her by François, a 12th grade student infatuated with her. Taking pity on the boy, Lucrèce decides to heal him of his madness and with this in mind she invites him for a working holiday on her farm. Instead, she falls in love with the cherub. At a time, her young lover grows so jealous of her that he attempts suicide. The mature actress then understands that their love story is going nowhere. She will remain alone while François will forget her.

Early in the war, a group of women decide to help the soldiers in the war front. They enlist the help of the wealthy Madame Marion.

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 ...

A married tugboat captain falls for a woman he rescues from a sinking ship.

Petrus, a Montmartre photographer, is accidentally wounded by Migo, a dancer at the Frou Frou night club, when she is trying to shoot her faithless lover Rodrigue, a counterfeiter. Though Petrus tries to reconcile the lovers, Migo lands up with him after Rodrigue is finally killed by another jealous dancer.

A ballet producer returns to his native town and schemes to avenge himself on the family who tried to murder him 20 years before.

In a small Provençal port, a young girl tries to divert a fisherman from his laborious life and his chaste loves.

On the death of the famous singer Maria Malibran, Countess Merlin retraces the main lines of the unusual destiny of this young woman entirely devoted to her art.

Grey conducts a triple murder investigation, the last murder committed gives him some clues to the murderer and that the victim may have known his killer. He devises a plan to identify the guilty party, who is a scary psycho and he is captured.

After a deadbeat patron at his restaurant gets special care from the cops who think the man has amnesia, the maitre d'hotel decides to pretend he too has amnesia. He is claimed in turn by an aristocrat family and by trapeze artists.

In a palace in Nice, a modest valet is confused with his master, a viscount chased by a man-eater.

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.

The difficulty in finding accommodation in Paris, will cause many stories, between some colorful characters.

The basic premise: A retired bus driver fulfills his lifelong dream of providing an extended "voyage surprise" (the title is translated as "Mystery Tour") for unsuspecting vacationers. They soon realize, while riding in the old man's home-made bus, that he hasn't bothered to plan any kind of itinerary. As a result, they end up in completely preposterous situations, of course. Voyage surprise!

At the beginning of the 20th century, the destiny of Félicie Nanteuil, a young girl from the provinces who became a big star on the stage thanks to a comedian who committed suicide out of love for her.

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.

1948. Madeleine is the headmistress of a kindergarten in Ménilmontant. Dr Libois, the school doctor, is very close to her heart. When Rose, a new helper comes to the school, Libois is impressed at once by her understanding of the little ones and her dedication to them. Little by little, Libois grows fond of Rose while becoming estranged from Madeleine. He eventually marries Rose.

Inès, a gypsy, pregnant by a rich breeder who abandoned her, finds refuge with a band of smugglers and thieves, led by an old woman nicknamed "the Spider". It is among them that she raises her daughter, Dolores. But her past catches up with her when the wealthy landlord reappears in her life.

Alex Grégoire is a timid insurance company clerk who shares his uneventful life between his wife Angèle, his colleagues and his passion for crosswords. But all of a sudden his existence changes dramatically. First because he wins a crossword competition. Second because a jewel thief, Charles Tuffal, thinks he recognizes in him a former accomplice. From that moment "uneventful" is not the best adjective to qualify Alex's life anymore...