Héléna Manson

The Husbands, the Wives, the Lovers (1989)

In the summer holidays, a group of women stay behind in Paris whilst their husbands and children take a vacation on the sunny Island of Ré. The women – wives, frustrated spinsters and adolescents – profit from their new-found freedom to sort out their ...

Agent trouble (1987)

Amanda Weber is a museum employee. Her nephew, Victorien, who feels that wild animals should not be kept in zoos, while hitchhiking saw a mysterious bus with 50 dead tourists that later was found by autorities at the bottom of a lake. When Victorien gets i ...

Les Misérables (1982)

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. ...

My American Uncle (1980)

Professor Henri Laborit uses three people's stories to discuss behaviourist theories of survival, combat, rewards and punishment, and anxiety: René is a technical manager at a textile factory and must face the anxiety caused by corporate downsizing; Janin ...

Un amour de jeunesse (1977)

Normandy 1850. A stagecoach drives along a road in the middle of the countryside. Inside, the passengers are all asleep except two men who are talking. Suddenly the coach stops: an axle has just broken. When one of the two men leans out of the window to se ...

The Tenant (1976)

A quiet and inconspicuous man rents an apartment in Paris where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia. ...

Peace in the Fields (1972)

This is a film which was made in Belgium in the early '60s and was never released. However, it somehow got included in the American Oscar category for "Best Foreign Film," and was finally released in its home country in 1971. It explores the issues of prej ...

Paris in August (1966)

A man is alone in Paris during the month of August while his woman and children go on vacation. He meets a young English girl posing as a model who came to Paris for a shoot. ...

A Trap for Cinderella (1965)

Based on Sébastien Japrisot's novel, the story revolves around a young girl who suffers from amnesia after surviving a terrible fire. ...

Don Quijote (1965)

The Sword and the Balance (1963)

Three young men are suspected of kidnapping and murdering a little boy. Most likely, two of them are really involved, but one is not. All of their pasts are questionable, riddled with violence and controversy. Neither the police nor the court can decide ho ...

The Burning Court (1962)

A group of people visit a weird old man who is a student of the black arts. The man lives in an ancient, cursed castle. Soon people in the group start being killed off. ...

Famous Love Affairs (1961)

An anthology of four historical love affairs: at Versailles, Louis XIV shares his mistress with one of his subjects; a courtesan tries to disfigure her lover with acid; a medieval wife faces the wrath of her husband's father, who has her condemned to death ...

The President (1961)

At 73, a former President of the French Council reflects on his political career while writing his memoirs, delving into his relationships with key figures, including the one set to become the next President. ...

Blonde in a White Car (1959)

Picked up by a beautiful motorist, jobless hitchhiker Pierre (Hossein) is subsequently romanced by the girl. Immediately thereafter, however, she dumps him, attempting to run him over as a final insult. Memorizing her license number, Pierre pursues the eni ...

Women Are Weak (1959)

A playboy is pursued by three women seeking romance. ...

Un homme se penche sur son passé (1958)

In 50s Canada, trapper Jacques Monge is a freedom-loving adventurer. But when he falls in love with Hannah, a farmer's daughter, he stirs up trouble within his family. ...

An Eye for an Eye (1957)

In North Africa, an anguished husband tests the character of the doctor he believes is responsible for his wife's death. ...

Bonjour jeunesse (1957)

After her mother's death, Liselotte is taken in by an old sculptor, but some distant cousins, brutal farmers, obtain guardianship of the young girl. Unhappy, she flees and finds refuge with a young shepherd living on alms. ...

The Vintage (1957)

A young Italian fugitive and his older protective brother hide among the grape pickers at a vineyard in Provence, France. ...

Les Lumières du soir (1956)

A young opera dancer tries to help her mother financially by performing in a dubious cabaret. ...

Les Truands (1956)

"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. ...

Goubbiah and the Gipsy Girl (1956)

Goubbiah is a Yugoslav sponge fisherman. He loves Trinida, but she is promised to Peppo, the village drunkard. Jao tries to keep Goubbiah away from his daughter. ...

People of No Importance (1956)

During a stay at a roadside inn, long-distance lorry driver Jean Viard meets a young woman Clothilde who works there. Their friendship soon develops into a passionate love affair, even though Jean is already married and is old enough to be Clothilde's fath ...

Lola Montès (1955)

Lola Montes, previously a great adventuress, is reduced to being the attraction of a circus after having been the lover of various important men. ...

Black Dossier (1955)

In the 1950s, in a small provincial town, a young inexperienced judge clashes with an influential notable during an investigation into a suspicious death. His perseverance to get to the truth will cause a huge scandal. ...

