Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. His films La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greatest films ever made. He was ranked by the BFI's Sight & Sound poll of critics in 2002 as the fourth greatest director of all time. Among numerous honours accrued during his lifetime, he received a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1975 for his contribution to the motion picture industry. Renoir was the son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the uncle of the cinematographer Claude Renoir. He was one of the first filmmakers to be known as an auteur.
Jacques Becker was a French film director and screenwriter. His films, made during the 1940s and 1950s, encompassed a wide variety of genres, and they were admired by some of the filmmakers who led the French New Wave movement.
Paul Michel Audiard was a French screenwriter and film director, known for his witty, irreverent and slang-laden dialogues which made him a prominent figure on the French cultural scene of the 1960s and 1970s. He was the father of French film director Jacques Audiard.
Picnic on the Grass is a 1959 French comedy film written and directed by Jean Renoir, starring Paul Meurisse, Fernand Sardou and Catherine Rouvel. It is known in the United Kingdom by its original title or in translation as Lunch on the Grass. A satire on contemporary science and politics, it revolves around a prominent biologist and politician who wants to replace sex with artificial insemination, but begins to reconsider when a picnic he organizes is interrupted by the forces of nature. The film brings up issues of modernity, human reproduction, youth and European integration. It ridicules rationalist idealism and celebrates a type of materialism it associates with classical mythology and ancient Greek philosophy.
René Lefèvre, born René Paul Louis Lefèvre, was a French actor and writer. Throughout his career, he worked with several notable directors, like Jean Renoir, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jules Dassin, and René Clair.
Paul Meurisse was a French actor who appeared in over 60 films and many stage productions. Meurisse was noted for the elegance of his acting style, and for his versatility. He was equally able to play comedic and serious dramatic roles. His screen roles ranged from the droll and drily humorous to the menacing and disturbing. His most celebrated role was that of the sadistic and vindictive headmaster in the 1955 film Les Diaboliques.
Albert Préjean was a French actor, primarily in film. He served in World War I, and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d'honneur. With Lysiane Rey, he was the father of Patrick Préjean, and grandfather of Laura Préjean.
The Farm of Seven Sins is a 1949 French historical drama film directed by Jean Devaivre and starring Jacques Dumesnil, Claude Génia and Aimé Clariond.
Julien Bertheau was a French actor.
Shop Girls of Paris or The Ladies' Delight is a 1943 French historical drama film directed by André Cayatte and starring Michel Simon, Albert Préjean and Blanchette Brunoy. It is an adaptation of the 1883 novel Au Bonheur des Dames by Émile Zola.
Five Red Tulips is a 1949 French crime film directed by Jean Stelli and starring René Dary, Suzanne Dehelly and Raymond Bussières. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jacques Colombier. During the Tour de France, five riders are murdered.
Jenny is a 1936 French drama film, the first full-length feature by Marcel Carné and the first of his successful collaborations with the dialogue writer Jacques Prévert and the composer Joseph Kosma. The leading roles are taken by Françoise Rosay, Albert Préjean, Charles Vanel, and Lisette Lanvin. It tells the story of a middle-aged woman in Paris who with underworld support has built up a smart night club, but her life starts falling apart when the young gangster she maintains as her lover falls in love with her daughter. At times the film moves into the realm of poetic realism, where the cinematography, music and dialogue infuse the lives and surroundings of ordinary people with poetry.
The Alibi is a 1937 French mystery film directed by Pierre Chenal and starring Erich von Stroheim, Albert Préjean and Jany Holt.
René Clermont was a French stage and film actor as well as a playwright.
The Trump Card is a 1942 French crime film directed by Jacques Becker and starring Mireille Balin, Raymond Rouleau and Pierre Renoir.
Crossroads is a 1938 French drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Charles Vanel, Jules Berry and Suzy Prim. It inspired two English-language remakes, the 1940 British film Dead Man's Shoes and Hollywood's Crossroads in 1942.
Paris, Palace Hotel is a 1956 French-Italian romantic comedy film directed by Henri Verneuil and starring Charles Boyer, Françoise Arnoul and Tilda Thamar.
The Assault is a 1936 French drama film directed by Pierre-Jean Ducis and starring Charles Vanel, Alice Field and Madeleine Robinson. It is based on the 1912 play of the same title by Henri Bernstein.
