The Wages of Fear

The Wages of Fear 1953

8.04

In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.

1953

Le Trou

Le Trou 1960

8.26

Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system -- yet their escape is anything but assured.

1960

Diabolique

Diabolique 1955

7.90

The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.

1955

The Night of the Generals

The Night of the Generals 1967

6.77

A German intelligence officer investigates a prostitute's killing in Warsaw during World War II. He lands on three major Nazi generals as suspects, two of whom are also involved in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler.

1967

Diary of a Chambermaid

Diary of a Chambermaid 1964

7.10

Celestine has a new job as a chambermaid for the quirky M. Monteil, his wife and her father. When the father dies, Celestine decides to quit her job and leave, but when a young girl is raped and murdered, Celestine believes that the Monteils' groundskeeper, Joseph, is guilty, and stays on in order to prove it. She uses her sexuality and the promise of marriage to get Joseph to confess -- but things do not go as planned.

1964

The Big Risk

The Big Risk 1960

7.10

On crowded Milan streets, two men execute a split-second payroll heist—in broad daylight—then begin a lightning-paced getaway, via every conveyance available. But after all, when a tough guy's returning to France (where he's been sentenced to death in absentia) after holing up in Italy for nearly a decade, he's got to have some startup money—particularly if he's going back with the wife and kids.

1960

Fan-Fan the Tulip

Fan-Fan the Tulip 1952

6.74

Fanfan is a young handsome peasant. He joins the army to escape marriage because a gypsy girl predicted he will get glory and the king's daughter as a wife. But the gypsy girl was in fact Adeline, the daughter of the recruiting officer. Once he has discovered the stratagem, Fanfan refuses to forget this dream and decides to fulfill the destiny of the fake prediction.

1952

Five Miles to Midnight

Five Miles to Midnight 1962

5.80

Immediately after Lisa declares that she is leaving her immature, abusive, but easy-going husband Robert, he is reported dead in a plane crash. Secretly still alive, he convinces her to collect his life insurance, although she knows that it's a bad idea. Lisa must contend with the complications of the scheme, which involve an aggressive suitor, Robert's jealousy, and her own guilt.

1962

Cartouche

Cartouche 1962

6.39

In the 18th century, Louis de Bourguignon is working with the Malichot's gang, but their ways are too 'unethical' for him. He creates his own band, acting under the name of Cartouche, making audacious robberies of the rich people, and even distributing the takings with the poor. Thus, cartouche attracts the people's sympathies, Venus's love, and hate from the Police and Malichot... Cartouche can escape all the traps they set at him - except the entrapments of love. Eventually, he will be saved by a woman, at her own cost.

1962

Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case

Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case 1959

6.92

Police Commissioner Jules Maigret returns to the small village where he spent his childhood at the request of the Countess of Saint-Fiacre, who has received a disturbing anonymous letter.

1959

Napoleon

Napoleon 1955

6.30

The film follows the life of Napoleon from his early life in Corsica to his death at Saint Helena. The film is notable for its use of location shooting for numerous scenes, especially at the French estates of Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles, and sites of Napoleonic battles including Austerlitz and Waterloo.

1955

Scheherazade

Scheherazade 1963

7.67

Sheherazade is promised to a powerful Sultan as a gift in exchange for free passage to the Holy Land. When the Sultan's underling saves her from certain death, she falls madly in love with her hero.

1963

Marianne of My Youth

Marianne of My Youth 1955

4.00

A new teenage student arrives at a prestige boarding school in Bavaria, having not only the ability to play the guitar and sing, but also to charm animals and detect ghosts. Quickly becoming part of a secretive club of five other students, he is inadvertently stranded by them at an abandoned chateau on an island in the middle of a large lake, where he encounters an enchanting young woman who wants to escape... Also filmed in a separate German-language version with largely different cast, MARIANNE MEINE JUGENDLIEBE, q.v.

1955

The Grand Manoeuvre

The Grand Manoeuvre 1955

6.26

Armand, a boastful womaniser, makes a bet that he can seduce any girl he wants. He soon crosses paths with a beautiful Parisian divorcee, who is nothing like anyone he has ever met before.

1955

Ho!

Ho! 1968

6.20

Race driver who has lost his membership card becomes the chauffeur of a gangsters pack

1968

Don Juan or If Don Juan Were a Woman

Don Juan or If Don Juan Were a Woman 1973

4.26

Jeanne lives in Paris and believes she is the reincarnation of Don Juan. She visits a priest and tells him she has killed a man. He comes to her elegant flat - her father has died leaving her rich - and she tells the priest stories about men she has seduced. The seduction is easy, she tells him, it's destruction that takes planning. We watch her with an upright elected official, a wealthy boor, and a folk singer. She describes herself as a spider. Her friend Léporella tries to be Jeanne's conscience. What does Jeanne want?

1973

Panic

Panic 1947

7.40

Proud, eccentric, and antisocial, Monsieur Hire has always kept to himself. But after a woman turns up dead in the Paris suburb where he lives, he feels drawn to a pretty young newcomer to town and discovers that his neighbors are only too ready to suspect the worst of him.

1947

All the Gold in the World

All the Gold in the World 1961

6.40

Businessman Victor Hardy wants to buy the entire area around the small village of Cabosse. He claims that he wants to return to nature, but he also intends to profit by selling the water from the village fountain, which is reputed to enhance longevity. However old farmer Mathieu and his sons don't want to sell...

1961

The Possessors

The Possessors 1958

6.93

Noël Schoudler, founder of an empire built on three foundations - sugar, banking and the press - reigns like an absolute sovereign over his business and his family. But someone is about to challenge this authority: his son François...

1958

Marianne, Meine Jugendliebe

Marianne, Meine Jugendliebe 1955

6.20

German-language version of Duvivier's MARIANNE DE MA JEUNESSE, filmed separately with a largely different cast (thus, not the same film). No known US release.

1955