Self (archive footage)
For Les étoiles ne meurent jamais, director/archivist Max De Vaucorbeil has assembled precious film clips of such Gallic greats as Louis Jouvet, Raimu, Harry Baur, Louis Salou and Marguerite Moreno. Francois Perier's narration links the various vignettes together. In its own way, Les Etoiles ne Maurent Jamais can be seen as a precursor to those now-ubiquitous "tributes" on such cable services as American Movie Classics and Turner Classic Movies.
Mémée Renaud
April fools in a studio where a radio host pretends to shoot dead all the performers....till a true crime occurs.
La dame de l'au-delà
"Les jeux sont faits," is a fantasy film based on a screenplay by French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. A society heiress and a resistance fighter are tragically killed at the same moment and meet in the afterlife. They are offered a second chance at life if they can prove their love is real or be doomed to roam the earth as ghosts.
Madame de Stakelberg
Martine is a lonely girl in an exclusive boarding school who conjures up a glamorous existence in order to make her dull life tolerable and to impress the other girls. One of her flights of fancy is a love affair with Brevannes, a famous composer. She leaves the school and goes to the French Alps to find the life she's only dreamed about, where she meets Brevannes and a December-May romance develops until she meets a young mountain guide, Henri Vidal.
Hélène
Inès, a gypsy, pregnant by a rich breeder who abandoned her, finds refuge with a band of smugglers and thieves, led by an old woman nicknamed "the Spider". It is among them that she raises her daughter, Dolores. But her past catches up with her when the wealthy landlord reappears in her life.
Honorine Leclercq
When she sets sail for Lisbon, Catherine Laurence, a famous classical singer has but one wish: to be left alone. Unfortunately she soon gets bothered by a rude, invading man. Later she gets to know him better and becomes susceptible to his charm. She realizes that Michel is in love with her and it is not long before she goes beyond her disastrous first impression. Although not quite sure he is a perfectly honest man she entrusts him with a delicate assignment: keep her precious pearl necklace coveted by Van Coolart, a fake Dutch diamond-merchant, and give it back to her in Paris. If he is a robber himself, so much the worse for her. But if Michel keeps the Paris rendezvous love is in store for both of them. Nevertheless there is a crucial factor she regrettably disregards, composer Raymond Aubour, a faithful friend who has been her suitor for ten years.
Tante Jeanne
1946, a man walks in Lyon. He makes a pilgrimage to the places of his childhood. Another man, Edmond Gonin, recognizes him. It was Jean-Jacques Sauvage, whom he had ousted in a "radical" way with a young heiress. Only Savage is not dead, and here he is on the scene of his first love.
Elisabeth
Muichkine, a young Russian prince, returns home to St. Petersburg from a mental institution, determined to spread decency and kindness in the harsh and cruel world. He becomes betrothed to an innocent young girl while trying to save a less-innocent woman from her own travail, but jealousy and his own naivete conjoin to bring about unimaginable tragedy.
Mademoiselle
Sophie de Réan, an unruly mischievous little girl grows up under the thumb of Mademoiselle, her strict governess. Following her mother's death, she is entrusted to Mme de Fleurville, her aunt, who at the same time hires Mademoiselle to further Sophie's education. A few years later, the little girl has blossomed into a lovely young lady. She is now in love with Paul, her cousin, who, unlike her, used to be a model child. Unfortunately Mademoiselle will not hear of a union between them. Instead she wants Sophie to marry Armand, the conceited son of Prefect Hugon. To make matters worse, Paul, the good boy, unexpectedly turns into a revolutionary, who defends the Republic on the barricades against Louis Napoléon's coup. Not being one of the victors, Paul is forced into exile. Will Sophie finally yield and accept the established order or will she react in her usual rebellious way and follow the one she loves ?
La gitane
По новелле Проспера Мериме. Драматическая история любви Кармен, цыганки, и Дона Хосе, бригадира драконов. Из любви к прекрасному Дон Хосе становится дезертиром. Но она оставляет его ради привлекательного тореадора Лукаса. Раздираемый ревностью, солдат совершает непоправимое, убивая Кармен.
La gitane / La zingara
По новелле Проспера Мериме. Драматическая история любви Кармен, цыганки, и Дона Хосе, бригадира драконов. Из любви к прекрасному Дон Хосе становится дезертиром. Но она оставляет его ради привлекательного тореадора Лукаса. Раздираемый ревностью, солдат совершает непоправимое, убивая Кармен.
