French Cinema: A Critical Filmography (1929-1939)
by TheWanderingFish | created - 17 Dec 2015 | updated - 18 Dec 2015 | PublicColin Crisp's third book in his study of French cinema in the 1930s analyzes 101 key films from the decade.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Prix de beauté (Miss Europe) (1930)
93 min | Drama, Romance
Lucienne, typist and gorgeous bathing beauty, decides to enter the 'Miss Europe' pageant sponsored by the French newspaper she works for. She finds her jealous lover Andre violently ... See full summary »
Director: Augusto Genina | Stars: Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia, Augusto Bandini, André Nicolle
Votes: 668
2. Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Albert is smitten for Pola but ends up wrongly committed in jail, in the meantime her affections are sought after by his friend, and on his release both love and friendship must be tested.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Albert Préjean, Pola Illéry, Edmond T. Gréville, Bill Bocket
Votes: 2,491
3. L'Age d'Or (1930)
Not Rated | 63 min | Comedy, Drama
A surrealist tale of a man and a woman who are passionately in love with each other, but their attempts to consummate that passion are constantly thwarted by their families, the Church, and bourgeois society.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Gaston Modot, Lya Lys, Caridad de Laberdesque, Max Ernst
Votes: 14,811 | Gross: $0.03M
4. The Road to Paradise (1930)
98 min | Comedy
Three young friends working at a filling station all fall in love with the same woman.Simultaneously filmed French version of the German musical, Die Drei Von Der Tankstelle.
Directors: Wilhelm Thiele, Max de Vaucorbeil | Stars: Lilian Harvey, Henri Garat, René Lefèvre, Jacques Maury
Votes: 38
5. The King of the Gate Crashers (1930)
94 min | Comedy
The first in a series of popular comedies featuring the character of Bouboule, a man of few means who somehow manages to sneak into various athletic events (such as here boxing, cycling, ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Colombier | Stars: Georges Milton, Henri Kerny, Hélène Perdrière, Hélène Robert
Votes: 13
6. La petite Lise (1930)
84 min | Drama
Victor Berthier, a good man but also a very jealous one, killed his wife in a fit of jealousy. After serving a few years in a chain gang, he is released for good behavior. He feels very ... See full summary »
Director: Jean Grémillon | Stars: Pierre Alcover, Julien Bertheau, Alexandre Mihalesco, Nadia Sibirskaïa
Votes: 233
7. The Threepenny Opera (1931)
Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The Gangster Macheath secretly marries the daughter of beggar king Peachum. When Peachum finds out, he instructs the police chief Brown to arrest and hang Macheath. If not, all the beggars of Soho will disturb the upcoming coronation.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Rudolf Forster, Lotte Lenya, Carola Neher, Reinhold Schünzel
Votes: 2,544
8. David Golder (1931)
86 min | Drama
David is a poor but ambitious Polish Jew who reinvents himself as a powerful New York business magnate. After gaining wealth, he relocates to Paris, only to have his selfish and demanding wife squander his fortune.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Harry Baur, Paule Andral, Jackie Monnier, Jean Bradin
Votes: 326
9. Le Million (1931)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Musical
An impoverished painter and his rival engage in a race across Paris to recover a jacket concealing a winning lottery ticket.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Annabella, René Lefèvre, Jean-Louis Allibert, Paul Ollivier
Votes: 3,842
10. Marius (1931)
Not Rated | 130 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Marius is faced with a choice whether to fulfill his passion by sailing the seas or stay and marry the woman he loves.
Director: Alexander Korda | Stars: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Fernand Charpin, Alida Rouffe
Votes: 2,568
11. La Chienne (1931)
Not Rated | 95 min | Crime, Drama
Maurice Legrand, a meek cashier married to a nagging wife, has a secret passion: he's a Sunday painter. He falls in love with Lulu, a young woman dominated by Dédé, the pimp who she works for. Dédé pushes Lulu into a relationship with him.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Michel Simon, Janie Marèse, Georges Flamant, Roger Gaillard
Votes: 4,839
12. À Nous la Liberté (1931)
Not Rated | 83 min | Comedy, Musical
Seeking better life, two convicts escape from prison.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Raymond Cordy, Henri Marchand, Rolla France, Paul Ollivier
Votes: 4,968
13. The Blood of a Poet (1932)
Not Rated | 55 min | Fantasy
Told in four episodes - an unnamed artist is transported through a mirror into another dimension, where he travels through various bizarre scenarios.
