Paul Frankeur

Cry of the Heart (1974)

Alexandre, a young man from a wealthy family, suffers a serious fall. One leg is finally amputated, leaving the other paralyzed. Desperate, the boy tries to come to terms with his new existence. He quickly adopts a cruel attitude towards those closest to h ...

The Phantom of Liberty (1974)

This Surrealist film, with a title referencing the Communist Manifesto, strings together short incidents based on the life of director Luis Buñuel. Presented as chance encounters, these loosely related, intersecting situations, all without a consistent pr ...

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

In Luis Buñuel's deliciously satiric masterpiece, an upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudevillian mixture of events both actual and imagined. ...

Le chien qui a vu Dieu (1970)

In a small Italian village live a group of men, each as miscreant as the next. Among them is the baker, violent and miserly. One day, to benefit from an inheritance, he has to distribute fifty kilos of bread a day to the poor for five years. At the moment ...

My Uncle Benjamin (1969)

Benjamin is in love with Manette, the innkeeper's beautiful daughter, but she has no intention of giving in to the young doctor until she sees the marriage contract, and marriage does not fit in with Benjamin's spirit of independence. For the same reason h ...

The Milky Way (1969)

Two men, part tramp, part pilgrim, are on their way from France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. On their way, they meet a vast assortment of characters—some truculent, some violent, and some bizarre; they experience many adventures—some mysterious, ...

Don't Take God's Children for Wild Geese (1968)

Rita is a girl that lives on taking gangsters as lovers. But when the money stops coming, she swears revenge. ...

L'Espagnol (1967)

A survivor of the Spanish Civil War who had been in French internment camps takes refuge with a family of winegrowers in the Jura. He becomes attached to this land that is not his own. ...

Le Deuxième Souffle (1966)

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in. ...

Long March (1966)

In June 1944, a young doctor, Chevalier, under the threat of guns, is forced to treat a wounded man in a camp of resistance fighters (maquisards). He recognizes the man, minister of the Third Republic, called Morel by his companions. Carnot, the chief of t ...

The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen (1966)

A thief falls in love with a maid and goes on the run after stealing Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa. ...

God's Thunder (1965)

Veterinarian Léandre Brassac lives with his wife Marie on a remote estate. One day, he decides to shelter a young woman with no bearings. ...

Rope Around the Neck (1965)

Arthur can no longer stand married life. He wants to get rid of his wife and live with his mistress. In doing so, he makes a mistake and kills his mistress Clara. But did he really commit the crime? His wife is accused. Who killed Clara? ...

Le commissaire mène l’enquête (1965)

License to Kill (1964)

Didier Formenter, the French scientist, has just put the final touch on an invention that will be able to destroy to destroy any sort of flying apparatus. An international crime gang is very interested in stealing this equipement to sell it to the higher b ...

Maigret Sees Red (1963)

Gangsters from the United States try to kill a key government witness whose testimony could help land an influential mobster in jail. It's up to detective Maigret to deal with the FBI and a series of underworld figures to save the life of the witness... ...

The Trip to Biarritz (1963)

Guillaume Dodut is a stationmaster in rural France at a station where trains no longer stop. His dream has always been to holiday in the famous resort town of Biarritz. Meanwhile, he gets involved in the romantic life of his son who is studying to be an en ...

The Gentleman from Epsom (1962)

The story takes place in the racecourses around Paris. A so-called major sells his tips to naive characters. ...

A Monkey in Winter (1962)

During World War II, an innkeeper vows to abstain from alcohol for the sake of his family. Years later, as they thrive in Normandy, his resolve is tested by a charming advertising professional who loves to drink. ...

Double Verdict (1961)

Richard killed his wife out of jealousy, but was acquitted. During the vacations, he meets a young girl and decides to start a new life with her. Knowing Richard's past, his father warns them of the risks involved, and once again blinded by jealousy, he tr ...

The Lovemakers (1961)

The death of a wealthy patriarch in 1885 sets off an interfamily power struggle. Son Ferdinando buys out his other relatives in order to gain full control over the dead man's property. But Ferdinando's nephew Amerigo holds out. Amerigo's stance is weakened ...

Hauteclaire (1961)

The action takes place under the Restoration, at the Château de Savigny, near Nerville, a devout and prudish little town in the Cotentin region. Doctor Torty is the doctor. He tells a story of which he is the only one to know the secret, that of a crimina ...

