Jacques Castelot

Alain Revent, a seductive and refined man, derives a peculiar satisfaction from debasing his wives. The first, driven to the brink of despair, throws herself out of a window. Enlisting the help of an equally perverse casual acquaintance, Dino, the "handsome brute" proceeds to emotionally torture his second wife, Nathalie. The sadistic plan is picked up on by Officer Leroy who suspects the truth. Will he be able to snatch the unfortunate woman from the evil Alain's clutches?

Patterning himself after the American gangster John Dillinger, the criminal (Robert Hossein) is tracked by the inspector (Charles Aznavour), a former childhood friend. Plenty of gunplay and psychology is used to trap the killer. His only tender moments are spent with his girlfriend Stella (Virna Lisi). Dillinger is cornered by the police and kills several innocent victims in a crowd during the shootout. The mob decides to take things into their own hands as they approach the doomed man with a noose when he runs out of bullets.

Jean-Pierre Desagnat's Vertige pour un tueur involves Marc as a hood hunted down by his boss when he fails to execute a man who happens to be his friend. He is hidden by a woman whose husband has murdered his business associate and wants Marc to take the rap for the crime.

Françoise Legrand, better known as "Sappho", attractive young woman of the Parisian bourgeoisie, flits from man to man with the consent of Maurice Duran-Vior, his rich protector, a renowned financier. At a social gathering, she meets Lionel de Lancey, younger than she, a cool diplomat, and, as usual, she spends the night with him.

François Naulet turns his bedroom into an island of drugs, loneliness and despair.

Three men kidnap a young girl and keep her in a small house on an isolated beach, waiting for her father to pay up the ransom. But the youngest one, in charge of watching her, let accidentally the girl see his face and it becomes no longer possible to return her alive...

In Algiers, during the Algerian War of Independence, one of the leaders of the FLN was arrested by the French colonial army, which used the most violent methods to make the prisoners speak. The use of torture poses a conscience problem for a French officer. Playing shot-reverse-shot, between the tortured and his torturer, in a suffocating camera, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina approaches torture by drawing inspiration from the story of his father, who died of abuse.

In 17th-century France, beautiful country maiden Angélique marries wealthy neighbor Jeoffray de Peyrac out of convenience, but eventually, she falls in love with him. So when Jeoffray is arrested and then vanishes, she bravely sets out to find him. This is the first of many dramas based on Anne and Serge Golon's novels about strong-willed Angélique and her adventures during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

The story of Lafayette, the 19 year old pacifist who takes the side of the Colonials during the American war of Independence.

Lucky Baron Jérôme Napoléon Antoine wins a boat in a card game and takes off with his former lover in search of new adventures. Adverse circumstances land them in a small town, where the Baron's seafaring companion departs for more attractive scenery offered by a wealthy local. Meanwhile, there's a certain charming café owner that the Baron finds irresistible – at least for awhile.

A musician named Jacques Christens, is given a proposition by an old man. For ten million Francs he is asked to impersonate a certain Paul de Baer – a man who is supposedly exiled in the Amazone. Christens is told this scheme will save Mr. Baer from ruin. An adaptation of Boileau and Narcejac's "D'entre les Morts".

Paul fishes out of the water the body of his greatest enemy. To avoid accusations that he is a killer, taking steps that will clear his good name.

In addition to his passion for red roses, Count Henri de Verlaine adores wooing all the women he meets.

Philippe Lambert, an attractive young attaché to the Prime Minister's office, is a man of many female conquests. One of them, Madame Grandbourg, wife of a very influential man, sent him a passionate letter, which he lost at the theater. Marion, the usherette who found it, contacts him to ask him for a "favor" in exchange for its return: to avoid eviction from the family apartment, because of the father, who gardens in every room and constantly floods the downstairs neighbors. At first, Lambert refuses to give in to the "blackmail" and calls in the police to unmask the indelicate woman, but love soon gets in the way...

Middle-aged attorney Pierre falls for a young woman who dances in a discotheque to work her way through medical school. The lovestruck lawyer can't bring himself to leave his wife over the young woman. When the dancer's wealthy suitor is murdered, Pierre is accused of the crime.

The struggle between a ruthless leader of a bank robbers and the cops who are determined to put him in jail for long.

Set against the troubled period of the Wars of Religion in France, at a time when the three Henries (Henri III, Henri de Guise and Henri de Béarn) vied for the the throne, these new adventures of Pardaillan have the gallant musketeer defend the rightful king Henri III.Jean gives his full to thwart the Duke of Guise's attempts to have the king assassinated. A heartthrob more than ever, Pardaillan will awake serious interest in many a girl, at times becoming their prey like with Bianca Farnese, De Guise's agent.