Director: Jean Cocteau | Stars: Enrique Rivero, Elizabeth Lee Miller, Pauline Carton, Odette Talazac
Votes: 7,369
14. Moon Over Morocco (1931)
82 min | Drama, Mystery
Five gentlemen are on vacation in Morocco; one of them takes off a Muslim girl's veil and the sorcerer curses them: before the full moon, all of them will die.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Harry Baur, Robert Le Vigan, Georges Péclet, Marc Dantzer
Votes: 127
15. Wooden Crosses (1932)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, War
World War 1 begins and a young man enlists to fight for his country.
Director: Raymond Bernard | Stars: Pierre Blanchar, Gabriel Gabrio, Charles Vanel, Raymond Aimos
Votes: 1,692
16. Die Herrin von Atlantis (1932)
87 min | Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Two French Foreign Legionnaires are lost amid the shifting sands of the Sahara Desert when they stumble across the entrance to an underground world. Searching this new found subterranean ... See full summary »
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Heinz Klingenberg, Tela Tchaï, Gustav Diessl
Votes: 592
17. Fun in the Barracks (1932)
85 min | Comedy
The life of disorderly soldiers in the barracks dealing with daily routines.
Director: Maurice Tourneur | Stars: Raimu, Jean Gabin, Fernandel, René Donnio
Votes: 192
18. Vampyr (1932)
Not Rated | 75 min | Fantasy, Horror
A drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Stars: Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz
Votes: 20,524
19. Poil de carotte (1932)
91 min | Drama
A red-haired boy is his mother's punching bag ; only his father's presence is a great comfort to him,but this weak man is under the shrew's thumb. His pain is so great he feels suicidal.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Harry Baur, Robert Lynen, Louis Gauthier, Simone Aubry
Votes: 750
20. Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
Not Rated | 85 min | Comedy
A bookseller saves a tramp from drowning and shelters him, but the tramp's odd behavior starts to wear everyone down.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Michel Simon, Marcelle Hainia, Sévérine Lerczinska, Jean Gehret
Votes: 6,209
21. It's in the Bag (1932)
45 min | Comedy
Benjamin Déboisé, a hatter, his salesman and a young man want to kidnap an American millionaire, put him in a bag and hold him to ransom. But they make a mistake: the fellow they find in ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Prévert | Stars: Julien Carette, Anthony Gildès, Etienne Decroux, Jean-Paul Le Chanois
Votes: 101
22. July 14 (1933)
86 min | Comedy, Romance
Jean is a young cab driver. Anna, a flower-girl neighbour, is in love with him. But he is still thinking to Pola, who just left him. Jean asks her to the bal. Many events (Pola's come back,... See full summary »
Director: René Clair | Stars: Annabella, Jorge Rigaud, Raymond Cordy, Paul Ollivier
Votes: 474
23. L'homme à l'Hispano (1933)
85 min | Drama
The almost financial ruined French gentleman Gaston Dewalter spends several day in Biarritz before going off in the Hispano-Suiza, a luxe car which was a present from his friends. George ... See full summary »
Director: Jean Epstein | Stars: Jean Murat, Marie Bell, Joan Helda, Gaston Mauger
Votes: 46
24. Théodore et Cie (1933)
Comedy
To investigate a would be adultery,Clodomir dresses up as a superintendent,a butler ,a priest ,a fireman ,and even ..a woman .
Director: Pierre Colombier | Stars: Raimu, Albert Préjean, Pierre Alcover, Charles Redgie
Votes: 35
25. Zero for Conduct (1933)
Not Rated | 47 min | Drama
In a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.
