Paul Frankeur

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.

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 thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

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 wine and a newsreel account of rapid transportation methods used by the United States postal system, he goes to hilarious lengths to speed the delivery of mail while aboard his bicycle.

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 protagonist, reach from the 19th century to the 1970s. Touching briefly on subjects such as execution, pedophilia, incest, and sex, the film features an array of characters, including a sick father and incompetent police officers.

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...

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.

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 secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.

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.

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

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, some erotic, some even supernatural.

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 operations were not so profitable - and soon he is master of all links of the organization. He can now get it honed to perfection - or destroy it. Only... the Police are following his every step.

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 fateful night – the night their leader was killed. He had been betrayed, his name given to the Germans. The search for the traitor puts each personality in the spotlight – and also that of the killed leader, Castille.

Handsome dentist Herve Dandieu, temporarily separated from his delectable new wife Virginie by a lovers' tiff, is picked up by sexy dance teacher Anita Flores. Sensing trouble, Virginie follows him, only to find him circumstantially incriminated in murder. Soon, the dance school has a gorgeous new instructress, whose slightly scatterbrained attempts to clear her husband's name confuse both police and suspects...and bringing potential danger.

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

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 when one of the gang members becomes convinced that Louis' younger brother is a police informer.

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

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

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 former RAF pilot...

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 Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We Are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.

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 him, blackmailing the house gardener and his mother, who has a lover. Obsessed with sex, he is unable to have an affair with a girl and ends up committing suicide.

No description available.

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 kidnapped.

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 criminal couple, without any remorse. The pretty Hauteclaire Stassin, daughter of the master of arms, meets the Count of Savigny, married to the noble and languid Delphine. Madly in love with the count, Hauteclaire joined the castle as a servant. Shortly after, the countess died of poisoning. Will the guilty lovers go unpunished?

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 who would go any low to take this money away from him. They are being led by a small-time crook. Mr. Bard's natural shyness and good heart lead him to the journey of self-exploration and finding his true love.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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 love -- and, incidentally, smashes the dope ring responsible for her addiction.

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 relatives become friendly with him... at least for a while.

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.

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 but themselves for their dismal fate.

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.

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.

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 when he heads for Florence and meets prostitute Bianca.

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 father. Things take a turn for the worse when Jean loses his job and his wife finds out about his affair. But Clothilde’s predicament is even more distressing...

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.

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 superior Dubard. Georges Gohelle would like to marry Marie Bréhard, but housing difficulties thwart their plans. Brezza, a Polish immigrant, who must return to his country, would like to hate his marriage to Louise Gohelle. Roger, Marie's little brother, has just turned 14. He does not want to go down to the mine as his elders have always done. He will however have to resign himself to it. Marles evokes for him the social struggles of 1906. Roger is injured during a landslide. In front of his family and his friend Marles, who had come to the hospital, he announced his decision to continue his profession. Larzac, invited to the Marles, reveals that he refused a quiet position at the Charbonnages de Paris. He too stays.

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 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 the apocalypse, the youngster make plans to run off to a desert island and set up a new society. This, however, will require money, which is why the boys decide to pull off a "necessary" robbery. Idealism collapses in the face of cold reality, as the five youths suffer from the consequences of their actions. Avant le Deluge was one of a group of films cowritten by director Andre Cayatte and Charles Spaak which endeavored to explore the touchy social issues of the day: others in the Cayatte-Spaak canon include the euthanasia-themed Justice est Faite and the capital-punishment tract Nous sommes tous des assassins.

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 his apartment building and hides in his room .When the police make a search, he makes her out to be his lover for the night.Madeleine tells her about her sad past : she has severed all links with her parents ,she's an unwed mother and in the underworld's clutches. Emile sends his protegee to old mommy Dupont's place ,in the suburbs of Paris.

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. Fearing charges, he asks one of his reporters, Barney Morgan, to direct suspicion to Michel. But Michel's lawyer shows Barney that the husband is innocent.

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, it's only a matter of time before the law, their passion or blind chance trips them up.

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 director. Little by little, he came face to face with the various compromises inherent in this professional milieu. After writing a screenplay about his experiences, he enlists the help of Chantal, a young actress, to bring his film project to fruition.

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 lose their jobs.The journalists roast the movie for being unrealistic, but the director defends it as a wake-up call to maintain peace. Afterward, they tour the studios, giving a cool look behind the scenes.