Novelist
Renée Ménard, a young mixed-race Indochinese, arrives in France to find her French father, whom she only knows is called Paul Ménard. In the hope of identifying her father, she meets a series of men with that name.
Madame de Bonafé
In Paris in 1887, Irène works as a governess to Douce, the grand-daughter of the dowager Countess de Bonafé. Douce believes she is in love with Fabien, the handsome manager of the estate. However she cannot hope to marry him because of their class difference. Douce's widowed father, the Count de Bonafé, has a wooden leg, and is infatuated with Irène. Douce discovers that Fabien is planning to flee to Quebec with Irène, and also finds out that the Count has asked Irène to marry him. So Douce tells Fabien this and convinces him to run away with her, causing consternation in the family.
A young mechanic is given a strange job: to convey the king of the gypsies' embalmed dead body on a very long route.
la reine des gitans
A young mechanic is given a strange job: to convey the king of the gypsies' embalmed dead body on a very long route.
Madame Auguste
A penniless private tutor is hired by a wealthy family in Provence. The brat is a reluctant pupil, but Michel, without any magic power, turns out to be a wonderful teacher and he wins them all over,not only the student but everyone, from the grumpy dowager to the clueless gorgeous blonde girl. But the best is yet to come:the boy's mother -a married woman- falls in love with the newcomer. And she becomes jealous of her young blonde goddaughter who has a romance with Michel
La grand-mère
A renowned sculptor aged about fifty years, François Bressolles falls for the young Catherine Collet whom he convinces without difficulty to pose for him. Complications ensue when he starts to go blind.
To prevent her husband from starting a divorce procedure, a wife simulates madness.
Madame Pedoska
Pierre and Florence meet at the fair in Paris. They vow eternal love and go to Cassis, under the Southern sun. But Florence has a burdensome past: before meeting Pierre she was a kept woman. Her chivalrous lover, Dominique, chooses to set her free. But Pierre is an uncompromising man and, furious with Florence, threatens to leave her...
Self
The Bontemps family, like all the inhabitants of the village of Coussy la Chapelle, are passionate about radio. Coco, the fiancé of Jacqueline Bontemps, participates in all the contests and under the name of Mr. Bontemps wins a beautiful Sunday. All arrive in Paris and in the premises of the Parisian Post Office attend popular broadcasts.
Maria, cartomancer
Anika is the most beautiful girl of her clan and has for pretenders the gypsy Sandor and the rich Féry. When Féry is assassinated, Sandor is accused of the murder. Anika, with the help of a fortune teller decides to find out what happened.
Consuelo Rodriguez
Nine Bachelors is a 1939 French comedy film directed by Sacha Guitry and starring Guitry, Max Dearly and Elvire Popesco.[1] An opportunist dreams up a new scheme to make money when the French government passes a law forbidding foreigners from living in France. It's French title is Ils étaient neuf célibataires.
The aunt
A young man who wishes to launch his girlfriend in the theater, borrows money from his aunt, making her believe that he wants to buy groceries. His aunt arrives and then wishes to visit “her” grocery store; to save the day he borrows the store of a credulous grocer.
Mme Heurteaux - l'espionne
In a castle, one stormy evening, Doctor Carter and a whole merry company find themselves welcomed by the four brothers who hold the place. The four obese disappear one by one, without leaving a trace.
La sous-directrice
The owner of an apartment building is found murdered. Two rival policemen, Boucheron and Lambert, investigate the matter and get into the private lives of the tenants: an unfaithful judge, a crippled blind man and his daughter, an eccentric knife thrower, a shoplifter (and proud of it!), a bourgeois lady who has a bone to pick with a gigolo, a mistress who cheats on her lover, not forgetting the caretaker and a soldier in love.
Émilie Bonbonneau
Eusèbe Bonbonneau, a solicitor's clerk, learns one day that a candidate bearing his name runs for election as a member of parliament. In fact Frazier, a crooked businessman, has urged an accomplice to impersonate Eusèbe, in order to obtain, through this straw man, authorizations for the creation of a casino in Sanceau-les-Nains and to make big money out of it. Eusébe decides to go to Paris to investigate. In the capital he meets Mariska, an exuberant actress who encourages him to try to get elected. As a result, thanks to her the true Bonbonneau becomes a member of parliament and the crook's accomplice is arrested. But Frazier is not impressed and, changing tactics, he starts manipulating Eusèbe.
