Arlette Gilbert
The teacher Odile Langlois starts her new job in the elementary school of a small French town. She is elegant and mysterious - but most of all, she is very friendly to her new students, whose confidence she gains so quickly. On the contrary, however, Odile's unconventional, alternative way of teaching does not appeal to some colleagues and parents who do everything to get rid of the young teacher ...
January, 1920. 350,000 French soldiers remain missing in action. Major Dellaplane tirelessly matches the dead and the wounded with families' descriptions. Honor and ethics drive him; he hates the idea of "the unknown soldier." Into his sector, looking for her husband, comes a haughty, politically connected Parisian, Madame Irène de Courtil. Brusquely, Dellaplane offers her 1/350,000th of his time, but as their paths cross and she sees his courage and resolve, feelings change. After he finds a surprising connection between her missing husband and a local teacher, Irène makes Dellaplane an offer. This man of action hesitates: has he missed his only chance?
After serving his sentence, a robber returns to his small, quiet hometown to retrieve the loot. But a ruthless Police inspector and his equally nasty young subordinate are after the criminal.
Elizabeth and her daughter Cecile spend their holidays at a lakeside resort in the French mountains. Elizabeth falls in love with a strange Italian, Giovanni, while young Cecile is courted by an apprentice cook. It seems that mother and daughter are drifting apart from each other, but then their holidays are over.
Claude Berri plays himself as he relates his own experiences through youth and adolescence. His father owns a profitable fur shop. Initially, Claude's father hopes his son will take over the fur shop, but he later gives in to Claude's desire to become involved in filmmaking.
This one is generally looked upon as the best version of the old-fashioned melodrama by Jules Mary.Riccardo Freda,who was mainly known for his horror movies,tried also his hand at spy thrillers in the wake of James Bond ("Coplan Ouvre Le Feu à Mexico") ,and had a penchant for old French melodramas (before "Roger la Honte" ,he redid "Les Deux Orphelines " -D.W.GRiffith's "orphans of the storm-. Georges Géret replaces Lucien Coedel and Irene Pappas takes on Maria Casarès's part of his mistress.Freda 's movie is more compact ,with a running time of 105 min,whereas Cayatte's version (1945-46) spread over two episodes with a total time exceeding 3 hours.It also benefited from the use of color .But all in all,it's the same old story.
Anne, a beautiful free-lance photographer, meets with the French medical student Carlo and falls in love. After a passionate love affair Anne becomes pregnant. Now the formerly free-wheeling Carlo finds himself facing a difficult situation. Carlo decides that Anne should abort the child. To raise enough cash Carlo sleeps with a wealthy older woman. Then Ann decides to annul the abortion.
