June 1944, a French town towards the end of the occupation. Following several attacks perpetrated by the resistance, the inhabitants who listen to English radio are rounded up by the Germans in a prison and considered as hostages. In one of the cells are found men from all walks of life: an...
"Thieves We Are" - In flashback, the audience learns why 104-year-old Amedee steals the watch belonging to the town mayor. The story develops into a history of the watch-thievery business, told in anecdotal fashion.
Pierre and Florence meet at the fair in Paris. They vow eternal love and go to Cassis, under the Southern sun. But Florence has a burdensome past: before meeting Pierre she was a kept woman. Her chivalrous lover, Dominique, chooses to set her free. But Pierre is an uncompromising man and, furious...
Abandoned by her husband Marc, Thérèse Romanay cheats on him with André Norans. When Romanay finds out, he drives her away. She runs away with her lover. But, during a mountain excursion, Norans is killed and Thérèse is herself seriously injured. But she recovers. The husband then forgives the...
In the peaceful alpine village of Granges-de-Mortes, a tragedy has just taken place: Gustave Boeuf, the local Casanova, has mysteriously died at the foot of a wayside cross. Shortly afterwards, a peasant, who is suspected of having murdered him, hangs himself from a branch of the calvary. But was...
A village lost in the mountains where Catherine called L'Airelle's love affair takes place with a young doctor. Catherine's father is the local bonesetter whose wife threw herself into a glacier out of despair of love and whose body reappears intact twenty years later. In addition, the pharmacist...
Ramuntcho is a young man who has fallen in with a gang of smugglers, led by Itchoua, who carry their contraband across the border into Spain. He is in love with Gracieuse whose mother, Dolorès, bitterly dislikes Ramuntcho because he was born an illegitimate child. His smuggling activities force...
A violinist passes on to his daughter three rings which represent three passions of his romantic past, and urges her to save each for men who truly deserve one.She squanders them all on one man who is undeserving.
Jean Michaut is a bargeman who lives nearby an old barge cemetery named "Bras-Mort". He is in love with Monique, the daughter of a wealthy boat owner. The girl returns his affection but runs her head against the wall of her family's class prejudices. Her "nearest and dearest" prove indeed prepared...
Saul De Tarse is a Roman soldier who is making rough all over. He arrives at the Golgotha when the apostles remove the cross. He ruthlessly persecutes the Christians, even though they are his own friends.
Janvier, an embittered teacher, is fed up with his colorless, monotonous life. One day he breaks away and ends up becoming a circus clown. In his new world, he meets a beautiful acrobat nicknamed Lili and grows fonder and fonder of her every day of his life. The trouble is that the lady bestows her...
A young pilot, Martin, applies for the Ecole Militaire de Salon. He is accused of having caused the accident of one of his bosses, his career is then threatened.
One of the most popular melodrama films directed by Abel Gance. A paranoide, fanatical and obsessively jealous husband obducts his own son to bully his wife.
In the oyster and fishing town of Arcachon, one man doesn't want his adopted son to get married to the daughter of his rival, and he suspects a dark underlying secret.
In Vendée, an old farmer is gradually abandoned by his family who do not see their future in the fields. Only a cripple in love and abandoned remain at his side.
During World War I, in Flanders, Berry and Trent were in love with the same girl, Yvonne. During a battle in the Widow's Island sector, Trent is wounded and abandoned by Berry. Trent being reported missing, Berry now has a clear path to marry Yvonne. Two decades later, Yvonne incidentally meets a...