Director: Jean Vigo | Stars: Jean Dasté, Robert le Flon, Louis Lefebvre, Du Verron
Votes: 9,366
26. La maternelle (1933)
83 min | Drama
When her father files bankruptcy and then dies, Rose's fiancé jilts her; she takes a job as a maid in a Montmartre kindergarten with 150 poor children. Rose gives each child loving ... See full summary »
Directors: Jean Benoît-Lévy, Marie Epstein | Stars: Madeleine Renaud, Alice Tissot, Paulette Élambert, Sylvette Fillacier
Votes: 133
27. Cette vieille canaille (1933)
99 min | Drama
Vautier, a wealthy surgeon in his fifties, falls in love with Hélène, a young woman from a modest background. He allows her to have a string of short-lived lovers - but when Jean Trapeau, ... See full summary »
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Harry Baur, Pierre Blanchar, Alice Field, Paul Azaïs
Votes: 92
28. La rue sans nom (1934)
82 min | Drama
Early example of poetic realism: A grubby poor neighborhood, where buildings are slated to be taken down, reacts to the arrival of a young woman, whose father has spent time in prison.
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Constant Rémy, Gabriel Gabrio, Paule Andral, Paul Azaïs
Votes: 16
29. La croisière jaune (1934)
90 min | Documentary
The film tells the expedition, led by Georges Marie Haardt and Louis Audouin-Dubreuil and sponsored by André Citoën, leaving Beirut in Lebanon to rally China through the ancient Silk Road with half-tracks vehicles, between 1931 and 1932.
Directors: Léon Poirier, André Sauvage | Stars: Georges-Marie Haardt, Louis Audoin Dubreuil, André Citroën, Victor Point
Votes: 55
30. Ces messieurs de la Santé (1934)
115 min | Comedy, Drama
In Gedeon's store ,take your pick of the best corsets and machine guns.
Director: Pierre Colombier | Stars: Raimu, Lucien Baroux, Paul Amiot, Guy Derlan
Votes: 136
31. Le grand jeu (1934)
120 min | Drama, Romance
Pierre (Pierre Richard-Willm), a young lawyer, has enormous debts due to his mistress Florence (Marie Bell), and her whims of luxury life. Pierre has gone too far and put the family firm in... See full summary »
Director: Jacques Feyder | Stars: Marie Bell, Pierre Richard-Willm, Charles Vanel, Georges Pitoëff
Votes: 426
32. L'Atalante (1934)
Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Newly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.
Director: Jean Vigo | Stars: Dita Parlo, Jean Dasté, Gilles Margaritis, Louis Lefebvre
Votes: 17,476
33. Si j'étais le patron (1934)
100 min | Comedy
The concierge is angry with her tenant,young worker (and inventor) Henri,because the rent is always due.
Director: Richard Pottier | Stars: Fernand Gravey, Max Dearly, Charles Dechamps, Madeleine Guitty
Votes: 55
34. Angele (1934)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama
A young and naive peasant girl in Provence, who has been seduced and abandoned, moves to Marseilles and becomes a street-walker after having her baby.
Director: Marcel Pagnol | Stars: Orane Demazis, Fernandel, Henri Poupon, Jean Servais
Votes: 425
35. L'hôtel du libre échange (1934)
95 min | Comedy
There's never a dull moment at the Hôtel du Libre Echange. Deceptions, hitches and other misunderstandings make a few people mingle whereas, for their own sake, they should not. An example ... See full summary »
Director: Marc Allégret | Stars: Fernandel, André Alerme, Raymond Cordy, Saturnin Fabre
Votes: 48
36. Pension Mimosas (1935)
109 min | Drama
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 ... See full summary »
Director: Jacques Feyder | Stars: Françoise Rosay, Paul Bernard, Jean-Max, Paul Azaïs
Votes: 170
37. Le bonheur (1934)
98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Injured by anarchist Philippe Lucher, film actress Clara Stuart falls in love with her attacker and decides to plead in his favor at his trial.