Madame Vuilliard
Jeune Filles en Detresse (Young Girls in Distress) was director G. W. Pabst's last French production before his (ill-timed) return to Nazi-occupied Austria in 1941. Somewhat reminiscent of Maedchen in Uniform, the story is set in a private girl's school, populated almost exclusively by children from broken homes. Among the few students who can claim family stability is Micheline Presle, but even her happiness is threatened when her lawyer father Andre Luguet inaugurates an affair with stage actress Jacqueline Debulac. With the help of Debulac's daughter Louisa Carletti, Presle is able to break up her father's romance and deliver him into the open arms of her mother Marcelle Chantal. On the whole, the performance by the younger cast members are more convincing than those rendered by the film's so-called adults.
Tante Émilie
Old friends of Vera Vronsky remind her of her past and try to blackmail her.
The son of two teachers hits the road and becomes a singing success after being taken in as a protege by a kooky countess.
American on the liner
Gilbert Quercy, 18, tried to commit suicide after a heartache. At the hospital, three women try to cheer him up : the three former wives of his father, an archaeologist and an egyptologist, whom Gilbert called his "mothers". These women show a lot of willingness, but soon will become intrusive.
La joueuse
A seasoned con-man devises an elaborate plan to relieve a rich socialite of a hefty chunk of her fortune but her falling in love with him complicates matters.
La marquise de Marengo
Barnabé, an occasional flutist, goes to Mme Petit-Durand to organize her daughter's 20 years. But he is confused with the Count of Marengo whom Mme Petit-Durand wants to give as husband to her daughter, who has already made her choice.
Babinois courts all the women he meets. He has a mistress, Gladys. He would like to marry the Bourillon's daughter, Monique. His maid, Rose, claims to marry him; Héloïse, a young widow, is madly in love with him. Babinois, not knowing how to refuse women anything, promises marriage to all. The fatal day arrives. The four women show up at the town hall in bridal costume and while the other three are doing their buns, Babinois marries Monique.
Monsieur Durand-Bidon's mother-in-law is decidedly cantankerous. She never ceases - she who is a duchess - to reproach the latter for his low origins. One morning, at dawn, while he comes home "well watered", he is surprised with a comrade at the bottom of a bathtub. Taken for a homosexual, overwhelmed by Step-Mom, he will never stop trying to escape her and will end up, after many adventures, by learning a somewhat embarrassing secret about the pseudo-nobility of his step-family.
Arlette, a young orphan girl, is taken in by four spinster cousins, the eldest of whom, Telcide, is very authoritarian. Arlette befriends Marie, and arranges her sentimental affairs, which were at an impasse.
A husband, exasperated by his wife, spanks her without paying attention to the open window in front of which he is. He is annoyingly surprised to discover the next day that the scene has been photographed by a neighbor, and that the image is circulating in Paris. A debate then ensues: is this an opportunity to call for revolt or a welcome manifestation of marital authority?
Zia Mameche
In the 30s, a small village in the Provence is losing its inhabitants because young people prefer to go to the city to find easy jobs and escape from being farmers living in relative poverty. Only a few old people and the poacher Panturle remain. Panturle dreams of bringing the village back to life, finding a wife, founding a family and work as a farmer. One day, the village is visited by a traveling knife-grinder, Urbain Gedemus and a young woman, Arsule. Gedemus treats Arsule like a slave, but Arsule accept this because she has nowhere to go and -we guess- her 'work' with Gedemus is the last thing that saves her from being a prostitute. When she meets Panturle and knows about his dreams, she escapes from Gedemus and decides to stay with him. Together, they start a new life, made of hard farming work but mostly of happiness to have each other - fulfilling the earlier dreams of Panturle. Can anything break the happiness of their new life?
An operetta baron has teamed up with a mechanic to carry out insurance scams. During one of their shots, they come up against Boulot, a drunken but clever driver, who ends up having them arrested after revealing their ride.
La comtesse Tomski (La Dame de Pique)
Russia, 1835. Lieutenant Hermann, a compulsive gambler, is fascinated by an infallible martingale held by Countess Tomski, nicknamed The Queen of Spades. The day Hermann wants to wring the secret from her, the countess dies of fear. Following this tragic scene, Hermann sinks into dementia. Luckily, Lisa, his frail lover, brings him back to life and happiness.
