Gaston Modot

During WW1, two French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life (imdb)

This tragic tale centers around the ill-fated love between Baptiste, a theater mime, and Claire Reine, an actress and otherwise woman-about-town who calls herself Garance. Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: Frederick, a pretentious actor; Lacenaire, a conniving thief; and Count Eduard of Monteray. The story is further complicated by Nathalie, an actress who is in love with Baptiste... (imdb)

Renoir's look at bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II. An assorted cast of characters - the rich and their poor servants - meet up at a French chateau for various reasons and the result is murder. (imdb)

Bunuel's first feature has more of a plot than Un Chien Andalou, but it's still a pure Surrealist film (imdb)

In René Clair's irrepressibly romantic portrait of the crowded tenements of Paris, a street singer and a gangster vie for the love of a beautiful young woman. (criterion.com)

Pépé le Moko is a gangster from Paris that hides in Algier's Casbah. In the Casbah, he is safe and is able to elude the police's attempts to capture him (imdb)

Bored with her husband, bored with her polo-playing lover, will the middle-aged heroine go away with the young man who gave her a lift that day when her car broke down on the way back to her country estate from a weekend with her lover in Paris? (imdb)

Hardly one of French filmmaker Abel Gance's masterpieces, The Torture of Silence nevertheless has more dramatic and psychological value than your average romantic-triangle tale. Simply put, the film concerns a doctor, his wife, and his brother. The doctor, a specialist in pediatrics, has no time for his wife Marthe. She seeks solace in the arms of his brother. Unable to keep up the charade, Marthe attempts to shoot herself, but it is her lover who is mortally wounded. (allmovie.com)

She's working in a big store, he's a typographer and they lost their winning lottery ticket. (imdb)

A film set almost entirely in a bar focusing on the interaction between the people therein.

Vela, cynical captain of a slow, decrepit sailing ship, sells passage out of Germany to fugitives. His crew are no angels either. Cheyne, a young American doctor visiting the ship, is shanghaied on a 3-month voyage to Brazil when Vela abruptly embarks. In mid-ocean, Cheyne rescues the survivor of a watery plane crash, lovely American heiress Ethel Marley; he and the ship's cook keep her hidden from captain and crew. But a brutal incident leads to mutiny and murder... (imdb)

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 Lucas. He tries to forget his fault... but Lucas's friendship soon appears to be less unselfish... (imdb)

After killing a man in a duel José escapes to Castille and enlists in the army, where he meets Carmen, an enchanting gypsy girl.

A couple of police cadets are tasked with solving a real murder to see who will graduate, but they're in for more than they bargained for.

Based on the real life of German spy Anne Marie Lesser during World War I.

French version of Pabst's The 3 Penny Opera where a bandit, Mack the Knife, marries the daughter of an underworld kingpin.

The aunt of Alfred Puc, a meek tax-collector in Paris, dies while riding in a moving van. The driver, not wishing to be bothered by a police interrogation, hides her corpse in a cupboard before notifying Alfred. But the van is stolen. Alfred, being the heir of a rich lady, begins a frantic search to locate the missing van and the cupboard because one can't claim an inheritance if there is no 'corpus delecti.' (imdb)

Max accepts a wager that he cannot remain in a haunted castle for one hour (11 PM to midnight) without crying for help. As soon as he arrives he encounters strange and nightmarish visions, but he is nevertheless on the verge of winning the bet when a phone-call brings startling news. (imdb)

This biography was one of two films commissioned to honor Joan of Arc on the 500th anniversary of her death, but it was soon undeservedly relegated to obscurity in favor of Carl Dreyer's triumphant 'La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc'. The comparison is unfair: Dreyer was an artist, but director Marco de Gastyne certainly proved himself a distinguished craftsman and his emphasis on the Maid of Orléans early life in Domrémy serves as a picturesque matching bookend to Dreyer's impassioned courtroom drama. (imdb)

This epic adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo was directed by Henri Fescourt, and stars Jean Angelo, Lil Dagover, Pierre Batcheff, the beautiful Marie Glory, and Bernhard Goetzke as the Abbé Faria. (silentera.com)

At the end of the 15th Century, Rome is ruled ruthlessly by power mad and sex hungry Cesare Borgia, the eldest son of Pope Alexander VI. Following the advice of his chief adviser Niccolo Macchiavelli, Cesare Borgia decides to attempt to unify the country in order to become even more powerful. To this end he needs his sister Lucrezia. Presently, the beautiful creature is married to the Count of Pesaro but she would be more useful if she was the wife of Alphonse of Aragon. (imdb)

