Henri Langlois was a French film archivist and cinephile. A pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema. His film screenings in Paris in the 1950s are often credited with providing the ideas that led to the development of the auteur theory.
Georges Franju was a French filmmaker. He was born in Fougères, Ille-et-Vilaine.
Judex is the title of a 1916 silent French film serial concerning the adventures of Judex, who is a pulp hero predating The Shadow, created by Louis Feuillade and Arthur Bernède.
Josephine Hannah Chaplin was an American actress and the daughter of filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. She had a featured role in Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Canterbury Tales (1972) as May, the adulterous wife of the elderly Sir January.
The Prix Jean Vigo is an award in the French cinema given annually since 1951 to a French film director, in homage to Jean Vigo. Since 1960, the award has been given to both a director of a feature film and to a director of a short film.
Eyes Without a Face is a 1960 French-language horror film directed by Georges Franju. The film stars Pierre Brasseur and Alida Valli. Based on the novel of the same name by Jean Redon, it revolves around a plastic surgeon who is determined to perform a face transplant on his daughter, who was disfigured in a car accident. During the film's production, consideration was given to the standards of European censors by minimizing gore. Although Eyes Without a Face was cleared by censors, its release in Europe caused controversy. Critical reaction ranged from praise to disgust.
Jeanne Roques, known professionally as Musidora, was a French actress, film director, and writer. She is best known for her acting in silent films, and rose to public attention for roles in the Louis Feuillade serials Les Vampires as Irma Vep and in Judex as Marie Verdier.
Thérèse Desqueyroux is a 1962 French drama film directed by Georges Franju, based on the 1927 novel of the same name by François Mauriac. Written by Franju, François Mauriac and Claude Mauriac, it stars Emmanuelle Riva and Philippe Noiret.
Blood of the Beasts is a 1949 short French documentary film written and directed by Georges Franju. It is Franju's first film and is narrated by Georges Hubert and Nicole Ladmiral.
Fantômas is a 1964 French comedy film starring Jean Marais as the arch villain Fantômas opposite Louis de Funès as the earnest but outclassed commissaire Paul Juve. In the film Juve teams up with journalist Fandor, also played by Marais, trying to catch Fantômas but never quite succeeding. It was France's answer, in 1964, to the James Bond phenomenon that swept the world at around the same time. It is the first film of a trilogy, and Fantômas became extremely successful in Europe, the Soviet Union and Japan. It found success even in the United States, where fan websites exist to this day. Mylène Demongeot plays "Hélène Gurn", the girlfriend of "Jérôme Fandor", Fantômas' arch enemy. The general tone of the films is more light-hearted than the original Fantômas novels. Commissaire Juve, as played by Louis de Funès, becomes a comedic character, much unlike his literary counterpart.
Fantômas se déchaîne is a 1965 film starring Jean Marais as the arch villain Fantômas opposite Louis de Funès as the earnest but outclassed commissaire Juve and the journalist Fandor, also played by Marais. It was France's answer, with the Fantômas trilogy starting in 1964, to the James Bond phenomenon that swept the world at around the same time. It is the second in the trilogy of Fantômas films, that became extremely successful in Europe and Soviet Union and found success even in the United States and Japan. In this film Jean Marais also plays professor Lefebvre.
Fantômas contre Scotland Yard is the final installment of a trilogy of films starring Jean Marais as the arch villain Fantômas opposite Louis de Funès as the earnest but outclassed commissaire Juve and the journalist Fandor, also played by Marais. The trilogy was France's humorous answer, starting in 1964, to the James Bond phenomenon that swept the world at around the same time. The Fantômas films became extremely successful in Europe and USSR, and found success even in the United States and Japan where fan websites exist to this day.
Judex is a fictional French vigilante hero created by Louis Feuillade and Arthur Bernède for the 1916 silent film Judex. Judex is a mysterious avenger who dresses in black and wears a slouch hat and cloak. He was possibly conceived as a heroic version of the criminal character Fantômas. The character has since appeared in other films, in novels, on stage and in comic books. Judex appears to have been an inspiration for the American pulp hero The Shadow, who was himself an inspiration for Batman.
Jean-Pierre Mocky, pseudonym of Jean-Paul Adam Mokiejewski, was a French film director, actor, screenwriter and producer.
Sylvia Bataille was a French actress of Romanian-Jewish descent. When she was twenty, she married the writer Georges Bataille with whom she had a daughter, the psychoanalyst Laurence Bataille (1930–1986). Georges Bataille and Sylvia separated in 1934 but did not divorce until 1946. Starting in 1938, she was a companion of the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan with whom, in 1941, she had a daughter, Judith. Sylvia Bataille married Jacques Lacan in 1953.
Head Against the Wall, also titled The Keepers, is a 1959 French drama film directed by Georges Franju starring Pierre Brasseur, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Anouk Aimée, and Charles Aznavour. It was director Franju's debut feature film. The story follows an aimless young man who is institutionalized for defying his wealthy father, and in the process airs several questions about how society defines and treats mental illness.
Judex is a 1963 French-language crime film remake of the 1916 French film serial of the same name concerning the adventures of pulp hero Judex. Directed by French filmmaker Georges Franju, the film stars Channing Pollock as Judex/Vallieres, Édith Scob as Jacqueline and Francine Bergé as Diana.
Jean Vautrin, real name Jean Herman, was a French writer, filmmaker and film critic.
René Ferté (1903–1958) was a Swiss actor who worked principally in the French cinema, from 1923 onwards. He is mostly known for performances in a series of silent films directed by Jean Epstein. His roles in sound films were generally less notable, though he appeared in Fritz Lang's Le Testament du docteur Mabuse, and he took the title role in the 1934 sound remake of Judex. After the outbreak of the Second World War he ceased working in films.
