Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol.
Moulin Rouge is a 1952 British historical romantic drama film directed by John Huston from a screenplay he co-wrote with Anthony Veiller, based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Pierre La Mure, and produced by John and James Woolf. The film follows artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 19th-century Paris's bohemian subculture in and around the Moulin Rouge, a burlesque palace. The film was screened at the 14th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion.
Antoine and Colette is a 1962 French short film written and directed by François Truffaut. It is the second installment in Truffaut's five-film series about Antoine Doinel, the character he follows from boyhood to adulthood. Antoine and Colette was made for the 1962 anthology collection Love at Twenty, which also featured shorts from the renowned directors Shintarô Ishihara, Marcel Ophüls, Renzo Rossellini and Andrzej Wajda.
Les Apaches was a Parisian Belle Époque violent criminal underworld subculture of early 20th-century hooligans, night muggers, street gangs and other criminals. After news of their notoriety spread over Europe, the term was used to describe violent street crime in other countries as well; for example, "Russian apaches".
The Lady of the Camellias, sometimes called Camille in English, is a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils. First published in 1848 and subsequently adapted by Dumas for the stage, the play premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France, on February 2, 1852. It was an instant success. Shortly thereafter, Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi set about putting the story to music in the 1853 opera La traviata, with female protagonist Marguerite Gautier renamed Violetta Valéry.
Apache, or La Danse Apache, Bowery Waltz, Apache Turn, Apache Dance and Tough Dance is a highly dramatic dance associated in popular culture with Parisian street culture at the beginning of the 20th century. The name of the dance is pronounced ah-PAHSH, not uh-PATCH-ee. In fin de siècle Paris young members of street gangs were labelled Apaches by the press because of the ferocity of their savagery towards one another, a name taken from the native North American indigenous people, the Apache.
Port of Shadows is a 1938 French film directed by Marcel Carné. An example of poetic realism, it stars Jean Gabin, Michel Simon and Michèle Morgan. The screenplay was written by Jacques Prévert based on a novel by Pierre Mac Orlan. The music score was by Maurice Jaubert. The film was the 1939 winner of France's top cinematic prize, the Prix Louis-Delluc.
Clara Ward was a wealthy American socialite who married Joseph, Prince de Caraman-Chimay of Belgium.
Out 1, also referred to as Out 1: Noli Me Tangere, is a 1971 French mystery film written and directed by Jacques Rivette and Suzanne Schiffman. It is indebted to Honoré de Balzac's La Comédie humaine, particularly the History of the Thirteen collection (1833–35). Known for its length of nearly 13 hours, the film is divided into eight parts of approximately 90–100 minutes each.
Le Doulos is a 1962 French crime film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, adapted from the novel of the same name by Pierre Lesou. It was released theatrically as The Finger Man in the English-speaking world, but all video and DVD releases have used the French title. Intertitles at the beginning of the film explain that the French title refers both to a kind of hat and to the slang term for a police informant.
Camille is a 1917 American silent film based on the play adaptation of La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in French as a novel in 1848 and as a play in 1852. Adapted for the screen by Adrian Johnson, Camille was directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starred Theda Bara as Camille and Albert Roscoe as her lover, Armand.
Parisian Nights is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Alfred Santell and featuring Boris Karloff.
The Saturday Night Kid is a 1929 American pre-Code romantic comedy film about two sisters and the man they both want. It stars Clara Bow, Jean Arthur, James Hall, and in her first credited speaking role, Jean Harlow. The film was based on the play Love 'Em and Leave 'Em (1926) by George Abbott and John V. A. Weaver. The movie still survives. The film was preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding by Clara Bow biographer David Stenn.
Mollenard is a 1938 French drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Harry Baur, Gabrielle Dorziat and Pierre Renoir. It was also known by the alternative titles of Hatred and Capitaine Corsaire. The film's sets were designed by Alexandre Trauner. It is based on the novel of the same name by the Belgian writer Oscar-Paul Gilbert. The film's plot divides sharply into halves, with the first an action thriller set in China while the second is a social drama with the title character struggling to cope with what he regards as the suffocating atmosphere of his home port in France.
Fascination is a 1979 French horror film written and directed by Jean Rollin, and starring Franca Maï and Brigitte Lahaie. It focuses on a thief who seeks refuge in a remote château where two mysterious women with potentially sinister intentions are residing.
The Triumph of the Rat is a 1926 British silent film drama, directed by Graham Cutts for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Ivor Novello, Isabel Jeans and Nina Vanna.
Free to Love is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Frank O'Connor. The film stars Clara Bow and Donald Keith.
The Lover of Camille is a 1924 American silent romantic drama film directed by Harry Beaumont, and starring Monte Blue. The film was based on the French play Deburau by Sacha Guitry, which was also adapted into a Broadway play by Harley Granville-Barker.
The Dressmaker of Luneville is a 1932 French comedy film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Madeleine Renaud, Pierre Blanchar and Jeanne Fusier-Gir. It was made at the Joinville Studios by the French subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Fox later bought the rights to the film and remade it as Dressed to Thrill in 1935.
Black Venus is a 1983 softcore erotic melodrama film directed by Claude Mulot. It purportedly is based on an unspecified short story by Honoré de Balzac. It was produced by Playboy Enterprises and originally aired in an edited 80-minute version on the Playboy Channel; an uncut English-dubbed version was released on DVD in 2006.