King Louis XI tries to unify France by all means fair or foul, which does not please his powerful rival Charles the Bold. It is against this troubled backdrop that the loves of the daughter of a wealthy bourgeois and the king's god-daughter Jeanne Fouquet and knight Robert Cottereau unfurl in spite of all the obstacles in their way. One of these being a pack of hungry wolves trying to stop Jeanne from carrying out an important mission assigned to her by the king himself. (imdb)

When gold is discovered the first man there gets to stake his claim. Joe and another man race each other, which involves a thrilling episode on a train. (imdb)

An Indian maiden wishes to marry her lover, but her father refuses because he does not have the requisite bride price. This is an Indian love story shot on location in the Camargues. (imdb)

Drama in which a dismissed servant takes revenge by setting the lions of his ex- mistress free. Madam Berre, the widow of an African traveler, has a lion and two lionesses in her conservatory. Fred, a servant who abused her beasts, is sent away by her. Under the pretense of haven forgotten his hat, he comes back while Mrs. Berre receives guests that evening. Fred lets the lions out of their cages.

While the film is about the baptism of a child, this isn't 100% apparent by the action. Out of the blue, midway through the film, the 'baby' walks off, steals a bicycle and goes on a made dash--followed by the members of the baptism party. (imdb)

Aka - The Way to Fake a Rembrandt. French comedy short.

A French comedy short with Zigoto.

One day, Calino has the bold and imprudent idea to follow a woman down the street. The woman leads him all the way to the traveling lion cage run by her husband. To avoid her husband's jealous anger, the woman introduces Calino as an apprentice lion tamer. Unassured, Calino has to enter the cage, but his fear is so intense that he forgets to shut the door behind him. (imdb)

Calino goes politely around to three or four people from the bourgeois class, trying to sell them a lightning rod: but due to a factory defect, the apparatus attracts lightning instead of driving it away. (imdb)

The short by Jean Durand begins with his frequent character, Zigoto (Lucien Bataille) reading a boring book. So, instead he goes on an outing in his new car with his friends. The captioning says it's a new '101 horsepower car'--this, during an age when the horsepower of cars actually was between 4-30 horsepower! So, in other words, it's supposed to be a super-fast car. (imdb)

Leonce works at the Gaumont studios as star actor and his wife suspects him of being unfaithful. She finds ladies' hair on his coat, fan letters in his pocket...

Onésime is challenged to a pistol duel.

The hapless Onésime stumbles on a baby, and just can't seem to get rid of it, no matter how hard (and violently) he tries. (imdb)

Two journalists go on the trail of gangsters who are kidnapping women to sell in South America.

An French orientalist fairy tale starring France Dhélia, Gaston Modot, Sylvio De Pedrelli and Marcel Lévesque.

Raimundo Davidson is a young man in love with Florence, the niece of Dr. Belforger, master of hypnotics, who takes advantage of this faculty to intervene in a series of illegal business with his friend Burner. Aware of the fortune of Davidson, they accelerate their marriage with Florence to obtain it through the girl. Davidson is put on notice of Belforger's activities by an insurance firm. Discovered and stopped by the doctor, Davidson finally meets with Florence.

Three friends on their way to deliver a payroll stop for a few drinks. Two of them decide to stay for a while, but the third sets out to deliver the payroll by himself. When he never shows up, one of the friends who stayed behind is arrested for his murder and sentenced to hang.

Calino decides to take a boarder. The gentleman turns out to be a huntsman. All goes well until pay day when the roomer refuses to get out of bed to pay his bill. He says that his pocketbook is in one of his trunks in the garret. Up goes the anxious Calino and his officious mother and sister only to find, upon ransacking each trunk, a furious African lion emerge.

She wants to go shopping alone and he doesn't want that to happen. So they fight.

Joe loses everything he owns in a game of dice. Becoming mad he causes a fight and becomes a hunted man by the owner of the ranch where he worked. Wanting revenge, Joe returns to the ranch and releases the cattle belonging to his former boss. Prosecuted for the offense, Joe kills several men and a reward of one hundred dollars is then offered to bring him back dead or alive.

Indians and cowboys clash in a burning war.

In his pursuit of a young female student, Onésime finds himself at a university hospital receiving the unwelcome attentions of overenthusiastic dentists and surgeons.

A cowboy needs to kidnap a priest to marry him and his lady.

When Onésime gets declared dead by drowning, the supposed-widow consults a private detective specialized in missing persons.

Desire brings out the worst in an actress' suitors.

Le Palais Ideal is a decorative monument started by the rural postman Ferdinand Cheval in 1879. He had no experience with masonry or architecture, but over 33 years, he slowly cobbled together, in his engraved words, the "Pantheon of an obscure hero."

Ernest Bourbon -- that's Onesime -- has decided to learn to box, for some reason, and also fight an American fighter who's touring France.