Director: Marcel L'Herbier | Stars: Gaby Morlay, Charles Boyer, Paulette Dubost, Jean Toulout
Votes: 261
38. Toni (1935)
84 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
In the 1920s, the Provence is a magnet for immigrants seeking work in the quarries or in agriculture. Many mingle with locals and settle down permanently - like Toni, an Italian who has ... See full summary »
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Charles Blavette, Celia Montalván, Jenny Hélia, Édouard Delmont
Votes: 2,090
39. Justin de Marseille (1935)
95 min | Crime, Drama
The leader of a gang of drug traffickers, loved and esteemed by everyone for protecting the weak, ends up killing his greatest enemy.
Director: Maurice Tourneur | Stars: Antonin Berval, Pierre Larquey, Alexandre Rignault, Ghislaine Bru
Votes: 185
40. Quelle drôle de gosse! (1935)
85 min | Comedy
Lucie turns the house of chic dandy Gaston upside down.
Director: Léo Joannon | Stars: Albert Préjean, Danielle Darrieux, Lucien Baroux, Jeanne Helbling
Votes: 42
41. Crime and Punishment (1935)
107 min | Crime, Drama
Raskolnikov is a Russian man who follows an unusual moral code. A combination of vigilantism and hubris fuels his decision to aid a hapless prostitute by removing her antagonist, a local ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Harry Baur, Pierre Blanchar, Madeleine Ozeray, Lucienne Le Marchand
Votes: 173
42. La bandera (1935)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, Romance, War
Pierre Gilieth has committed a murder in Paris. He flees to Barcelona, where he runs out of money. So he joins the Spanish Foreign Legion. He meets there two fellow countrymen, Mulot and ... See full summary »
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Annabella, Jean Gabin, Robert Le Vigan, Raymond Aimos
Votes: 734
43. Princesse Tam-Tam (1935)
Not Rated | 77 min | Comedy, Drama
A French novelist passes off a African shepherdess as a princess.
Director: Edmond T. Gréville | Stars: Josephine Baker, Albert Préjean, Robert Arnoux, Germaine Aussey
Votes: 572
44. Flight Into Darkness (1935)
111 min | Drama
Charles Vanel and Annabella star respectively as a daring WW I aviator and his loving but neglected wife. Ostracized by the other pilots because of his recklessness and standoffishness, ... See full summary »
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Annabella, Charles Vanel, Jean Murat, Jean-Pierre Aumont
Votes: 170
45. Carnival in Flanders (1935)
95 min | Comedy, History, Romance
Tells the story of the Spanish invasion of Flanders
Director: Jacques Feyder | Stars: Françoise Rosay, André Alerme, Jean Murat, Louis Jouvet
Votes: 1,405
46. The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
Not Rated | 77 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The boss of a publishing company is a womanizer and a jerk, but what would happen if he suddenly disappeared?
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: René Lefèvre, Florelle, Jules Berry, Marcel Lévesque
Votes: 3,709 | Gross: $0.04M
47. Under Western Eyes (1936)
95 min | Drama
Political turmoil convulses 19th-century Russia, as Razumov, a young student preparing for a career in the czarist bureaucracy, unwittingly becomes embroiled in the assassination of a public official.
Director: Marc Allégret | Stars: Pierre Fresnay, Danièle Parola, Michel Simon, Jacques Copeau
Votes: 90
48. La terre qui meurt (1936)
88 min | Drama
The land owner is unable to attract either of his sons to continue his work. Is his daughter's husband a more suitable choice.
Director: Jean Vallée | Stars: Pierre Larquey, Alexandre Rignault, Simone Bourday, Line Noro
Votes: 17
49. Life Is Ours (1936)
66 min | Drama, History
A propaganda film of the communist party of France, showing who the comrades help the proletarian people against the capitalists. It also features propagandistic speeches of leading members of the party.
Directors: Jacques Becker, Jacques B. Brunius, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jean-Paul Le Chanois, Maurice Lime, Pierre Unik, André Zwobada, Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Dasté, Jacques B. Brunius, Simone Guisin, Teddy Michaud
Votes: 318
50. The Call (1936)
109 min | Drama
This movie is the story of Sahara missionary Charles De Foucauld whose youth was racy but who finally heard the call of the silence (title)that is to say the call of God .
