Two ten-year-old children, Gloria and Jacques, meet at the former’s birthday party. It is love at first sight and they vow eternal love. Unfortunately, the First World War breaks out and they are separated. The people around them do not understand the deep feelings that link them to each other. When they meet again after the war, Gloria has become a cabaret dancer whereas Jacques has married in the USA. Nothing seems possible between them any longer…Read More »
A feud between families in 1870’s rural France.
A few years after their successful collaboration on La Traversée de Paris (1956), director Claude Autant-Lara and the popular comic actor Bourvil worked together on this light-hearted farce, based on a best-selling novel by Marcel Aymé. One of Autant-Lara’s more cheerful films, La Jument verte benefits from an exceptionally talented cast, which includes such big names as Francis Blanche, Yves Robert, Georges Wilson and Marie Déa, as well as the great Bourvil (who, needless to say, gives great value). Read More »
Comedy of the complications caused by a young man passing cheques on the strength of his mother, a village grocer, being rich.Read More »
A deceptive lightness distinguishes this farcical second feature made by Claude Autant-Lara while Germany occupied France. During the reign of Napoléon III, a plucky businesswoman (Odette Joyeux) agrees to receive love letters to a prefect’s wife from a young official, and soon finds herself embroiled in a scandal that inflames a town’s class tensions. A transporting period piece with ornate costumes by Christian Dior, Lettres d’amour paints a blithely pointed portrait of life in a highly stratified society.Read More »
During World War I, underage student Francois Jaubert meets and falls in love with Marthe Grangier, who is engaged to Jacques, a soldier at the Front. Though Francois pursues her ardently, they become separated and she marries Jacques. But when Marthe and Francois meet again, their mutual feelings prove stronger than ever, and they begin an extramarital affair…regardless of potentially tragic consequences. Written by Rod CrawfordRead More »
Synopsis
In his 56th year, King Henri IV, Count of Navarre, is having problems with his wife, Marie de Medicis. Marie has many reasons to be jealous of the king’s two mistresses, Jacqueline de Bueil and Henriette d’Entrague, particularly as the latter has borne him children. One day, Henri makes a big decision. He will put a definitive end to his amorous liaisons and instead live a more quiet life. Alas, the king’s resolutions never last long. At a dance organised by the queen, Henri cannot help noticing the ravishing Charlotte de Montmorency. Although Charlotte is officially engaged to a man named Bassompierre, the king is determined to take her as his mistress and contrives a plan. He will invite Bassompierre to marry another lady, which he surely cannot refuse to do if he is to remain faithful to the king. He will then marry Charlotte to the Prince de Condé, a young man who prefers horses to women. Henri is sure that Condé will have no objection to him making overtures to his wife. Even a king can make mistakes…Read More »
Synopsis
Brittany, Christmas 1943. Herta von Stauffen, a German soldier, makes an attempt to join her husband, Colonel von Stauffen, whom she has not seen since their wedding day. But Von Stauffen has orders to celebrate Christmas with his troops and so Herta is sent to the house of the widow Parisot, an old woman who regards Herta as an enemy because she is a German. That evening, a Frenchman lands by parachute in the nearby woods. His mission is to prepare for an attack by British soldiers. This man is Charles, the son of Madame Parisot, whose home offers a natural hiding place. Neglected by her husband, Herta begins to fall in love with Charles. Events take an explosive turn when Colonel Von Stauffen gives the order for the mysterious parachutist to be found…Read More »
Synopsis
Story of a German Christian prison guard and the way in which he helped his prisoners.Read More »
Synopsis:
Marcel works as assistant to a jeweller whose bossy daughter Renée keeps hitting on him. When he meets lovely Loulou and her lazy friend Jo, he is fascinated by the girl and somehow attracted by their world : Loulou and Jo are crooks. As Marcel naively tries to bring some morality in their lives, the pair turn him into an unwilling accomplice in the robbery of his boss’s jewels.Read More »