The Dwarf (1961)

In a small circus campaign, the act of Valentine, the dwarf, is one of the highlights of the show. But then one night, he grew suddenly and turns into a handsome young man of six feet tall. First mad with joy, he will face harsh reality of normality. ...

The Crab Basket (1960)

Charles is a student in Strasbourg. Abandoned by Liliane, his fiancée, who has inexplicably given up on marriage, he moves to Paris, where he decides to pursue a career in cinema. He founded a film club and became a journalist, then assistant to a famous ...

Port of Point-du-Jour (1960)

Emile is a steelworker in a car factory ;a confirmed bachelor going on fifty, he leads a peaceful life .One night, he is woken up by a burst of machine gun fire. The cafe in the corner of the street has been burglarized.A distraught young girl rushes into ...

Come Dance with Me! (1959)

The wife of an accused murderer embarks on a dangerous masquerade to find the real culprit behind a dancer's death. ...

Rue de Paris (1959)

While Henri was a POW during the war, his wife passed away, and he returned to face the challenges of bringing up three children alone. Henri may get drunk and angry at times, but he also has a better side that will not stay buried. ...

Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case (1959)

Police Commissioner Jules Maigret returns to the small village where he spent his childhood at the request of the Countess of Saint-Fiacre, who has received a disturbing anonymous letter. ...

Minute papillon (1959)

Oscar, a shy lifeguard, flees the wrath of his boss following the disaster caused by the water purification machine he has developed. In his haste, he accidentally grabs a gangster's car containing the plans for a super satellite. A wild chase ensues. ...

Marie-Octobre (1959)

A group of ex-resistance fighters are brought together by Marie-Octobre, the code name of Marie-Helene Dumoulin. The former members of the network have carried on with their lives after the war, but this evening they are going to have to live again a fatef ...

The Magnificent Tramp (1959)

Bum Archimède wants to spend the winter in prison, but to get there proves not to be that easy. ...

The Beast Is Loose (1959)

Paul Lamiani, a wizened mobster, is asked to return to duty following the disappearance of secret documents of extreme importance. It is assumed that they are in the hands of a friend of Paul. But the case becomes even more delicate when Lamiani's son is k ...

A Bullet in the Gun Barrel (1958)

Back from Indochina, Tony and Dick, two French soldiers, are now in possession of more than 20 million, entrusted by a trafficker. They buy a nightclub in the district of Montparnasse but are soon hunted by the thug who wants to recover his money. ...

The Night Affair (1958)

Vallois, a vice inspector for the Paris police, takes special interest in the plight of drug-addicted Lucky (Najda Tiller), whom he considers to be more victim than criminal. Taking it upon himself to wean Lucky away from narcotics, Vallois also wins her l ...

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. ...

Sunday Buddies (1957)

Casti and Trébois, two friends who are workers at the same factory, have developed a common passion for flying. They dream of starting an aviation club. In the meantime they spend all their Sundays restoring an old plane under the supervision of Raf, a fo ...

Speaking of Murder (1957)

Louis Bertain is the owner of a Paris garage which is the front for a robbery gang. He and his accomplices are careful to keep up a civic veneer by day, indulging in criminal activities only when "the red light is on" at night. This status quo is upset whe ...

Reproduction interdite (1957)

An art dealer in dire straits, after being ripped off by two crooks, one of whom owns a genuine painting by Gauguin while the other is an expert copyist, finds them again and, instead of killing them as he originally intended, joins in their game – with ...

Blood to the Head (1956)

François Cardinaud is one of the richest shipowners in the region. But this success arouses resentment and jealousy. When Marthe, his wife, leaves the home without warning, Cardinaud sees her life cracking little by little. ...

Every Second Counts (1956)

After failing to carry out an urgent repair to the car of two German tourists, mechanic Robert has a crisis of conscience. Accidents loom at every turn of the wheel. Robert finally alerts the police, and the breathless pursuit of the Mercedes begins, turni ...

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 ...

Headlines of Destruction (1955)

Released from prison after two years, Michel Gérard sets out to find his wife Alice. Alice, luxuriously maintained by her lover, Jacques Rupert, editor-in-chief of a major newspaper, rejects him. Shortly afterwards, Rupert discovers Alice dead, murdered. ...