Director: Léon Poirier | Stars: Jean Yonnel, Pierre de Guingand, Jacqueline Francell, Alice Tissot
Votes: 30
51. They Were Five (1936)
100 min | Drama
Five unemployed penniless workers win 100,000 Francs with the national lottery. Instead of sharing the money, they buy a ruin and build an open-air cafe. But difficulties come to split their friendly group apart.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Jean Gabin, Charles Vanel, Raymond Aimos, Viviane Romance
Votes: 1,425
52. Jenny (1936)
105 min | Drama
Jenny is a madam at a brothel. When her daughter comes back from England, she does not want her to find out what kind of job she really has.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Françoise Rosay, Albert Préjean, Lisette Lanvin, Roland Toutain
Votes: 282
53. The Story of a Cheat (1936)
81 min | Comedy
A charming scoundrel reflects on his exploits, from childhood through to manhood.
Director: Sacha Guitry | Stars: Sacha Guitry, Adolphe Borchard, Marcel Lucien, Raymond Clunie
Votes: 2,538
54. César (1936)
Not Rated | 168 min | Drama
Honoré Panisse is dying, cheerfully, with friends, wife, and son at his side. He confesses to the priest in front of his friends; he insists that the doctor be truthful. But, he cannot ... See full summary »
Director: Marcel Pagnol | Stars: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis, Fernand Charpin
Votes: 1,651
55. A Day in the Country (1946)
Not Rated | 40 min | Short, Comedy, Drama
The family of a Parisian shop-owner spends a day in the country. The daughter falls in love with a man at the inn, where they spend the day.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Sylvia Bataille, Jane Marken, Georges D'Arnoux, André Gabriello
Votes: 7,103
56. Pépé le Moko (1937)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A wanted gangster is both king and prisoner of the Casbah. He is protected from arrest by his friends, but is torn by his desire for freedom outside. A visiting Parisian beauty may just tempt his fate.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Jean Gabin, Gabriel Gabrio, Saturnin Fabre, Fernand Charpin
Votes: 8,076 | Gross: $0.15M
57. Messieurs les ronds de cuir (1936)
95 min | Comedy
A comedy about the petty bureaucrats who need special leather props under their posteriors because of the long hours they spend sitting at their desks.
Director: Yves Mirande | Stars: Lucien Baroux, Pierre Larquey, Gabriel Signoret, Saturnin Fabre
Votes: 42
58. The Man from Nowhere (1937)
83 min | Drama
Mathias Pascal, saddled with a stupid wife and a nagging mother-in-law, leaves home and is extremely lucky at several gambling resorts. He returns home and discovers that a drowned man, ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Pierre Blanchar, Isa Miranda, Catherine Fonteney, Ginette Leclerc
Votes: 165
59. Marthe Richard (1937)
95 min | Drama, War
The fictionalized story of Marthe Richard ,a spy in WW1.
Director: Raymond Bernard | Stars: Edwige Feuillère, Délia Col, Marthe Mellot, Liliane Lesaffre
Votes: 117
60. The Grand Illusion (1937)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, War
During WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim
Votes: 38,869 | Gross: $0.17M
61. Sarati, le terrible (1937)
102 min | Drama
César Sarati, nicknamed "Sarati the Terrible", is an unscrupulous and merciless brute who shamefully exploits the dockworkers at the port of Algiers. He rents them slums and lends them ... See full summary »
Directors: André Hugon, André Sarrouy | Stars: Harry Baur, Jorge Rigaud, Jacqueline Laurent, Rika Radifé
Votes: 42
62. Life Dances On (1937)
144 min | Drama
Christine, newly widowed and consumed by the memory of a ball she attended age 16, decides to track down the men she danced with that night and discover their fates.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Marie Bell, Françoise Rosay, Louis Jouvet, Harry Baur
Votes: 925
63. Heart of Paris (1937)
86 min | Comedy, Drama
In a trial, one of the jurors makes the jury change their mind as new evidences are found:Camille helps save defendant Natalie from the "eleven angry men".