Madame Mary Cambronne
Madame Cambronne, who is English, "it's historic", would really like to know what this famous "Cambronne word" is, which she has never heard. General Cambronne stubbornly refuses to repeat his famous saying.
Tante Adèle
Three "spinsters" focus their attention very narrowly on their nephew, in his first phase of adulthood. Éloi, handicapped by his shyness, behaves a bit awkwardly. He falls under the unfortunate influence of a couple of haddocks. The love of a pretty blonde woman will save him from this embarrassment.
Madame Gaude
A man from a wealthy family falls in love with a florist, but the lover has to go to war and to leave his darling crying... and giving birth to a child.
Un Invité (Prologue)
Завязка лёгкого любовного романа между обаятельной светской дамой и отошедшим от дел адвокатом сулит приятное времяпровождение обоим, да и случай подворачивается удачный. Муж дамы под предлогом деловой встречи отправляется на вечернее свидание, она же получает возможность нанести визит новому воздыхателю. Утомлённые любовники засыпают сном праведников и лишь утром осознают масштабы грядущего скандала, ведь замужняя дама провела ночь вне дома. Поправить положение, кажется, невозможно, тем более что и муж нежданно-негаданно заявляется на квартиру к адвокату. Только вовсе не скандалить – оказывается, он и сам загулял на всю ночь, а теперь нуждается в помощи ловкого приятеля, чтобы оправдаться перед покинутой в одиночестве супругой.
After he loses a servant job when his employer's mansion burns down, a yokel makes money entertaining tourists in Breton garb, lands up appearing in a Paris show ,and meets another property owning lady, this one of dubious reputation.
A few colorful characters, with very different social origins and whose destinies are not always glorious, will parade before our eyes, for our greatest pleasure. Turning among characters such as : an alcoholic bum, a rich banker, an eccentric old lady, a working class girl, a poor lover, and a hypocritical bourgeois.
l'aventurière
Life story of a charming scoundrel, with little dialogue other than the star/director's witty narration. As a boy, only he survives a family tragedy when he's deprived of supper (poisonous mushrooms!) for stealing...concluding that dishonesty pays. Through years of dabbling in crime and amusing adventures, two women appear and reappear in his life, a dazzling blonde jewel thief and a stunning brunette gambler. Finally, he meets the mysterious Charbonnier who had saved his life in World War I, leading to the surprising next phase in his career...
Marguerite and Verdurin, both employed in l'Atout Prix, a store run by Prosper Biscoton, would like to take a vacation at the beach, but they need more money than they earn. They decide to trick their boss into paying for the trip by pretending Marguerite is interested in him. Biscoton falls in the trap and puts himself in a difficult position with his own wife.
To receive his fiancée and his father at his home, an Oxford student counts on the presence of his aunt from Brazil to serve as his chaperone. The latter having delayed his trip, the young man passes his servant off as his aunt. This results in multiple misunderstandings. Finally, everything works out when the aunt comes.
The pharmacist Bourrachon learns that his wife Adrienne deceives him with Dr. Rigal, whose specialties he sells in his pharmacy. His sister, the authoritarian Mrs. Bruneau, urged him to divorce and introduced Geneviève to substitute Adrienne. But after five months of marriage, Geneviève gives birth to a child whose real father turns out to be Henri, the salesman of the Bourrachon pharmacy. Mrs Bruneau will then try to persuade her brother to bring an action disavowal of paternity for the honor of the family and especially to protect the inheritance of his own daughters. But Bourrachon will eventually become attached to the child and endorse his paternity.
Famous author Bretonneau gets his ghost writer Moluchet to impersonate the notorious criminal Jim la Houlette and pretend to steal a manuscript to boost the sales of their novels.
Junon
Alternate-language version of Amphitryon (1935).
Elenita from Sierra Mirador is the darling of Biarritz. For her, a young groom abandons his wife, a forty-year-old suddenly becomes inflamed and cheats on his young wife. But Elenita, watched by her mother, resigns herself to becoming honest and returns to her husband.
Nicknamed "the Aristo", a friendly tramp, once a very rich and influential man, will one fine day rediscover the splendor of his past...
An aviator lands on the estate of a duchess, who has an attractive daughter. Will he overcome the obstacles that are put in his path?