La fille perdue (1954)

Marguerite Le Goff has a sad destiny. Daughter-mother to a holidaymaker at the age of sixteen, she tried to earn a living in Nantes, but succumbed to the promises of the disreputable Pierre who had found her in a sailors' box. Deprived of her child, what w ...

Children of Love (1953)

In a maternity hospital, young single mothers are accompanied by social worker Hélène Lambert, who tries to make them aware of their new responsibilities, while Dr. Baurain stresses the importance of their moral and sexual education. They come to the aid ...

Le Secret d'une mère (1952)

After his wife's death, a man discovers that his daughter may not be his. ...

Torticola versus Frankensberg (1952)

A comedic take on the Frankenstein story. ...

Stranger on the Prowl (1952)

A down-and-out crook on the lam befriends a young street urchin, in an Italian port city. At first amused that the boy is a sneak thief, he tries to deflects the kid from a life of crime. Tipped off by a woman anxious to collect the reward for him (who is ...

Le Plaisir (1952)

Three stories about the pleasure. The first one is about a man hiding his age behind a mask to keep going to balls and fancying women - pleasure and youth. Then comes the long tale of Mme Tellier taking her girls (whores) to the country for attending her n ...

Two Pennies Worth of Violets (1951)

Thérèse, a young flower girl, tries hard to remain virtuous but the whole world seems to conspire against her, whether her petty Paris family, or her relatives in the province bristling with false respectability, or her lustful employer, or the boy she l ...

Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951)

It all begins with the discreet romance between the Creole maid Lea Mariotte and her young boss, George Brissac, an amoral bourgeois who plans to inherit his uncle's fortune and marry a young woman from a good family. After an incident where she kills a ma ...

Born of Unknown Father (1950)

By taking the defense of Raymond Denis, accused of having killed his mistress, when she committed suicide because he did not want to recognize his child, the lawyer Claude Nogent, learns that he himself was born of unknown father. ...

The Ferret (1950)

A mysterious figure signing himself "The Ferret" keeps sending letters to the police, tipping them off about murders that are to be committed around Paris. Among those caught up in the police manhunt is a fraudulent clairvoyant. ...

Farewell Mister Grock (1950)

The life of Adrien Wettach, famous in the annals of the circus under the name of Grock, world famous Swiss clown. A series of images from Épinal, retracing the career of a European artist, within the framework of world history. Lots of children, wars, an ...

The Farm of Seven Sins (1949)

In 1825, Paul-Louis Courier, a Republican writer known for publishing pamphlets against the French monarchy, was killed in the farm where he had retired. Was it a political assassination or a vicious crime? Those who have known him loved him or hated him a ...

Return to Life (1949)

In France in 1946, the difficult return to civilian life of five deportees and prisoners of war after having lived through the hell of the Second World War. ...

La Louve (1949)

A chronicler gets himself hired as a gamekeeper in Monsieur De Saint-Ricquier's mansion where he lives with his stepdaughter, Henriette, everybody considers insane . ...

Manon (1949)

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 ...

Endless Night (1947)

Fleeing Paris where he killed, Olivier takes refuge in the Giraud farm and falls in love with his daughter, to the chagrin of her suitor, a man named Joseph. When the latter is found dead, Olivier is accused and the young woman will arrive too late to clea ...

The Murderer Is Not Guilty (1946)

In a film studio, several actors are the victims of attempted murders. Julien Brisseau, a writer, decides to use these facts as the backbone of his new novel. But while he is working on his detective story, young actors are actually killed. Julien thence g ...

Her Last Part (1946)

An actress who has just played the part of an old lady says that she would like to grow old like that character did.Sadly, she will not get her wish because she is terminally-ill. ...

The Eternal Husband (1946)

An adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Le Eternel Mari", a somber story of marital infidelity, revenge and near madness, and starring Raimu in his last film appearance. ...

Mermoz (1943)

Biography and apology of the famous pilot, nicknamed by some the Archangel, who organized the airmail network of South America, flew the first over the Andes Cordillera, maintained the mystique of the South Atlantic, militated in the Crosses of Fire and pe ...

Le Corbeau (1943)

Remy Germain is a doctor in a French town who becomes the focus of a vicious smear campaign, as letters accusing him of having an affair and performing unlawful abortions are mailed to village leaders. The mysterious writer, who signs each letter as "Le Co ...

L'Escalier sans fin (1943)

An untiring lady social worker, Émilienne, has as one of her charges a stableman who was wounded by his mistress. Unfortunately, Émilienne's young sister who was helping her at work decides to go away with the stableman. ...

The London Man (1943)

Maloin, a maritime station guard, spends his nights at the port signal box. One night, he becomes the witness of a murder: for a simple suitcase smuggled, the altercation between the two men turns to drama. While the first falls and drowns, the second flee ...

