French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influence also on the creation of national cinemas in Asia.
René Clair, born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. He went on to make some of the most innovative early sound films in France, before going abroad to work in the UK and USA for more than a decade. Returning to France after World War II, he continued to make films that were characterised by their elegance and wit, often presenting a nostalgic view of French life in earlier years. He was elected to the Académie Française in 1960. Clair's best known films include Un chapeau de paille d'Italie, Sous les toits de Paris, Le Million (1931), À nous la liberté (1931), I Married a Witch (1942), and And Then There Were None (1945).
Léon Ernest Gaumont was a French inventor, engineer, and industrialist who was a pioneer of the motion picture industry. He founded the world's oldest operating film studio, Gaumont Film Company, and worked in partnership with Solax Studios.
The history of French animation is one of the longest in the world, as France has created some of the earliest animated films dating back to the late 19th century, and invented many of the foundational technologies of early animation.
Empire of the Wolves is a 2005 French action drama film directed by Chris Nahon, written by Christian Clavier, Jean-Christophe Grangé, Chris Nahon and Franck Ollivier, and starring Jean Reno, Arly Jover, and Jocelyn Quivrin.
Marcel Bozzuffi was a French film actor. Internationally, he appeared as a hitman in the Oscar-winning American film The French Connection. In 1963, he married French actress Françoise Fabian.
Raymond Gérard Payelle, better known by his pseudonym Philippe Hériat, was a French novelist, playwright and actor. His most famous novels included Les Enfantes gâtés, awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1939, and La Famille Boussardel, which won the Académie Goncourt in 1949.
Marie Glory was a French actress.
Raymond Bernard was a French film director and screenwriter whose career spanned more than 40 years. He is best remembered for several large-scale historical productions, including the silent films Le Miracle des loups and Le Joueur d'échecs and in the 1930s Les Croix de bois and a highly regarded adaptation of Les Misérables.
L' Homme du large is a 1920 French silent film directed by Marcel L'Herbier and based on a short story by Honoré de Balzac. It was filmed on the rugged southern coast of Brittany creating atmosphere in a film about the forces of good and evil that motivate human behaviour.
Jean-Émile Diogène Marcoux was a French operatic bass-baritone, known professionally as Vanni Marcoux. He was particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories. His huge repertoire included an estimated 240 roles and he won renown as one of the most memorable singing-actors of the 20th century.
Gaston Modot was a French actor. For more than 50 years he performed for the cinema working with a number of great French directors.
The 41st Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1988. The Palme d'Or went to the Pelle erobreren by Bille August.
Guy Mazeline was a French writer, winner of the prix Goncourt in 1932 for his novel Les Loups, surprisingly winning against Voyage au bout de la nuit by Louis-Ferdinand Céline.
Le Miracle des loups, aka Blood on his Sword, is a French / Italian swashbuckler film from 1961, directed by André Hunebelle, written by Henry Dupuis-Mazuel, starring Jean Marais. The scenario was based on a novel by Maria Luisa Linarès. The film was known under the title "Im Zeichen der Lilie", "Blood on His Sword" or "The Miracle of the Wolves" (USA).
Le Miracle des loups is the title of two French adventure historical films, both located at the time of rivalry between Louis XI and Charles the Bold. In both films numerous scenes were filmed at the Cité de Carcassonne.
Édith Jéhanne was a French film actress of the silent and early sound era.
Jules Kruger (1891–1959) was a French cinematographer. He is known particularly for films which he photographed in the 1920s and 1930s for Abel Gance, Marcel L'Herbier, Raymond Bernard, and Julien Duvivier. He also worked in Great Britain and in Spain.
Denise Benoît was a French actress and singer, active across a wide range of genres on the stage, radio and television. Other members of her family were musicians.