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 ultimately disastrous results.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 bidder of lawless nations. Menaced, the scientist, who was friends with Nick Carter's father, calls Nick for help. At Nice airport, Nick Carter escapes death, but that night he is unable to stop Formenter's murder. He suspects Bruno, Formenter's adoptive son, and Tonio, the owner of a bar near Formentier's home. Bruno is actually after Formenter's heritage, and for that he tries to kill Catherine, Formentier's granddaughter. Therefore, Nick Carter finds himself against more than a gang, but he will uncover the plots, in time to break every gangster apart.

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 he resists the efforts of his sister Bettine to marry him off to Arabelle, the daughter of old Dr. Minxit. Benjamin does agree to go and meet the girl. But that evening his sister finds him at the inn together with Manette, who is arrested by her father. So she decides to go with Benjamin herself. But as result of an incident with the fat Marquis puts paid to the expedition. Benjamin is subjected by the Marquis to a humiliating practical joke. Benjamin is determined to got his revenge. He succeeds thanks to the gorgeous Vicomte Hector de Pont-Cassé, who also helps Manette with her problems against her father. But Benjamin is now arrested by the Marquis...

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.

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

In Paris during the Second Empire, Count Muffat, despite his prejudices against loose women, falls madly in love with Nana, a young kept woman and star of the Théâtre des Variétés. This all-consuming passion will lead nowhere and, like Nana's other lovers, will lead him to ruin and crime... An adaptation of Émile Zola's novel Nana.

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

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, turning into a thriller that ends to everyone's satisfaction.

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 with her uncle, a ruined pioneer of aviation ...

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. Monsieur Charles accepts his request and along with his wife Ginette and two former accomplices, Paragraphe and Teddy Coffre fort, embarks on his counter-investigation.

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 he is none other than the monarch's great grandson. Louis's life is soon turned upside down as he becomes the center of attention of a group of ardent royalists. Even a duchess "gives" him her love to make sure that he accepts his role as pretender to the throne...

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

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.

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.

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 the maquisards, is suspicious of a doctor who expressly disapproves of the resistance and wants to have him shot as soon as he has treated Morel. Philippe, who is second in command, intervenes in favor of the Chevalier. Meanwhile, peasants denounce the maquisards to the Nazis and the camp is surrounded by the Germans. The camp is saved thanks to Philippe who takes command of the group. He decides to leave the shelter and they begin the long march through the Cévennes to rally maquisard Napoleon in the Vercors...

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.

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 gentleman. They get married but she forgot to tell her husband that her father is in fact the most famous poacher in the area.

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.

In the Charente, during the Nazi occupation, 51-year-old apparent pacifist Edouard Martin is in fact the leader of a resistance network, using his hobby of orchid growing to hide radio equipment.

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 Paulo's sinister gang. The police finally arrest him and force him to become an informer if he doesn't want to leave Paris. He accepts and signs his death warrant.

No description available.

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 plaudits.

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 with her misfortune, Julie gets closer to her brother-in-law Pierre, the opposite of Léon, serious and hardworking, and they become lovers. The drama will rush when Julie becomes pregnant with Pierre.

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 of the country is accused of having seduced a young girl who is avenged by her mother. The bonesetter also dies, the village fortunately continues to live.

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 engineer in London.

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.

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 with Augusta, the mayor's daughter, the unconventional old couple tries to protect the unconventional young pair from the disapproval of self righteous villagers.

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 explanation Saget understands that Isabelle secretly admires him. She denounces him and Saget surrenders without a fight. Thus he ruins all his prestige with the young Amazon.

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?

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 ecstasy as expected, Jacques and Gisèle become unwillingly entangled in the conflict that tears the villagers apart : should they continue to tolerate the presence of an American Army unit on municipal territory ?

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 those are the Practical Joker who will do anything for a laugh; the Party Entertainer who never stops singing; the Talkative Neigbor who forgets the time; the noisy neighbors who dance the tango all night; and women drivers, people who telephone at meal time, the friend you never saw before and amatuer medical experts. Much use of trick photography, montages, puppets and animation along with some adult Gallic wit and gentle satire.

A devoted switchboard operator is the village guardian angel.

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 tries to kill his wife. He is then shot dead by his father-in-law.

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.

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.

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