Jacques Duby

55 years ago, on October 1 1968, the first brand advertising spot appeared on the French television screen. Over the next three decades, thousands of creative little films would seduce and build our collective memory. Kitschy or cult spots, humor, slogans, music, stars, gimmicks, grand spectacle or sex appeal: during its golden age, how did advertising convince? Thierry Ardisson has brought together almost 400 advertising clips to relive the era of the conquest of minds and wallets.

A self-centered engineer tries to win back his wife after she takes a new lover.

On 9 January 1836, Pierre Lacenaire goes to the guillotine, a murderer and a thief. He gives Allard, a police inspector, his life story, written while awaiting execution. He also asks Allard to care for Hermine, a lass to whom he has been guardian for more than ten years. In flashbacks, from the prison as Lacenaire writes, from Allard's study as he and Hermine read, and from other readers' memory after the book is published, we see Lacenaire's childhood as he stands up to bullies, including priests, his youthful thieving, his first murder, his brief army career, his seduction of a princess, and his affair with Avril, a young man who dies beside him.

Robert Cavaillon is the king of the pet food industry. After he sold the factory to his workers, he decided to run for office. His campaign in support of animal rights gives him a lead in the opinion polls - which worries the main political parties. Since his past is unassailable, his political opponents decide to give the job of getting rid of him to a bizarre couple - a professional killer called Jean and a high-class call girl named Clara. The pair has to ruin him with scandal and then eliminate him for good. Jean's first attempt at his task is a failure: instead of a killer he ends up looking like Cavaillon's savior and friend. Clara is forced to play the role of the killer's tender wife, because their victim sees them as a kindly pair not interested in using him for his position like everyone else. Between one bungled assassination attempt and the next, the three are enmeshed in an intense relationship in which their roles all change.

An adaptation of the novel 813, in which the gentleman burglar competes to steal state papers and tries to uncover the identity of a terrifying murderer.

In the 17th century, under Louis XIII, the policy of Cardinal de Richelieu aimed at the definitive establishment of a monarchic power, and gave rise to a struggle against the great feudal lords, who favored a weak central power. Numerous conspiracies against the Cardinal were led by the high nobility. The one led by Henri Coiffier de Ruzé d'Effiat, marquis de Cinq-Mars, was the last and most famous of them.

Laura, 35 years old, is married to Ricardo, an Argentinean cameraman, political refugee in France. They have two little girls, Ariane and Amélie. Laura works in a printing company, as a machine operator. When democracy is re-established in his country, Ricardo wants to return with his wife and daughters. But Laura refuses and the couple separates. Three years later, the young woman meets Didier Caillaux-Lalande, a young man who comes to print a book on Gustave Doré.

No synopsis available yet.

Sister Agnès runs away from her convent in Brittany and seeks refuge in Paris with prostitute Mona Lisa. With absolutely no qualifications, the young novice has a hard job finding work, so Mona Lisa tries to teach her the ropes of the oldest profession of them all!

While the President of a West African Republic arrives in France to sell uranium to the State, spies from around the world are on hand to thwart the transaction. France then decides to put one of its worst agents on the case, a certain Maxime, who has a very loose tongue. All they have to do is send him false information, hoping that it will fall into the ears of their enemies...

In the newspaper he has just founded, journalist Dolannes exposes all the wheeling and dealing and scandals that go on in his town.

Marina and her boyfriend have an argument while on a trip in France. While driving with the car among the cliffs, he starts speeding and the car falls into the sea. Marina can jump out of the car, but her boyfriend seems to be drowned. She gets to know his brother and he falls in love with her. But why does she always feel watched? What reasons are behind her strange behaviour anyway? Did she really murder her boyfriend? But is he dead anyway?

1944. A young French soldier is involved, without really wanting it, into American operations for Liberation.

A shady Parisian tries to take advantage of a family of French-descended Algerians forced to move to France.

Valentin, the general supervisor of a sub-prefecture cram school, has a strange power: all he has to do is wish for a certain person to turn into a bird, and the metamorphosis takes place and his victims grow wings. He's in love with Sylvie, the young lady coveted by all the local males. This is how an entire small population loses its human appearance.

Édith Giovanna Gassion is born in 1915. As a young girl she sings on the streets of Paris until a nightclub owner, Louis Leplée, discovers her. When he is murdered the composer Raymond Asso takes care of her and lets her perform at the ABC theatre, which leads to her breakthrough.

Two crooks think up a scheme to get rich at the expense of the vain and excessive Grand Duke.

An ambitious mobster plans an elaborate diamond heist while seducing the daughter-in-law of a ruthless mob patriarch as a determined police commissioner closes in on all of them.

A collection of sketches that tells the story of prostitution through the ages.

The seven stages in the life of the modern Frenchwomen are disclosed by seven directors in a witty way: 1 - Childhood, 2 - Adolescence, 3 - Virginity, 4 - Marriage, 5 - Adultery, 6 - Divorce, 7 - The Single Woman.

Boulevard focuses on Georges 'Jojo' Castagnier, an adolescent who lives in a poor room under the roof of a block of apartments in the Pigalle section of Paris. He ran away from home when he realized that his step-mother hated him from day-one. Among Jojo's many neighbors is the gorgeous Jenny Dorr , a nightclub dancer, whose lover he dreams of being. But, to Jojo's disappointment, Jenny becomes the lover of Dicky, a former boxer, who spends his time loafing about the Pigalle cafés. Jojo lacks for steady work, but manages to meet his financial obligations with a series of odd jobs. He tries selling magazines, which is a success for a while, though posing as Narcissus for two gay artists proves to be something of a disaster. Eventually, he woos Marietta, one of his other neighbors and a girl more suited to his age. But when things go really awry, Jojo becomes desperate and tries to commit suicide by jumping off the roof of his building

No synopsis available yet.