Marie-Martine (1943)

The novelist Loïc Limousin knew the turbulent past of Marie-Martine and he extracted the material for a novel from which the young girl risks paying the price. After the drama that had thrown her in prison, she met a brave boy ready to make his life with ...

Picpus (1943)

Picpus is a street and a subway stop where a number of murders have been committed. Maigret tries to find the killer. ...

The Benefactor (1942)

A kind and generous village noble, specializing in good works, actually leads a double existence and carries out dishonest activities. ...

The Newspaper Falls at Five O'Clock (1942)

The everyday life and activity of "La Dernière Heure", a major evening newspaper, seen through the eyes of Hélène Perrin, a cub reporter trained by Pierre Rabaud, a star in his field. Side by side they will investigate several events: an air show that e ...

Strangers in the House (1942)

Loursat, a lawyer, lives with his daughter Nicole in a sinister and vast bourgeois residence. Abandoned for nearly twenty years by his wife, the brilliant lawyer has sunk into alcoholism and his relationship with his daughter is virtually non-existent. How ...

Who Killed Santa Claus? (1941)

A village in the French Alps is rocked by a series of crimes, including the theft of a sacred ring and the murder of a man dressed as Père Noël (Father Christmas). ...

Two Women (1940)

Considering his wife as his property, a smuggler bullies the unfortunate woman and does not allow her to turn to another man. ...

Last Desire (1939)

Caesar, a senior French colonist returned home after many years of absence, knows a girl, Marcella, who is in full depression because she was abandoned by her lover. Caesar welcomes her into his home and surrounds her with paternal attention so that he can ...

Second Childhood (1939)

Middle-aged Georges of the "old school" who offers shelter and comfort to Marcelle. Despite his own reservations, Georges falls in love with the much-younger girl, remaining faithful to her even after he realizes that she cares only for his money. ...

Southern Bar (1938)

Baron Arnold, a businessman, takes his young wife to Africa where he instructs her to seduce Captain Olivier, an intelligence officer. But Olivier illuminates the baroness on the unsavory activities of her husband as a weapons dealer and entrepreneur of re ...

Rail Pirates (1938)

Henri Pierson, the chief engineer of a railway line crossing Yunnan in China, must prevent the incessant attacks of a gang of looters. ...

In Venice, One Night (1937)

Mortal is ready to do anything to obtain a divorce from his wife Nadia. To compromise her, he needs to find her a lover. He thinks he has found the ideal candidate in the person of a manly private detective by the name of Robert Arnaud. But the experience ...

Hélène (1936)

Helene is based on Helene Wilfur, a novel by Vicki (Grand Hotel) Baum. Madeleine Renaud essays the title role, a young medical student in love with aspiring musician Pierre Regnier (Jean-Lous Barrault). Pierre's father, a noted surgeon, puts pressure on hi ...

Pension Mimosas (1935)

Mr. and Mrs. Noblet run a boarding house on the French Riviera. One day, they are led by circumstances to welcome a little boy Pierre, whose father is in jail, into their home. Which makes Louise Noblet all the happier as she can't have children herself. B ...

A Train in the Night (1934)

Travelers who have missed their correspondence are forced to spend the night in the waiting room of a small country station. They are told that a ghost train rushes through the night on each anniversary of an accident that once took place there. A detectiv ...

Coralie and Company (1934)

A young couple goes through a plot unscathed in the welcoming salons of a large fashion house. ...

Fedora (1934)

Fedora swears to avenge the death of her fiancé, Prince Yarischkine, killed by Ipanoff who fled to Paris. She finds Ipanoff whom she falls in love with and he confesses to having killed her fiancé because Yarischkine was his wife's lover. But learning th ...

Madame Bovary (1934)

In 19th-century France, doctor's wife Emma Bovary seeks to escape her dull provincial life through various extramarital affairs and extravagant spending, leading to tragic consequences. ...

Le cas du docteur Brenner (1933)

Out of love for his adoptive mother, Carl Brenner allows himself to be accused and imprisoned because of an illegal operation carried out by Doctor Stefan Brenner, the legitimate son of Mrs. Brenner. A few years later, Stefan died of alcoholism and Carl ma ...

Comradeship (1931)

At a mine on the shared edge of France and Germany, an underground explosion leads to the entrapment of a group of French miners. In an effort to save the trapped Frenchmen, German miners Wittkopp and Kasper take it upon themselves to traverse a crumbling ...

Mr. Duke (1931)

The Duc de Latour-Maubert falls in love with an intriguer when he had better think about the business of the ruined family, by marrying a rich American! ...

The Indictment (1931)