Director: Marc Allégret | Stars: Raimu, Michèle Morgan, Gilbert Gil, Jean Worms
Votes: 157
64. Lady Killer (1937)
94 min | Drama, Romance, War
Soldier Lucien meets elegant Madeleine one night in Cannes. Lovestruck, he follows her to Paris after he is discharged. Their love affair begins anew, but eventually runs cold and he returns to Orange in the south of France. She follows.
Director: Jean Grémillon | Stars: Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Pierre Etchepare, Henri Poupon
Votes: 686
65. La dame de Malacca (1937)
113 min | Drama, Romance
Audrey marries a medical officer ,sails to Malaysia and meets a prince whose burden is too heavy for his shoulders .
Director: Marc Allégret | Stars: Edwige Feuillère, Pierre Richard-Willm, Jacques Copeau, Jean Debucourt
Votes: 54
66. Bizarre, Bizarre (1937)
84 min | Comedy
In Victorian London, a crime novelist and his wife fake their disappearance in order to hide from an uptight Anglican bishop who is leading a campaign against the "evils" of crime fiction.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Françoise Rosay, Michel Simon, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Louis Jouvet
Votes: 1,965
67. Harvest (1937)
127 min | Drama, Romance
The narrative revolves around a farming village where only three inhabitants remain, but they are told that if only one of them, Panturle, manages to find a wife, the village will be able to prosper again
Director: Marcel Pagnol | Stars: Gabriel Gabrio, Orane Demazis, Fernandel, Marguerite Moreno
Votes: 505
68. Désiré (1937)
92 min | Comedy
Shavian social satire. Odette is an actress who's now the mistress of a government minister. Her household of cook, maid, and chauffeur needs a valet. On the eve of going with the minister ... See full summary »
Director: Sacha Guitry | Stars: Sacha Guitry, Jacqueline Delubac, Jacques Baumer, Saturnin Fabre
Votes: 447
69. Abus de confiance (1937)
88 min | Drama, Romance
Imposture helps an orphan girl become a lawyer.
Director: Henri Decoin | Stars: Danielle Darrieux, Charles Vanel, Yvette Lebon, Pierre Mingand
Votes: 171
70. Naples Under the Kiss of Fire (1937)
83 min | Comedy, Romance
Mario Esposito, who sings in a Neapolitan restaurant, is in love with Assunta, the niece of Teresa, the owner of the place. He shares his apartment with Michel, his best friend. This one ... See full summary »
Director: Augusto Genina | Stars: Tino Rossi, Michel Simon, Mireille Balin, Marcel Dalio
Votes: 64
71. The Alibi (1937)
84 min | Crime
Paris, 1937. Winckler kills his enemy Gordon, a Chicago mobster, from the stage of a Parisian music hall, where he performs telepathy. He pays another artist, Helene, so that she tells the ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Erich von Stroheim, Albert Préjean, Jany Holt, Louis Jouvet
Votes: 246
72. Hatred (1938)
67 min | Drama
Justin Mollenard is a sailor and arms smuggler who does not support the hypocrisy of society. He has a wife in Dunkirk who reproaches him the fact of having neglected the family for many years.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Harry Baur, Albert Préjean, Gabrielle Dorziat, Gina Manès
Votes: 330
73. La Marseillaise (1938)
Not Rated | 130 min | Drama, History, Music
A news-reel like movie about early part of the French Revolution, shown from the eyes of individual people, citizens of Marseille, counts in German exile and, of course the king Louis XVI, ... See full summary »
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Pierre Renoir, Lise Delamare, Louis Jouvet, Léon Larive
Votes: 1,394
74. Prison sans barreaux (1938)
98 min | Drama
In a state correctional institute for teenage girls, Madame Appel, the superintendent, rules with an iron fist. The State appoints thirty-year-old Yvonne to evaluate the situation. The ... See full summary »
Director: Léonide Moguy | Stars: Annie Ducaux, Roger Duchesne, Ginette Leclerc, Corinne Luchaire
Votes: 65
75. Marked Girls (1938)
102 min | Drama
Juliette, an innocent woman, is wrongly sentenced to prison for attempted murder. After her release, she married an industrialist to whom she did not speak of her tumultuous past.