Nana (1955)

Nana or Nanà is a French-Italian film by Christian-Jaque starring Charles Boyer. It is an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel Nana. ...

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. ...

Le Crâneur (1955)

A singer tries to rescue a man drawn into the drug trade. ...

Razzia (1955)

Henri, the Man from Nantes, comes back to his country after a successful stay in the United States, where he was working for Liski, the drug dealer. With the fame of being a tough guy preceding him, he sets himself to the task of knowing why the French ope ...

Price of Love (1955)

Because he loved a trainer named Suzy too much, honest Pierre Menard wasted his life and died. Innocent, but implicated in the ransacking of a jewelry store, he receives a five-year residence ban, which he ignores, only to find himself reduced to joining P ...

No Exit (1954)

The scene is a tawdry hotel room in Limbo, where several damned souls are gathered. At first, the group fails to comprehend where they are or why they're there. When the horrible truth dawns upon them, they carp and snipe at one another, blaming everyone b ...

Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954)

Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has sec ...

Before the Deluge (1954)

The title of this French "reality" drama, which translates to Before the Deluge, is a play on Louis XVI's famous prognostication, "Apres moi, le deluge." Set in 1950, the film concentrates on five Parisian adolescents. Certain that the next war will herald ...

Strange Desire of Mr. Bard (1954)

A terminally ill Mr. Bard, a casino bus driver forced to quit his job, miraculously wins a fortune playing roulette. Instantly becoming a millionaire, he wants to fulfill his life's dream: to become a father. This plan is opposed by his greedy relatives wh ...

The Atomic Cloud (1954)

Two journalists drop by the Waterloo studios, where a director shows them a rough cut of a pacifist film. In it, a botched atomic test in Belgium creates a clay cloud that spreads world peace, causing stock markets to crash and weapons manufacturers to los ...

Thérèse Raquin (1953)

Star-crossed lovers Thérèse and Laurent think they've gotten away with murder after Thérèse's weakling husband "falls" from a speeding train. But when forced to contend with a blackmailer's demands and the mute accusations of Thérèse's mother-in-law, ...

Jeunes mariés (1953)

Jacques and Gisèle, who are just married, are starting their honeymoon. But at nightfall, on their way to marital bliss, their car chooses to break down and the lovebirds find themselves stranded in the village of Montigny. And instead of bathing in ecsta ...

Endless Horizons (1953)

The life story of famed French aviatrix Helene Boucher is detailed in Horizons sans fin (Endless Horizons). Giselle Pascal stars as Boucher, who is first seen in 1930, leaving her millinery shop behind in favor of the wild blue yonder. Though the world of ...

Follow That Man (1953)

While celebrating his birthday, police inspector Basquier recalls two of his most celebrated cases. The first involves duplicitous moneylender Olga. The second concerns the brutal broad daylight murder of innocent young Yvonne. ...

We Are All Murderers (1952)

Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Moulo ...

Passion (1951)

An unhappy wife who has had a child by her lover lives a daily drama under the watchful eye of her husband who hates them both. ...

Under the Paris Sky (1951)

Fates of multiple otherwise disconnected characters intertwine miraculously under the sky of Paris. And it all happens in one day. ...

Justice Is Done (1950)

Elsa Lundenstein is accused of having murdered her lover. The jury discusses the case vividly. All members are somehow prejudiced because of personal life experience and subsequently each member reads something different into the presented facts. ...

The First Weapons (1950)

A sensitive teen-age boy survives the brutalities of a country training school. ...

Au P'tit Zouave (1950)

Au p'tit Zouave, a café, sees a colorful clientele from working-class Paris. An assassin will shake up the daily life of the regulars. ...

Monsignor (1949)

Louis Mennechain is a modest locksmith. So imagine his amazement when Professor Piétrefond approaches him and tells him he recognizes in him a descendant of the kings of France, more precisely of Louis XVII (the king who never reigned). According to him h ...

Unusual Tales (1949)

A group of policemen look over three murder cases including a cutthroat that prays on young women, a madman that hid his deformed landlord's corpse in the floor, and a wine aficionado who buries his friend alive. ...

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. ...

Jour de Fête (1949)

Jour de Fête tells the story of an inept and easily-distracted French mailman who frequently interrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as inspect the traveling fair that has come to his small community. Influenced by too much w ...