In a school for chansonniers, each student goes to the board where he says and mimes his sketch.
Talkie remake of a 1927 silent about the adventures of the notorious womaniser and venetian adventurer Chevalier Giacomo Casanova. Action starts in Venice and then the plot takes Casanova to France and Russia.
Primerose loves her childhood friend, Pierre, but this one, ruined, refuses her love. Desperate, Primerose enters the convent, but soon the order is dissolved and Pierre, who finds his young friend, finally lets his heart speak...
Mme Thénardier
Фильм повествует о жизни многих людей на протяжении двадцати лет во Франции XIX века, чьи жизненные пути соединены воедино историей бывшего каторжника Жана Вальяна, который находится в бегах, скрываясь от неугомонного полицейского инспектора, преследующего Жана за мелкое правонарушение.
Marie-Josèphe des Espinettes
Gérard d'Ormoise, a young millionaire tired of the easy loves that his income earned him, takes the place of a friendly bartender. He marries the young and pretty duchess who first believed him to be an honest bartender, then a vulgar burglar.
Mr. Silvestry, nicknamed "The Hen" because he is raising his five daughters alone, for whom he does the housework, the shopping and the cooking, is invited to the Côte d'Azur by a wealthy American.
Two husbands claim to be Freemasons so they can go out at night. Where do they go, if not to the lodge, the Masonic lodge? In reality, one goes to visit a pretty and particularly welcoming concierge in his dressing room, and the other spends his evenings in the dressing room of a little music-hall actress.
A man is a hunter at Maxim's restaurant. He lives in the provinces and his family is unaware of his profession. As soon as he has enough money, he quits his job and goes home for his daughter's wedding to a marquis. This one is a regular at the restaurant and the man tries to prevent the wedding before the truth is discovered.
The story of Madame Leroy-Gomez, a wealthy divorcee living in Paris. Together with her servant Antoine she schemes to marry off her unmarried children and fix any issues that arise for those already married.
An opinionated and cocky bookkeeper is certain he can rum his employer's business better than his employer can. The latter dive the bookkeeper a chance to demonstrate his management ability and skills, and promptly makes an unmitigated mess.
O-Kay Agency, run by Monsieur Dubois, will supply anything you like. Even what you do not particularly crave : for instance, Max, the agency's gifted employee made Sam, a millionaire, buy a bath just by putting an attractive young lady in it ! But what Dubois does not know is that, besides being able to close sales brilliantly, Max also dreams of becoming a professional singer.
Miche, a young girl from the town of Senlis, goes to Paris to pose for a painter, Jacques de Peyrière. During her sitting, Jacques tries to kiss her, and Miche, insulted and afraid, flees the studio. Later in St. Moritz, Miche sees Jacques among the other skiers. She decides to leave immediately.
Le Cordon Bleu doesn't refer to a ham-and-veal delicacy, though there is plenty of ham in this Gallic comedy. The scene is a posh Parisian hotel-restaurant, which ends up a hotbed of infidelity and mistaken identity. Hotel cook Regina is romantically involved with her boss Octave, the husband of Irma. Mistaken for another woman, Irma is passionately pursued by Bernereau, whose wife gets involved with someone else's husband, whose wife gets involved with.
Madame Elsie
Madame Marchal
Gisèle accidentally marries her stalker when she thinks she is signing a hotel register in a foreign country.
Eliane
A prominent chanteuse on a world tour meets a young fellow European in Singapore, a soldier of fortune who becomes obsessed with listening to her voice on a recording.
Mme Zouzou
The young Countess Rita wishes to visit the slums of Paris. A matchmaker decides to arrange for her a little staging that allows the young dazed to believe that she has really spent an evening among the men in the middle. Things go wrong through the fault of a genuine apache.
La voyante
Dame Léonarde
A nobleman decides to join a traveling group of actors to be with a girl he admires, but ultimately must rescue her from bandits
Madame Massoubre
Madame Mouchel
Anne d'Autriche
Charming Mimi-Trottin is in love with typographer Louis Chausson, nicknamed Godasse. She meets Doudou, actually a Vicomte, estranged with his parents who are rich automobile manufacturers. Godasse abandons Mimi because of his professional ambitions and Doudou rescues her from a suicide. After making peace with his parents, the young man has Mimi hired as a typist at the factory. After winning a race with one of his father's car, he soon wins the heart and the hand of Mimi.