Renaud Mary

Set amid the military maneuvers and Quatorze Juillet carnivals of turn-of-the-century France, Jean Renoir’s delirious romantic comedy Elena and her Men stars a radiant Ingrid Bergman as a beautiful, but impoverished, Polish princess who drives men of all stations to fits of desperate love. When Elena elicits the fascination of a famous general, she finds herself at the center of romantic machinations and political scheming, with the hearts of several men—as well as the future of France—in her hands.

Marching down the Italian peninsula to sack ancient Rome, Etruscan warrior Drusco instead offers to hold back his onslaught if the Romans hand over hostages, including Clelia, the sexy leader of a clan of woman warriors. But before long, intrigue and betrayal unravel the fragile peace. Directors Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia and Vittorio Cottafavi helm this vintage sword-and-sandal epic.

In 1835, in Brittany, Camille Maupin —a mature, beautiful, and talented woman— is courted by the young Calyste. To preserve the purity of their love, Camille pushes him into the arms of another, younger woman, while she continues an old affair that makes him jealous. A moving portrait of a woman in the 19th century, adapted from Balzac’s novel of the same name.

This drama about the Carmelite order of nuns is set during the French Revolution. A young woman seeks refuge with the Carmelites because she is terrified of dying during the upheaval. The longer she associates with the nuns the more she is transformed by their faith and devotion. 

Arsène Lupin is extremely popular among the population, because he allows the needy to share in his acquired wealth. Before entering the service of the German Emperor Wilhelm II, he removes his vault in Alsace, steals two paintings of old masters, steals valuable gems and calls out to the police prefect to avoid his arrest. But this time he risks being seriously recognized. Lupin must once again use his fine intellect to deftly escape the situation.

Madame de Montespan, the Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XIV, has been in disgrace since the King set eyes on a younger beauty, Marie-Angélique Scorailles. Having had enough of the situation, the rejected mistress decides to visit La Voisin, a woman known as a fortune teller, a doctor, a midwife and who is also said to arrange black masses and sell poisons. Some time later Marie-Angélique, now Duchess of Fontanges, dies mysteriously aged only twenty...

Identite Judiciare stars Raymond Souplex as wily French police inspector Basquier. The villain is Berthet (Jean Debucourt), a high-ranking government official. Basquier suspects that Berthet is a vicious murderer, but is unable to prove anything thanks to bureaucratic interference. Thus, the good inspector plays a waiting game a la Columbo, hoping for that one fatal slip on the part of the killer. Certain portions of Identite Judiciare proved a bit too intense for American audiences, and were accordingly snipped by the censors.

Catherine Hubscher, who washes the shirts of young Napoleon and other soldiers fighting the Revolution, falls in love with Sergeant Lefebvre. Circumstances bring Lefebvre a noble title and even more -- Napoleon decides to make him the local ruler over a large territorial fiefdom. But trouble brews when Madame Sans-Gene, now elevated to the nobility along with her man -- cannot keep her frank observations under control.

The umpteenth adaptation of Dumas' novel finds d'Artagnan and his friends promoting the love affairs of Anne of Austria and the Duke of Buckingham, incurring the wrath of the Cardinal and exposing themselves to the cold cruelty of Milady de Winter. Also featured are the tender Mme Bonacieux, the hilarious Planchet, the Queen's ferrets and Bethune's executioner, against a backdrop of clanging swords.

Henri La Tour, a strolling player, is also a daring adventurer. So, when, after accomplishing a brilliant feat, he is awarded a title by King Louis XV, the Duke of Saint-Sever takes offense at it and challenges Henri to a duel. However, while they fight, a group of Austrian soldiers appear suddenly and the two rivals instantly unite to repel their enemies. Unfortunately, Saint-Sever is mortally wounded and, feeling he is about to die, he entreats his new friend to offer protection to Toinon, his natural daughter, whose life is being threatened...