The Mark of the Day (1949)

In a settlement in the northern mining country. The Marles, Bréhard and Gohelle families wake up and prepare for a new day at work. The young engineer Larzac, newly appointed to the mine, will soon oppose the authoritarian and conservative methods of his ...

The Spice of Life (1948)

A series of vignettes, in which Noel-Noel appears as the moderator, lecturer, commentator and leading actor, that examine the bores and pests of everyday life much like Pete Smith and Robert Benchley had done for years in American short subjects. Among tho ...

The Bouquinquant Brothers (1948)

A provincial, Julie Moret, is hired as a servant in a Parisian bourgeois residence. She is courted by one of the Bouquinquant brothers, Léon, who does not take long to ask her to marry him. Alas, Léon turns out to be violent, alcoholic and lazy. Faced wi ...

The Lovers of the Pont Saint-Jean (1947)

On the banks of the Rhône, not far from Tain l'Hermitage, Alcide Garonne, an old ferryman - and incidentally a poacher - lives out of wedlock with Victorine Rousset nicknamed Maryse, a colorful tramp. When Garrone's son, Pilou, a worker, falls in love wit ...

Counter Investigation (1947)

Alain Marchal, wrongly accused of murdering his wife, escapes from prison the day before his execution. Before committing suicide, he contacts Monsieur Charles, a retired gangster, and asks him to investigate, find the real culprit and clear his name. Mons ...

The Ideal Couple (1946)

Diavalo is the popular hero of French serials circa 1912. Diana is an actress who falls in love with Diavalo. Diavalo is forced to wear a series of disguises to elude the police so he can attend a Gala for the President. ...

Messieurs Ludovic (1946)

Anne-Marie meets three men bearing the first name of Ludovic. Each of them has a very different character than the other two. The young woman will find great love with one of them. ...

Mr. Orchid (1946)

This character study of a French patriot during the Nazi Occupation has comedian Noel as the chief of the underground who uses his hobby of growing orchids to hide his radio equipment. ...

Devil's Daughter (1946)

Pursued by the police, Saget usurps the identity of a man who was returning to his town after having made his fortune in the United States. Under this new name, he deceives his compatriots with the exception of a doctor and the savage Isabelle. During an e ...

Star Without Light (1946)

An aspiring singer tries to break into films during the early talkie era. She is hired to dub the singing and speaking voice of a silent-movie favorite. Sworn to secrecy, the fill-in must stand by in silence as the star receives all the praises and plaudit ...

Girl with Grey Eyes (1945)

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 ...

A Cage of Nightingales (1945)

In France, in 1930, a supervisor of a boarding school for young offenders seeks to awaken the music by forming a choir, despite the skepticism of his boarding school director. ...

Children of Paradise (1945)

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thi ...

Night Shift (1944)

A devoted switchboard operator is the village guardian angel. ...

The Woman Who Dared (1944)

The strength of a couple's fascination with airplanes and flight is to the detriment of their family. ...

Adieu Léonard (1943)

A 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. ...

Madame et le mort (1943)

A person who had usurped the identity of a famous writer of detective stories was killed in the train. Why and by whom? ...

Le Voyageur de la Toussaint (1943)

A young man comes back to his hometown to be confronted with a bourgeois obnoxious family who has always despised his -now dead - parents because they were music hall artists, "entertainers". But because he's the sole legatee of an uncle's fortune, his rel ...

A Star to the Sun (1943)

Martine, who has become a major star of the song in Paris, wants to return to visit her hometown. Confronted with Merlerault, a very haughty and noble character who wants to teach her how to live, she succumbs after a time of anger, to the charms of the ge ...

The Marriage of Chiffon (1942)

Odette Joyeux plays an eccentric young aristocrat called "Chiffon", who is struggling to comply with the social conventions of the community. A widow, her mother (Suzanne Dantes) would like to remarry a rich noble. Without realizing it, Chiffon is in love ...

Fantastic Night (1942)

Denis, a poor student in philosophy, works as a night porter in the Paris market of Les Halles in order to pay for his studies. Constantly weary, he falls asleep and dreams of a beautiful girl in white, Irène, with whom he falls in love. ...

Sideral Cruises (1942)

Robert and Françoise Monier make a hot air balloon to fly to the stratosphere. After a visit to Venus, they return home, but have only aged 15 days whereas 25 years have passed on Earth. ...

Portrait of Innocence (1941)

A 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. ...