Poetic realism was a film movement in France of the 1930s. More a tendency than a movement, poetic realism is not strongly unified like Soviet montage or French Impressionism but were individuals who created this lyrical style. Its leading filmmakers were Pierre Chenal, Jean Vigo, Julien Duvivier, Marcel Carné, and, perhaps the movement's most significant director, Jean Renoir. Renoir made a wide variety of films some influenced by the leftist Popular Front group and even a lyrical short feature film. Frequent stars of these films were Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Simone Signoret, and Michèle Morgan.
Michèle Morgan was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered to have been one of the great French actresses of the 20th century. Morgan was the inaugural winner of the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1992, she was given an honorary César Award for her contributions to French cinema.
Pierre Richard is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films. Pierre Richard is considered by many, such as Louis de Funès and Gérard Depardieu, to be one of the greatest and most talented French comedians in the last 50 years. He is also a film director and occasional singer.
Pierre Richard-Willm was a French stage and film actor during the 1930s and 1940s.
Charles-Marie Vanel was a French actor and director. During his 76-year film career, which began in 1912, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Jacques Feyder, and Henri-Georges Clouzot. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as a desperate truck driver in Clouzot's The Wages of Fear for which he received a Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953.
Jean-Pierre Mocky, pseudonym of Jean-Paul Adam Mokiejewski, was a French film director, actor, screenwriter and producer.
Le Grand Jeu is a 1934 French film directed by Jacques Feyder. It is a romantic drama set against the background of the French Foreign Legion, and the film was an example of poetic realism in the French cinema. The title Le Grand Jeu refers to the practice of reading the cards. Blanche asks whether her client wants the 'full works', the whole story: "Alors... je te fais le grand jeu?"
To the Eyes of Memory is a 1948 French romantic drama film directed by Jean Delannoy and starring Michèle Morgan, Jean Marais and Jean Chevrier. Delannoy co-wrote screenplay with Henri Jeanson and Georges Neveux. It was shot at the Francoeur and Joinville Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director René Renoux. The admissions in France were 4,559,689 people. It was nominated for a Golden Lion for Delannoy at 1949 Venice Film Festival.
La Minute de vérité is a 1952 French language motion picture drama directed by Jean Delannoy who co-wrote the screenplay with Henri Jeanson, Roland Laudenbach and Robert Thoeren. The film stars Michèle Morgan and Jean Gabin.
The 18th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 16 May 1965. Olivia de Havilland became the first woman president of the jury.
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.
Entente cordiale is a 1939 French drama film directed by Marcel L'Herbier and starring Gaby Morlay, Victor Francen and Pierre Richard-Willm. The film depicts events between the Fashoda crisis in 1898 and the 1904 signing of the Entente Cordiale creating an alliance between Britain and France and ending their historic rivalry. It was based on the book King Edward VII and His Times by André Maurois. It was made with an eye to its propaganda value, following the Munich Agreement of September 1938 and in anticipation of the outbreak of a Second World War which would test the bonds between Britain and France in a conflict with Nazi Germany.
The Count of Monte Cristo is a 1943 French-Italian film directed by Robert Vernay with Ferruccio Cerio as the supervising director. Based on the classic 1844 novel Le Comte de Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père, this two-part film stars Pierre Richard-Willm in the title role.
Southern Mail or Southern Carrier is a 1937 French action film directed by Pierre Billon and starring Pierre Richard-Willm, Jany Holt and Raymond Aimos. It is adapted from the 1929 novel of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
The Woman Who Dared is a 1944 French drama film directed by Jean Grémillon and starring Madeleine Renaud and Charles Vanel. In April 2019, a restored version of the film was selected to be shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
Burning Fuse is a 1957 French-Italian thriller film directed by Henri Decoin and starring Raymond Pellegrin, Charles Vanel and Peter van Eyck. It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris. The films sets were designed by the art director René Renoux.
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.
Jacques Terrane, born Jacques Tartière in Paris, was a French-American actor and soldier who died fighting with the Free French Forces in Syria.