Julie and Désirée Clary are courted by the brothers Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte. Joseph marries Julie and Napoleon is affianced to Désirée. When Napoleon breaks the engagement and marries Joséphine de Beauharnais, Désirée becomes involved with General Bernadotte.

Kohlman, the attorney for the Fournil bank, diverts money from the institution. To hide his malpractices, he imagines to remove the director, the young and overconfident Clement Fournil, during a cruise at sea on the yacht Emile Frechisse.

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.

1868. Revolutionary Mathias Sandorf is determined to oust the dictatorship oppressing his country. The people see him as their liberator. Denounced by his banker, Mathias is arrested and sentenced to death. He manages to escape and takes refuge in a fishing village where he prepares a new uprising.

The charming Lulu, a cabaret singer and dancer, has no shortage of admirers. When she decides to get married, she sets her heart on Robert, a young industrialist, but he is already married. Disappointed, she sets out in search of the ideal man.

Shortly before the War, Jan Lazlo, a Hungarian musician who has emigrated to France, falls for a young woman. Alas, the lady forsakes him and the poor man tries to overcome his grief by writing "Gloomy Sunday", a song so desperate that it can drive its listeners to suicide. Max, a music publisher, likes the song and decides to launch it by all means, foul or fair. Bob, his accomplice, manages to talk his mistress Michèle into committing a fake suicide. She obeys him and the scheme is a success as a result. On this occasion, Jan gets to know Michèle and the two young people fall in love. Happiness seems to be in store for Jan again but this is without counting with Bob. Jealous of Jan, the naughty fellow indeed tells him that Michèle's attempted suicide was nothing but an advertising pretense.

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.

Being born a witch's daughter did not bode well for your future in the Middle Ages. Guillaumette tries to stay on the straight and narrow with a little help from a priest she visits.

Without seeming to touch it, journalist Trupeau is interested in the doings of Mireille, a jewelry store saleswoman. A certain Jojo is hanging around the young girl, and not for the right reasons, but to pull off a "heist". Although one of his men betrays him and has to be shot, Jojo succeeds. The police investigate, question and pursue Mireille. Exasperated and disillusioned, the pretty salesgirl shoots Jojo. Fortunately, the journalist is there to prove that she's as white as an ermine. And the ch timents rain down on the culprits.

In order to please Martineau, a wealthy industrialist, cynical Gabory accepts to organize a rigged beauty contest whose winner will be Françoise, Martineau's young mistress. However, there are other comely contestants among whom Christiane, the daughter of a general, Jackie, an unemployed actress, Colette, the daughter of a distiller and Marie, a secretary engaged to serious-minded construction foreman Robert. So, will things turn out exactly the way Martineau and Gabory want them...?

A young novitiate witnesses a murder. Later, she recognizes the culprit, who admits to the killing; the sister works to convince him to turn himself in to the police.

Reported missing in 1940, Jacques Ledru comes back to Strasbourg as Martin Schmidt. He tracks down his wife Genevieve, but she's remarried and has taken the head of his shipping company. She and her husband will do anything to get rid of Jacques and keep his company.

This modest, unpretentious French film is a streamlined version of the true story previously cinematized as The Song of Bernadette (1943). Daniele Ajort plays the simple 19th-century French peasant girl who insists that she has experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary. Once this sighting becomes common knowledge, Bernadette's very existence becomes a religious and political hot potato. Thousands of people flock to the grotto at Lourdes where Bernadette claims she has seen the Holy Mother, believing that the waters therein contain recuperative powers. Bernadette dies under a cloud of controversy, but is ultimately elevated to sainthood by the Vatican.

Mario di Donati, a deserter from the Italian army, lives in Paris under a false name with Germaine, his French lover. When the latter learns about his hidden past, she feels hurt by Mario's lack of trust in her and she distances herself from him. In despair, Mario surrenders to the law but, at the time of trial, he runs away to join the woman he loves.