When Guillaume Valmont dies in a car accident, the only thing he leaves his wife Isabelle is his pharmacy. She never loved her older husband and she regards his death as a deliverance. At the funeral, she meets Judith, widow too, and she soon realises that her husband had been leading a double life. A short while later, the pharmacy is broken into, but nothing is stolen. Police Inspector Laforêt is put in charge of the case. Isabelle becomes suspicious when Judith offers to buy the pharmacy.

A story about two girls who grew up as sisters, were separated and finally met again.

Madame Andromèze's diamond bracelet has been stolen from the plane taking Nicole from Rome to Paris. Slipped by the thief into her bag, the bracelet undergoes many vicissitudes... Found and appraised, it is declared a fake! Nicole's brother and fiancé chase after the real bracelet, disrupting the life of a grand palace. Finally, Madame Andromèze finds her bracelet, which has been declared genuine. The original thief resurfaces and steals the jewel again.

Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

Hélène and Aldo Giovanni are a circus trapeze double act and a couple. Aldo is temporarily replaced by former-partner Alexandre when the former is injured. The two get into a fight and the following day Alexandre is discovered dead. Hélène suspects her husband is responsible for the murder.

A young woman has a perilous affair with a General from the opposing side during the Revolutionary war.

Paris 1838, Prince Rodolphe vows on the deathbed of his friend Matilde to find Germain, the woman's son kidnapped by his father at birth. Disguised as a tramp, he wanders the city's slums encountering various characters who either help or hinder him.

Burgundy 1728. Old count Antoine d'Eon is overjoyed. His daughter-in-law has finally given birth to a boy and he will at long last be able to transmit his inheritance to his son Pascal. At least this is what he thinks, for Pascal has concealed from his father the fact that his son was ... a daughter, his eighth daughter! Well, enough is enough and Geneviève has no other choice but become a boy first, then a soldier and even the special envoy of Louis XV, King of France, to Catherine II, the Czarina of Russia.

A fictitious biography of Jacques Offenbach and Hortense Schneider.

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...?

The wealthy industrialist Alain de Narbois has disappeared. Michel Dunant, an idle man who passed by and who looks exactly like the deceased, is taken for Alain by a young woman and her servant. He jumps at the chance but quickly realizes that, in this hushed little world, masters and servants play comedy and know very well that he is only a double of Alain. In fact, the industrialist was assassinated.

François Donge, a rich industrialist and womaniser, meets a girl nicknamed Bébé who he marries. Ten years later, poisoned by his wife and dying in hospital, he recalls his married life and understands how his wife who adored him suffered from his many affairs and indifference.

A doctor, leading an agreed life of the provincial petty bourgeoisie, falls in love with a young woman. As their relationship deepens, he becomes violently jealous and blames her for her dating and friendships.

Complicated intrigues fester in the warmth of Segnac, a charming village on the Cô te d'Azur. The hô teliers' daughter, Violaine, has only a few months to live and loves Blaise d'Orliac, who is closely watched by his mistress Michèle. Old O'Hara is platonically in love with Violaine and encourages Blaise's meetings with the young girl. Michèle interferes. Blaise kills her. O'Hara believes Violaine is guilty and wants to accuse himself. Violaine, on the verge of death, exonerates Blaise. M. Dautrand, who was playing the part of a holiday painter but is really a police officer, decides after reading the girl's diary to leave Blaise in peace. Violaine dies happily.

Burt Brickford, a deserted U.S. Navy captain stranded in a South American port, rents out his services to survive. Perez, a drug trafficker, calls on him to command Henry's yacht, on which a group of would-be treasure seekers are embarking.

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.

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.

Albert Topaze, sincere schoolteacher addicted to "rote" morality, works at a private school run by supremely money-grubbing M. Muche, whose daughter, also a teacher, makes cynical use of the knowledge that Topaze loves her. Alas, Topaze's naive honesty brings him unjust dismissal...and makes him fair game for the "aunt" of his private pupil, really the mistress of crooked politician Regis, who needs an honest-seeming "front man." Can artful Suzy Courtois keep Topaze on the string? With steadily escalating disillusion comes moral crisis...

Mandrin, the French army deserter, becomes the leader of a gang of smugglers in Piedmont. He is loved by the beautiful innkeeper Rosetta but draws attention to the Marquise de Montbricourt, favorite of the king, who comes from Versailles just to see him. She will saved his life and allow him to marry Rosetta.

Lyane is a singer and daughter of the producer of the operetta: "C'est une fille de Paris". She convinces the composer of the music, Jacques Kellermann, whom she loves, to sign her piece. The famous composer Jean Paget, who cannot put the work to his advantage, declares to Jacques that Lyane had a child by him. Shocked, Jacques breaks with the singer who soon knows the celebrity. Finally, he realizes that happiness is ready to be seized, because the beauty still loves him...

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.

As soon as he graduated from the Naples Conservatory, Vincenzo Bellini meets Maddalena Fumaroli and immediately falls in love with her.

