Jean Grémillon
A subtle reflection on the creative process of painter André Masson, and on creativity in general. It is at the crossroads of the documentary and the poem. It exalts the work of Masson and demonstrates lucidity, dedication and patience necessary for any creator. It superimposes the image a text inspired by the work of Masson, divided into eight parts, directs the eye to the heart of the artist's creative work.
A captivating short film, showing the various processes in the production of a tapestry in the workshop of the famed Gobelins Manufactory. Grémillon's only film in color.
Documentary about famous artists such as Dunoyer de Segonzac, Masson, Miró, Naly and Treemois who continue the tradition of colour engraving and produce rare stamps for high class books.
Marie, a young doctor, settles down on the Ouessant Island. She will be able to win the diffidence of the local population but she will have to fight for her independence after falling in love with an italian engineer.
Can a person really lead a double life? It looks as though Irène can. On the one hand, she is the wife of Jacques Voisin-Larive, a big name in the publishing world. On the other hand she pretends to be a simple chambermaid when she is with Etienne, a handsome young cabinetmaker. But what will happen when Irène gets pregnant?
An eccentric man (Paul Bernard) endangers himself when he makes advances toward the girlfriend (Suzy Delair) of a saloon keeper (Fernand Ledoux).
The film starts by a visit to bucolic Normandy before the events. This peaceful atmosphere is shattered by Operation Overlord, minutely described in the second part of the documentary. The landing on D-Day and the ensuing battles and bombings martyr the peaceful area giving the earth thousands of body instead of seeds. In the last part, the dreadful aftermath of the steel storm is shown both with sympathy for the victims and hope for the future, since all these sacrifices, whether military or civilians, have not been in vain.
Shot primarily by twelve French cameramen (led by filmmakers Jean Painlevé and Jean Grémillon), in August 1944, this film captures the final French insurrection in German-occupied Paris, the surrender of the Germans, and the mass celebration in the streets. (There is an English-language version narrated by Noel Coward.)
The strength of a couple's fascination with airplanes and flight is to the detriment of their family
A shimmering glass hotel at the top of a remote Provençal mountain provides the setting for a tragicomic tapestry about an obsessive love pentangle, whose principals range from an artist to a hotel manager to a dam worker.
Outwardly, Monsieur Victor would appear to be the model citizen. A respectable Toulon shopkeeper, he has a devoted wife and is courteous and considerate to all who know him. However, beneath this veneer of respectability hides a notorious receiver of stolen goods, who trades with hardened criminals. Victor manages to keep up his double life without any difficulty until the fateful day when one of his partners in crime threatens to expose him. Fearing a scandal, Victor kills the crook in a moment of panic, using a shoemaker's tool. Naturally, the murder is blamed on a local shoemaker, who is sentenced to ten years' hard labour. Seven years later, the former shoemaker reappears in Toulon, having escaped from prison. The first person to recognise him is Monsieur Victor...
The slight plot has a girl, left pregnant by a seducer, setting off to look for him when the child is born (the latter eventually proves a most amiable kid); she is befriended by a couple of ex-soldiers, even taking her in when they open a drugstore. Rubio falls for her and, though she reciprocates his affection, still hopes to rejoin her former lover.
Lucien Bourrache, a good looking non-commissioned officer at the Spahis, is used to charm many women. He met Madeleine Courtois at Cannes. She is beautiful and lives in luxury. He lends her a large amount of money, which she loses gambling. Then she drops him. But Lucien is now in love, and once demobilized, he goes to Paris to find her again. But he's not so sexy without his uniform, and Madeleine and him do not belong to the same milieu.
In 1852, the young Austrian emperor Franz Joseph persuades his friend, Count Michel de Thalberg, to act as a go-between in his love affair with the Bavarian duchess Elisabeth. Not long after his arrival in Munch, Thalberg has an embarrassing encounter in a public garden with an attractive young woman. The innocent incident is misinterpreted by a passer-by who, recognising the woman as the youngest daughter of Ludwig Tomasini, a highly respected caterer, persuades her father that she should marry the man who flirted with her to avoid a scandal (FilmsdeFrance).
Shades of Othello loom in this engrossing exploration of class, race, and murder set on an ocean liner. Young Dainah encounters an engineer onboard who mistakes pleasantries for flirtation. When she disappears the next day, suspicion spreads not only to the engineer but also to Dainah's husband. Forward-thinking and absorbing.
A millionaire,in love with an innocent girl,does not want to be loved for his money.So he asks his secretary to take his place and together they go to the heroine's desirable mansion...a heroine whose uncle happens to be wealthy too.So where's the problem?Although handicapped by horrible old-fashioned ditties (the title track) sung by the male lead which make the viewer put his fingers on his ears ,or use the fast forward button. © dbdumonteil
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 happy to be able to return to Paris and to meet Lise, his daughter, again. But, to his dismay, he finds that Lise, through the fault of André, her lover and pimp, has unwillingly committed a murder.
In a lighthouse off the coast of Brittany, a young man slowly goes mad following a bite by a rabid dog while his father looks on helplessly. Thwarted by a raging sea, they are prisoners of the lighthouse. In a rustic Brittany village, a young bride waits, unaware of the tragedy.
Maldone is a canal worker, happy with his life after running away from his family estate. He falls in love with Zita, a young gypsy girl, during a local fete. However, after his brother dies, Maldone is called back to manage the estate. There, he takes up the life of a landowner and marries a neighbor's daughter. Years later Maldone is still restless on the estate, and becomes obsessed with Zita, after meeting her by chance one evening.
During the same mid 1920s period that future feature director Gremillon began his career making industrial and tourism short subjects, he also made this experimental short which displays the then popular avant garde technique of montage.