Director: Roger Richebé | Stars: Viviane Romance, Renée Saint-Cyr, Marguerite Deval, Jean Worms
Votes: 28
76. Rasputin (1938)
93 min | Biography, Drama, History
Story of the Siberian monk Gregory Rasputin and the hold he exerted over the court of the last Russian czar, Nicholas.
Director: Marcel L'Herbier | Stars: Harry Baur, Marcelle Chantal, Pierre Richard-Willm, Carine Nelson
Votes: 59
77. Les disparus de St. Agil (1938)
98 min | Drama, Mystery
Strange things happen at night at the Saint-Argil secondary school. Baume, Sorgues and Macroy, three of the school's pupils, discover a suspicious man on the premises. Shortly after this unsettling event, pupils begin to go missing.
Director: Christian-Jaque | Stars: Erich von Stroheim, Michel Simon, Armand Bernard, Aimé Clariond
Votes: 952
78. The Strange Monsieur Victor (1938)
103 min | Crime, Drama
An innocent man spends time in prison for murder, then escapes and falls in love with the wife of the real perpetrator.
Director: Jean Grémillon | Stars: Raimu, Pierre Blanchar, Madeleine Renaud, Marcelle Géniat
Votes: 347
79. Port of Shadows (1938)
Not Rated | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a foggy, French port city.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michèle Morgan, Pierre Brasseur
Votes: 9,966 | Gross: $0.03M
80. The Baker's Wife (1938)
Not Rated | 133 min | Comedy, Drama
A small village rejoices at the arrival of a new baker. But when his young wife runs off with another man, he is unable to keep baking and the village is thrown into disarray.
Director: Marcel Pagnol | Stars: Raimu, Ginette Leclerc, Fernand Charpin, Robert Vattier
Votes: 2,397
81. Tricoche et Cacolet (1938)
107 min | Comedy
Two friends, Tricoche and Cacolet, are partners in a detective agency. Chance has it that Cacolet is hired by Van der Pouf, a rich banker who wants him to watch over his wife Bernardine ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Colombier | Stars: Fernandel, Frédéric Duvallès, Ginette Leclerc, Jean Weber
Votes: 37
82. Sirocco (1938)
Approved | 90 min | Drama
Town trollop Safia, much against her better judgment, falls in love with Matteo, a beggar and mystic in the native quarter of Sirocco. She flees to France, first as the mistress and then ... See full summary »
Director: Pierre Chenal | Stars: Viviane Romance, Louis Jouvet, Pierre Renoir, Jany Holt
Votes: 160
83. The Curtain Rises (1938)
99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Isabelle, Cécilia and François are drama students at the "Conservatoire d'art dramatique". Cécilia is in love with François, but the young man is in love with Isabelle instead. Cécilia elaborates a desperate plan to get back at François.
Director: Marc Allégret | Stars: Louis Jouvet, Claude Dauphin, Odette Joyeux, Janine Darcey
Votes: 309
84. Monsieur Coccinelle (1938)
100 min | Comedy
An average worker who feels downtrodden at work and home, dreams of becoming a dictator. His aunt has her own fantasy that the love-of-her-life, a fairground magician, will return to her once more.
Director: Dominique Bernard-Deschamps | Stars: Pierre Larquey, Jane Loury, Jeanne Provost, René Bergeron
Votes: 33
85. Carrefour (1938)
84 min | Drama
A amnesiac industrialist is tricked into a game of mistaken identity.
Director: Curtis Bernhardt | Stars: Charles Vanel, Jules Berry, Suzy Prim, Tania Fédor
Votes: 135
86. The Shanghai Drama (1938)
76 min | Drama
A Russian emigrant sings in a Shanghai nightclub under the assumed name of Kay Murphy. All she dreams of is a peaceful life with her daughter Vera. But this is only a pipe dream as she has ... See full summary »
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Christl Mardayn, Louis Jouvet, Raymond Rouleau, Dorville
Votes: 126
87. La route enchantée (1938)
80 min | Musical, Comedy
The son of two teachers hits the road and becomes a singing success after being taken in as a protege by a kooky countess.