Police officer Antoine Delille is in charge of putting an end to the activities of a "kingpin", Jo Pinelli, trafficker, racketeer and pimp. He has three women working for him, including Eva and Jeannette, and is currently "conditioning" a charming, naive Orly employee, with whom he poses as an honorable businessman. Inspector Delille's plan is to arrest Jo for some crime and, while he's being held at the P.J., to delve into his other criminal activities and confound him.

In France, during the Second World War, journalist Paul Roy is a member of the Resistance, while his colleague and friend Jacques Médina is a collaborator. But it's thanks to Jacques that Paul is able to remain free, as he shelters him in his home after a roundup. The two friends co-wrote various Nazi propaganda articles, which appeared under Jacques' byline. The situation becomes complicated when Paul becomes the lover of Jacques' wife.

Olivier Andrieu married Nicole, the daughter of Lucie and Alfred Trévière, owners of Trévière Laboratories. Olivier works there as a biochemist. He suspects his wife of infidelity and wants to inject her with a truth serum of his own invention. Nicole agrees, provided the family participates in the experiment. After the injection, (almost) all of them feel an irresistible urge to reveal their true nature in front of as many witnesses as possible.

A story of the love of Frou-Frou - an actress and singer in the in the beginning of her career.

Two convicts attempt to escape from prison in a violent tale of deception, survival, and moral ambiguity.

Vienna, 1906. A passionate love story develops between Franz Lobheiner and the young Christine. Lobheiner is, however, currently seeing the married Baroness von Eggersdorf. Upon learning of his wife's infidelity, the Baron von Eggersdorf provokes a duel with Lobheiner. But the former is no longer a real threat to the Baron. Lobheiner is now passionately in love with Christine. How will this love quartet end?

Young, handsome, dashing but cynical, Octave Mouret arrives in Paris, determined to conquer the belles of the capital.

In the absence of his wife, a clarinet player is induced by a friend to meet a call girl, but arrived after a crime. Perceived by some people leaving the scene of the crime covered by his raincoat, he became the only suspect for the police. His only hope is to discover the murderer before is name is mentionned publicly, specially in front of his wife.

Michèle, an employee at the airport, is in love with American pilot Eddie Miller who regularly flies the route from New York to Paris, but problems arise when he is transferred to the Tokyo route. Meanwhile Michèle's uncle Albert who works in the freight department sets out to tackle a drug trafficking outfit.

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.

A brilliant swindler, Olivier Parker, hires a small-time pipe salesman, Amédée, to swindle a naive provincial, Ferdinand Galiveau, a chicken merchant. Renamed Teddy Morton and now a jockey, Amédée must ride a mare on which Ferdinand, advised by Parker, must bet. Absolutely convinced of his mystification, Parker bets on an oddball who, of course, loses, while at the last minute Galiveau, having bet on an outsider, wins a fortune. All Parker has to do is find another sucker.

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.

During a stopover in Aden, a charming actress is kidnapped by an Arab prince.

During the First World War, the Empyrée Montmartre, a Paris music-hall, is dedicated to patriotic revues whose star is the charming Mitsou. The young artist is not without talent but she is mainly well-connected. She is indeed the cherished mistress of Pierre Duroy-Lelong, a rich industrialist. One night, thanks to Petite-Chose, an ebullient singer-dancer and her co-star, she gets to know a handsome army, Lieutenant Bleu. Mitsou falls madly in love with him and Lieutenant Bleu is physically attracted to her. The trouble is that Bleu comes from a distinguished family and cannot put up with her lack of culture and artistic bad taste...

The short stories of Guy de Maupassant enjoyed a renaissance in the early 1950s, thanks in great part to the Max Ophuls production Le Plaisir. In Trois Femmes, three De Maupassant stories are dramatized, each conveying the central theme of women falling in love. In the first, a black female carnival entertainer causes an uproar when she falls in love with a white soldier. In the second, a young bride is pressured into having a baby to collect a huge inheritance. And in the final episode, a pregnant girl is "adopted" and protected by a small circle of friends. In standard De Maupassant fashion, each of the three stories in Trois Femmes is capped by a surprise twist.

Alice Rémon, a pharmacist, is a prostitute who managed to leave the streets by getting married. Her husband dies one day, poisoned. Her mother-in-law, who hates her, accuses her of murder.

When Mario, a bad boy, is released from prison, he plans to live honestly with his wife Geneviève. But the latter has not waited for him and Mario, out of spite, accepts to work as a tout for Mr. Charlie, the boss of a white slave trade gang. His first assignment consists in seducing Michèle, a Montmartre nightclub singer and hostess, into signing a contract for Tangier. The young woman, however, who does this job only to support her young sister Danièle, falls for him and he for her. From then on Mario, without betraying himself, does his utmost to save Michèle -and Danièle for that matter - from the clutches of the gang...

A wealthy young American woman is suddenly cut off by her father while living in Paris. A philosopher, she tries to make a living as a guide in the capital. The Marquis de Cernay, who has his eye on Nancy's portfolio, engages Maurice, a hardworking writer, to follow the young woman. She learns from both of them that they are only interested in her fortune. However, when she learns of the deception, she returns to her usual social life. She will return to him when the Marquis de Cernay has betrayed himself once and for all.