In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
In the 30s, a small village in the Provence is losing its inhabitants because young people prefer to go to the city to find easy jobs and escape from being farmers living in relative poverty. Only a few old people and the poacher Panturle remain. Panturle dreams of bringing the village back to...
Martine is a lonely girl in an exclusive boarding school who conjures up a glamorous existence in order to make her dull life tolerable and to impress the other girls. One of her flights of fancy is a love affair with Brevannes, a famous composer. She leaves the school and goes to the French Alps...
Life story of a charming scoundrel, with little dialogue other than the star/director's witty narration. As a boy, only he survives a family tragedy when he's deprived of supper (poisonous mushrooms!) for stealing...concluding that dishonesty pays. Through years of dabbling in crime and amusing...
In the elevator of two large Parisian buildings, a telegraph operator discovers the body of an elderly woman, Madame Mathieu, the owner of both buildings. Boucheron, the local superintendent, is dispatched to investigate, along with his rival, Inspector Lambert of the "Sûreté". To solve the...
A man is a hunter at Maxim's restaurant. He lives in the provinces and his family is unaware of his profession. As soon as he has enough money, he quits his job and goes home for his daughter's wedding to a marquis. This one is a regular at the restaurant and the man tries to prevent the wedding...
In Paris in 1887, Irène works as a governess to Douce, the grand-daughter of the dowager Countess de Bonafé. Douce believes she is in love with Fabien, the handsome manager of the estate. However she cannot hope to marry him because of their class difference. Douce's widowed father, the Count de...
Nine Bachelors is a 1939 French comedy film directed by Sacha Guitry and starring Guitry, Max Dearly and Elvire Popesco.[1] An opportunist dreams up a new scheme to make money when the French government passes a law forbidding foreigners from living in France. It's French title is Ils étaient neuf...
A husband who has just cheated on his wife returns home in the early morning, puzzled. He finds there, without knowing it, the lover of his wife, to whom he confesses his infidelity.
Carmen is a French-Italian musical drama film directed by Christian-Jaque and starring Viviane Romance, Jean Marais, and Lucien Coëdel. It is a version of the famous opera.
Somewhat reminiscent of 'Mädchen in Uniform' (1931), the story is set in a private girl's school, populated almost exclusively by children from broken homes. Among the few students who can claim family stability is Micheline Presle, but even her happiness is threatened when her lawyer father Andre...
Sophie de Réan, an unruly mischievous little girl grows up under the thumb of Mademoiselle, her strict governess. Following her mother's death, she is entrusted to Mme de Fleurville, her aunt, who at the same time hires Mademoiselle to further Sophie's education. A few years later, the little girl...
"Les jeux sont faits," is a fantasy film based on a screenplay by French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. A society heiress and a resistance fighter are tragically killed at the same moment and meet in the afterlife. They are offered a second chance at life if they can prove their love...
A husband, exasperated by his wife, spanks her without paying attention to the open window in front of which he is. He is annoyingly surprised to discover the next day that the scene has been photographed by a neighbor, and that the image is circulating in Paris. A debate then ensues: is this an...
Monsieur Durand-Bidon's mother-in-law is decidedly cantankerous. She never ceases - she who is a duchess - to reproach the latter for his low origins. One morning, at dawn, while he comes home "well watered", he is surprised with a comrade at the bottom of a bathtub. Taken for a homosexual,...
Barnabé, an occasional flutist, goes to Mme Petit-Durand to organize her daughter's 20 years. But he is confused with the Count of Marengo whom Mme Petit-Durand wants to give as husband to her daughter, who has already made her choice.
Gérard d'Ormoise, a young millionaire tired of the easy loves that his income earned him, takes the place of a friendly bartender. He marries the young and pretty duchess who first believed him to be an honest bartender, then a vulgar burglar.
Three "spinsters" focus their attention very narrowly on their nephew, in his first phase of adulthood. Éloi, handicapped by his shyness, behaves a bit awkwardly. He falls under the unfortunate influence of a couple of haddocks. The love of a pretty blonde woman will save him from this...