Director: Pierre Caron | Stars: Charles Trenet, Raymond Aimos, Christian Argentin, Jacques Beauvais
Votes: 16
88. Le joueur d'échecs (1938)
70 min | Drama, Fantasy
A toymaker in Poland specializes in building lifesize mechanical men. He builds a chess-playing "automaton" to hide a pretty young Polish activist who is being hunted by occupying Russian forces.
Director: Jean Dréville | Stars: Françoise Rosay, Conrad Veidt, Bernard Lancret, Micheline Francey
Votes: 69
89. Let's Go Up the Champs-Élysées (1938)
Not Rated | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
Let Guitry take you down cause he's going to...Elysées Fields .
Directors: Sacha Guitry, Robert Bibal | Stars: Sacha Guitry, Lucien Baroux, Jean Périer, Roger Bourdin
Votes: 246
90. Hotel du Nord (1938)
83 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
On the meandering Canal St. Martin, at the Parisian Hôtel du Nord, a nearly fatal gunshot separates a dejected young couple. But, amid a sad but beautiful panorama of lively characters, love has the final say. Can life be a fairy tale?
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Annabella, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Louis Jouvet, Arletty
Votes: 3,238
91. Three Waltzes (1938)
Approved | 90 min | Musical
Director: Ludwig Berger | Stars: Yvonne Printemps, Pierre Fresnay, Henri Guisol, Jean Périer
Votes: 43
92. La Bête Humaine (1938)
Not Rated | 100 min | Crime, Drama
In this classic adaptation of Emile Zola's novel, a tortured train engineer falls in love with a troubled married woman who has helped her husband commit a murder.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Julien Carette, Simone Simon, Fernand Ledoux
Votes: 8,424
93. Métropolitain (1939)
85 min | Drama
On his way to work on the subway, Pierre catches a glimpse of a man seemingly stabbing a woman.
Director: Maurice Cam | Stars: Albert Préjean, Ginette Leclerc, André Brulé, Albert Duvaleix
Votes: 32
94. La fin du jour (1939)
99 min | Drama
Aged penniless actors are living in a old people's home. They always talk about their past glory or failures. One day Raphael Saint-Clair comes; he has been a famous actor and had a lot of love affairs. Passions come back, and jealousies.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Victor Francen, Michel Simon, Louis Jouvet, Madeleine Ozeray
Votes: 1,031
95. Le Jour Se Leve (1939)
Not Rated | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Jean Gabin, Jacqueline Laurent, Arletty, Jules Berry
Votes: 8,275 | Gross: $0.03M
96. The Rules of the Game (1939)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély
Votes: 31,339
97. Circonstances atténuantes (1939)
85 min | Comedy
A retired criminal-court judge on vacation finds himself stranded in a nest of thieves, who show him a friendlier side of crime.
Director: Jean Boyer | Stars: Michel Simon, Arletty, Dorville, Andrex
Votes: 217
98. There's No Tomorrow (1939)
82 min | Drama
After an unhappy marriage, a woman of the world is forced to become a dancer in a cabaret in order to raise her young son.
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Edwige Feuillère, Jorge Rigaud, Daniel Lecourtois, Mady Berry
Votes: 475
99. Menaces... (1940)
95 min | Drama
The months before World War II. The fear of the impending war never leaves the guests of an hotel in Paris.
Director: Edmond T. Gréville | Stars: Mireille Balin, John Loder, Ginette Leclerc, Erich von Stroheim
Votes: 138
100. Battement de coeur (1940)
97 min | Comedy, Drama
Danielle Darrieux plays an impoverished reform-school escapee who finds a new lease on life when she enrolls in a school for pickpockets run by Fagin-like Saturnin-Fabre.
Director: Henri Decoin | Stars: Danielle Darrieux, Claude Dauphin, André Luguet, Junie Astor
Votes: 329
Tell Your Friends