But when he refuses to tip the assistants at the fancier's sales room they lay a scheme for revenge, which takes the form of a practical joke and supplies the onlookers with much merriment.

The film begins with our hero moving from the East Coast (USA) to the West. There he meets some cowboy types and he gets a job taking care of the burros. Soon, Onésime meets a lady and they hit it off--and a jealous cowboy will have none of it.

Clément Mégé borrows the shotgun of a sleeping hunter and goes after big game, like ducks and a cat. Soon he gets caught up being chased by some policemen.

Looking after his aunt and uncle's house when they're away, animal lover Onésime turns it into a hospital for sick animals.

Calino's uncle leaves him an inheritance, but only if he can uncover it hidden in his uncle's house. Detective Onésime is called in to help, and is soon tangling with some criminals after the treasure too.

Janvier, an embittered teacher, is fed up with his colorless, monotonous life. One day he breaks away and ends up becoming a circus clown. In his new world, he meets a beautiful acrobat nicknamed Lili and grows fonder and fonder of her every day of his life. The trouble is that the lady bestows her favors to two different lovers : wealthy married man Chardeuil and good-looking but listless young Antonio. He now considers his duty to make Lili recover her dignity.

There is one joke in this slapstick from Jean Durand's comedy unit at Gaumont: Calino wants to win a boxing match, and decides that he needs to toughen up one part of his body: no glass jaw for him! So he subjects his chin to various punishment, all of which he endures with no sign of discomfort.

A device using radio waves can make machines and people move from a distance.

Against a painted backdrop of palm trees, Clément Mégé accepts an Arab's offer of three Black wives out of a tent. He takes them back to Paris, where they wreak havoc not only on his apartment, but his favorite bistro.

Just as the streets to hell, to hear it from the travelers, are paved with good intentions, the illustrious police officer Zigoto's brain is full of the most commendable initiatives. While passing before a door, he sees a piece of rope underneath and thinks it his duty to bend down and pick it up. But he's amazed to see that the more he pulls, the longer the cord becomes: "For a thousand prefects - that was his favorite exclamation - do they take me for a pulley?"

Ernest Bourbon, with his idiotic smile perpetually plastered on his face, invites the miners into his apartment, which they accidentally destroy. Miners, as we know, always carry their shovels and pickaxes with them, and never wash.

While the costume maker Onésime is absent, his mannequins begin to play…

Much to his annoyance, Onésime’s relatives arrive to stay with him, and the family resemblance is striking.

Calino is left in charge of a railway station, with predictably disastrous consequences.

Dissolute drinker Onésime signs a deal with the Devil to pay his bar tab, and finds himself in a rather peculiar version of Hell.

His double behaves very badly (he pinches the maid's behind), while the real Onésime suffers the consequences.

In pursuit of the conventional chase theme, Durand always tries to renew his methods. He never settles for showing a clumsy guy being chased by his victims. The rugby players from 'Le Match Oxford contre Martigues' continue playing the game throughout the city streets.

The escape of a man, under Spanish inquisition rule.

Victor, a righteous man, is secretly in love with Françoise, married to Marc Pélicier, a slick scoundrel who was also Victor's brother-in-arms during the war. When Marc is threatened to be sent to jail, Victor lets himself be condemned in his place. Once Victor is released Françoise believes she loves him but she can't give up the luxury Marc gives her. Fortune ends up smiling on Victor, whose business starts thriving. He falls for Marianne, a young typist.

Lucien Bataille finds himself hired as a secretary to an elderly man. His principal duty is to make sure that the man's niece, Berthe Dagmar, doesn't see the young man she's interested in. No problem! Bataille finds himself assigned a spirited horse when called on to accompany the young lady in her equestrian exercises.

Lucien Bataille is hired as security for the department store, and proceeds to wreck much of it to keep anyone from from stealing anything.

Berthe Dagmar is kidnapped and Lucien Bataille is almost immediately on the case: examining the road with a magnifying glass, putting a straw hat on a horse, climbing a high gate, and duckwalking across a parapet. Nothing will stop him in his quest to.... well, whatever it is he's doing.

Coveted by two different men, a woman turns to a third man instead. Only about 25-min exists of the 67-min feature film.

A magic wand falls into Calino's hands, and he turns everything he touches into running water, until he falls victim to his own witchcraft. The catastrophic meets the fantastic, for the triumph of the absurd.

Ernest Bourbon discovers that a shower of gold coins fall from his donkey's hindquarters -- I've phrased that as politely as I can. Now rich, he moves to the city, dresses well and hires servants. Unlike the one about the goose that lays the golden eggs, he treats his benefactor well, even though the donkey doesn't seem to enjoy the process.