French Cinema: A Critical Filmography (1940-1958)
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- DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsRaimuFernandelJosette DayA rural maiden's two suitors go off to war, leaving her pregnant.
- DirectorHenri DecoinStarsDanielle DarrieuxRosine LuguetGabrielle DorziatMicheline Chevassu is a naive young woman living in an orphanage. Through classified ads, she makes a date with an unknown man. She escapes from the orphanage to meet him, dreaming of her Prince Charming, but waiting for her is unattractive, middle-aged Nicolas Rougemont. He pretends not to be the author of the letters, who could not come.
- DirectorChristian-JaqueStarsHarry BaurRenée FaureMarie-Hélène DastéThe story concerns an old globe-maker who is mysteriously killed while going through the town portraying Pere Noel ("Father Christmas" aka Santa Claus).
- DirectorLouis DaquinStarsLouise CarlettiGilbert GilAndré BrunotA student from an elementary school accidentally breaks the glass roof of his school. His comrades decide to support it by working during the summer holidays in order to pay for reconstruction.
- DirectorHenri DecoinStarsRaimuJuliette FaberGabrielle FontanLoursat, a lawyer, lives with his daughter Nicole. Abandoned by his wife about 20 years ago, he has sunk into alcoholism. One day, the corpse of a stranger is discovered in the attic of his residence.
- DirectorRoland TualStarsFernand LedouxMichèle AlfaOdette JoyeuxOn the banks of a peaceful river,towers up a jail .The prison governor is making rough all over for everyone :the inmates,the wardens and even his family ;it's just a mask : this man is longing for love .In a cell ,a prisoner,Rémi Bonvent, sings ; the harsh man realizes that this captive has talent going for him,he writes songs,pieces of music and even an opera ,"Le lit A Colonnes" (=the fourposter bed).His daughter ,who is also the musician's muse ,-though they never met ,he only sees her silhouette at night-is dreaming of an union with aristocratic families who do not invite her to their fetes or their balls.And the inmate's work may mean glory and success..
- DirectorMarcel L'HerbierStarsFernand GraveyMicheline PresleSaturnin FabreDenis is distracted: he's studying all day for philosophy exams and working all night at the flower market; plus, whenever he closes his eyes, he dreams of a mysterious woman in white. His girlfriend Nina is annoyed at him for his inattention, so she steps out behind his back with a friend of his. One night, while napping at the flower mart, he pursues the mystery woman in what he thinks is a dream, and finds himself with her in a restaurant with her father and her fiancé, then on to a magic shop, the Louvre, a nightclub, and a mental asylum. During the night, he discovers a plot against her, and still believing it's a dream, goes to great lengths to try to save her.
- DirectorClaude Autant-LaraPierre GuerlaisStarsOdette JoyeuxAndré LuguetJacques Dumesnil"Chiffon" is an eccentric young aristocratic girl, who is struggling to comply with the social conventions of the community.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsPierre FresnaySuzy DelairJean TissierInspector Wens moves into a Paris boarding house to catch a serial killer.
- DirectorJean StelliStarsGaby MorlayElvire PopescoAndré AlermeIn 1914, in the first months of World War I, Louise Jarraud loses her husband, killed on the front. Shortly after, she gives birth to a baby, who soon dies. Devastated by this double misfortune, Louise decides to dedicate her life to caring for the children of others. She becomes a nurse with several employers, giving her affection to little boys or girls. A widower and another man propose to her but she refuses twice determined as she is to live only for the children in her charge.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsArlettyMarie DéaFernand LedouxIn medieval France, the Devil intervenes when one of his two envoys, sent to seduce and deceive mortals, falls instead for a victim.
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsPierre BlancharAnnie DucauxSuzy CarrierFor 15 years after Waterloo, a baron refuses to accept the defeat. He reluctantly marries one of 2 Bourbon sisters but lands up dueling with the wife's former lover. Finally he gets a chance to prove himself again in battle.
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsFernand LedouxGeorges RollinBlanchette BrunoyIn a lost French village, an old woman is killed and her savings stolen. Several members of her family, all called "Goupi", are suspected.
- DirectorAlbert ValentinStarsRenée Saint-CyrJules BerrySaturnin FabreThe story of Marie-Martine ,told backwards.
- DirectorJean GrémillonStarsMadeleine RenaudPierre BrasseurMadeleine RobinsonA shimmering glass hotel at the top of a remote Provençal mountain provides the setting for a tragicomic tapestry about an obsessive love pentangle.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsRenée FaureJany HoltSylvieAnne-Marie joins a Dominican convent as a novice where she knows Therese. After shooting a man for which she was imprisoned, Therese protests her innocence, reluctant to tell her secret.
- DirectorPierre PrévertStarsCharles TrenetPierre BrasseurJulien CaretteA bungling thief is threatened by one target with blackmail, unless the thief will kill his own cousin, a wealthy eccentric who is considered the village idiot.
- DirectorPierre BillonStarsAnnie DucauxAndré LuguetGermaine Reuver
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsPierre FresnayGinette LeclercMicheline FranceyA French village doctor becomes the target of poison-pen letters sent to village leaders, accusing him of affairs and practicing abortion.
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsMadeleine SologneJean MaraisJean MuratThis is a retelling of Tristan and Isolde, set in 1940s France. The script was written by Jean Cocteau.
- DirectorChristian-JaqueStarsSimone RenantJean MaraisPaul BernardAn escaped convict needing funds for a getaway by sea takes advantage of a prosperous looking young traveler he meets.A nightclub singer involved with them both complicates things.
- DirectorJean GrémillonStarsMadeleine RenaudCharles VanelJean DebucourtThe wife of a mechanic and former fighter pilot falls in love with the idea of flying herself. This soon becomes an obsession and she undertakes a lofty feat: the longest solo flight ever made by a woman.
- DirectorJean AnouilhStarsPierre FresnayPierre RenoirBlanchette BrunoyA WW1 amnesiac comes back to a family he does not recognize.
- DirectorLouis DaquinStarsIrène CordayAndré Le GallMarcel DelaîtreZian Servettaz is a dedicated mountain man. His Italian-born wife Bianca does not adjust well to his mountain village in France, and to the ever life-threatening dangers presented by his mountain guiding and climbing.