Henri Calef
20211940, main basse sur le cinéma français
Pierre-Henri Gibert
Sarah-Jane Sauvegrain, Louis-Émile Galey
Paris, 1940. German occupation forces create a new film production company, Continental, and put Alfred Greven – producer, cinephile, and opportunistic businessman – in charge. During the occupation, under Joseph Goebbels’s orders, Greven hires the best artists and technicians of French cinema to produce successful, highly entertaining films, which are also strategically devoid of propaganda. Simultaneously, he takes advantage of the confiscation of Jewish property to purchase film theaters, studios and laboratories, in order to control the whole production line. His goal: to create a European Hollywood. Among the thirty feature films thus produced under the auspices of Continental, several are, to this day, considered classics of French cinema.
1940: Taking over French Cinema
L'heure de la vérité
Henri Calef
Corinne Marchand, Karlheinz Böhm
At the end of World War 2, a Nazi escapes arrest by assuming the identity of concentration camp victim. 20 years later, he is threatened with exposure. The only way out would seem to be murder. Hour of Truth was lensed largely on location in Israel.
L'heure de la vérité
Jéricho
Henri Calef
Raymond Pellegrin, Louis Seigner
June 1944, a French town towards the end of the occupation. Following several attacks perpetrated by the resistance, the inhabitants who listen to English radio are rounded up by the Germans in a prison and considered as hostages. In one of the cells are found men from all walks of life: an aristocrat, the Viscount of Saint-Leu, Doctor Noblet, a resistance fighter, Béquille the wanderer with a wooden leg, and a strange character nicknamed "Black Market". The latter arouses mistrust among the prisoners, because it could well have been introduced by the enemy.
Behind These Walls
Le secret d'Hélène Marimon
Henri Calef
Isa Miranda, Jean Debucourt
Жак, директор одного нефтяного предприятия на Ближнем Востоке возвращается в Париж и вспоминает о своём старом армейском друге Камиле Маримоне, который только что выпустил книгу. Двадцать семь лет назад, в 1918 году, Жак был ранен на фронте, спасая жизнь Маримона. Во время лечения он полюбил загадочную женщину по имени Элен, которая призналась, что является женой Маримона. Теперь ему предстоит выяснить, кто отец её дочери…
The Secret of Helene Marimon
La maison sous la mer
Henri Calef
Viviane Romance, Clément Duhour
A stranger named Constant disrupts the life of Flora, who is seemingly happy with her husband Lucien. But she suddenly experiences a passionate love, taking refuge with Constant in a cave they call “home under the sea.”
The House Under the Sea
La souricière
Henri Calef
François Périer, Bernard Blier
A young rogue kills an old lady to rob her. Arrested, he believes it is for this crime, hides nothing from his lawyer, who soon tells him that he is only accused of another theft prior to his crime. Sentenced to six months suspended prison sentence, he will also have to answer for the crime of the old lady.
Sorceror
Les violents
Henri Calef
Paul Meurisse, Françoise Fabian
Pierre Tercelin who used to be a prosperous industrialist is now ruined and embittered, having become a mere lock keeper. A widower, he lives with his daughter Evelyne, a music-hall dancer. Claiming he is being persecuted by his cousin Edgar he gets in touch again with another cousin of his he hates, Bernard, a millionaire gun runner,who is also a victim of Edgar. It must be said that both Pierre and Bernard once caused Edgar to go bankrupt... Pierre offers Bernard to join efforts against Edgar. Soon after, Bernard dies of poison, which is only the first of a series of acts of violence. Tiercelin is shot at while going back home, Bernard's son is gunned down while his sister Luciane disappears. Chief-inspector Malouvier - who oddly enough looks very much like the suspect- investigates....
Les Violents
Ombre et lumière
Henri Calef
Simone Signoret, María Casares
A few years ago, Isabelle Leritz, a famous pianist, suffered a fit of madness, in the middle of a concert. Now recovered, she fell in love with Jacques whom she plans to marry. She does not know that he is having an affair with Caroline, his sister, director of a fashion house.
Shadow and Light
L'extravagante mission
Henri Calef
Henri Guisol, Mona Goya
A young man, Robert Dupont, with suicidal tendencies and a bit stupid to boot, is saved by a stranger who pretends to be a well-known banker. This stranger then entrusts him with a suitcase full of mysterious documents, which he asks him to take with him to Indochina. But in reality, the suitcase is stuffed with banknotes from a scam.
The Queer Assignment
Les amours finissent à l'aube
Henri Calef
Georges Marchal, Françoise Christophe
Didier's wife is ill, and he does the best he can to take care of her. But he's often absent and he has casual love affairs. But Leone he meets in Bruxelles wants to become his one and only mistress.
Fatal Affair
Féminin-féminin
Henri Calef, João Correa
Olga Georges-Picot, Marie-France Pisier
Marie-Hélène lives in a manor with her husband George, but is not happy. She feels stifled and trapped by the constant presence of Cécile, her intrusive mother-in-law. One day, Jacques and a beautiful woman, Françoise, comes to visit. Marie-Hélène feels attracted to Françoise. To such an extent that the two women fall in love and run away to the city.
Féminin-féminin