After leaving the prison where they have served their sentence, some criminals plan a new robbery.

One of the first victories against the Nazis in World War II is when Parisians help allied forces drive the enemy out of occupied French Algeria.

The romantic life of the head of a bandit gang, wanted by the police. Cartouche gets away with being deported to Louisiana after unmasking a plot by a Duke against the throne.

Didier's wife is ill, and he does the best he can to take care of her. But he's often absent and he has casual love affairs. But Leone he meets in Bruxelles wants to become his one and only mistress.

A young journalist, Sylvia, has to interview a writer, Claude Chatel, whose success is due to his misogyny.

"Poisoner" - After her fiancé is arrested Claire finds herself alone and forced to find work. She is hired by a country squire, Etienne de Montenoy, as the tutor of his goddaughter. It does not take long before Montenoy falls for her but a little longer before the young woman, reluctant at first, understands Etienne loves her truly and then requites his love. Etienne lives so happily with her that he decides to make her his heir. Shortly after, he is murdered by poison...

A GI on furlough attends a Folies-Bergères show. He falls in love with a dancer, Claudie, the star of the theater.

Daniel Bellanger, a night-club crooner, is a basically straight,honest man. He has just married Christiane, a cashier in a Montmartre hotel and his main objective in life is to live happily with his wife and Pierrot, the son she had of a former union. Unfortunately Daniel accepts the offer of his old friend Freddy to run a gambling den. The place is frequented by a host of dubious guys, among whom a hood named Mario. The latter finds Christiane to his liking and soon shows he is prepared to do anything to take her away from Daniel, including kidnapping little Pierrot.

Alain de Blomette, a family man, is in danger of becoming a deviant under the influence of his mistress Fanny Lacourt. He steals a bracelet, loses at gambling and contemplates suicide. His family intervenes and sends him to Equatorial Africa. Fanny, stubborn, joins him there, stirring up trouble on the plantation. The guns start talking. Alain's rival collapses and Fanny is mortally wounded. More devious than ever, Alain indulges in regrettable excesses. A fatherly inspector finally intervenes to instill in him a sense of honor.

A young intellectual, Hugo, joins the Communist Party out of a sense of idealism, only to see his principles manipulated by party leaders. He is given the assignment of killing Professor Hoederer, a party deviationist. However, he grows to admire the man and begins to have doubts about morals and revolutionary politics. But jealousy - Hugo thinks Hoederer has made love to his wife, Jessica - takes matters out of the political realm.

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.

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.

On the death of the famous singer Maria Malibran, Countess Merlin retraces the main lines of the unusual destiny of this young woman entirely devoted to her art.

Returning from the cemetery where he has just buried his wife, Captain Blomet is on the point of committing suicide, when his valet reveals to him that the deceased had 17 lovers. Blomet undertakes to wash his honor in different ways according to his rivals.

Jacques Audoin falls in love with a pianist, Evelyne Clery, and marries her. In reality, he had wanted to approach her, because he imagined that she had witnessed the murder of the lover of his first wife. Evelyne learns what has happened and, revolted by what she thinks is her husband's plot, commits suicide. Jacques confesses his crime.

Thérèse kills her lover during the very night of her wedding to the count of Vétheul. To gain a night with her, a modest local worker agrees to bury the body.

Stage actress Marianne has decided to give up her career to marry wealthy nobleman Marquis Antoine de Fontaines. As a wedding present, Antoine gives his future wife a precious diamond necklace, which is coveted by a gang of crooks. Jean, one of them, is given the mission to approach Marianne and steal the necklace from her. The only trouble is that when he meets her, she recognizes him as the man she once loved.

After losing her only child and falling for another man, a wife no longer loves her husband, but he thinks if he takes her back to some of the places they enjoyed in earlier years, it might rekindle their doomed marriage.

Commissioner Malaise investigates a strange crime: a mannequin, stolen from the window of a tailor, is found stabbed... But his face of wax has the features of a certain Gilbert, who died a year earlier in a family, all of whose members will become more or less suspicious to the Commissioner. He thinks that, in spite of Dr. Furnelle's conclusions, Gilbert's death was not natural. But finding the cause of death and the identity of the possible culprit will require more than a mere intuition.

The early days of the French Revolution, as seen through the eyes of the ordinary citizens in Marseille and the royal court, including King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Cavalcade D'Amour is divided into three sections, each depicting a romance occurring within the walls of the Chateau de Champs. Legend has it that whoever marries in the Chateau is doomed to an unhappy life. This proves to be the case in 1639 and 1839, but the heroine of the 1939 segment, Corinne Luchaire, is determined to break the jinx. She is convinced that she will prove an unsuitable bride for Claude Dauphin, and he is likewise convinced that he will turn out to be an inadequate groom. But the couple's respective families will not be dissuaded, and the marriage takes place as scheduled? with unexpectedly happy results!