Best French Film 1950-1959
Seven best French films by year (1950-1959)
List activity
20K views
• 52 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
70 titles
- DirectorRené ClairStarsMichel SimonGérard PhilipeNicole BesnardThe Faust story retold, with an aged alchemist accepting the gift of renewed youth from the devilish Mephistopheles.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsNicole StéphaneEdouard DermitheRenée CosimaThe dangerously obsessive relationship between a psychologically manipulative brother and sister who isolate themselves and draw others into their mind games.
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsPierre FresnayMadeleine RobinsonDaniel GélinThe island of Sein, in the nineteenth century, in Brittany. A crude population lives here on these windy shores, estranged from the rest of the world.
- DirectorAndré CayatteStarsMichel AuclairAntoine BalpêtréRaymond BussièresA trial of a mercy killing.Best French Film of the year 1950
- DirectorYves AllégretStarsBernard BlierSimone SignoretJacques BaumerAfter spending all his money to fulfill the smallest wish of his wife Dora, Robert is still madly in love with her. Now she is in agony, and her mother comes. She will reveal to Robert how he has been fooled. Flashbacks show the story through Robert's or his mother-in-law's eyes. Through some flashbacks, we will see the story through Robert's or his mother-in-law's eyes. A very misogynous movie.
- DirectorJean CocteauStarsJean MaraisFrançois PérierMaría CasaresA poet in love with Death follows his unhappy wife into the underworld.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsAnton WalbrookSimone SignoretSerge ReggianiSoldiers, chambermaids, poets, prostitutes, aristocrats-all are on equal footing in this multi-character merry-go-round of love and infidelity.
- DirectorClaude Autant-LaraStarsFernandelFrançoise RosayMarie-Claire OliviaA group of travelers, including a monk, stay in a lonely inn in the mountains. The host confesses the monk his habit of serving a soporific soup to the guests, to rob their possessions and to bury them in the backyard. The story unfolds as the monk tries to save the guest's lives without violating the holy secrecy of the confession.
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsMadeleine RobinsonFrank VillardNicolas AmatoA prostitute takes back her child, a boy who does not even know how to play.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsClaude LayduNicole LadmiralJean RiveyreA young priest taking over the parish at Ambricourt tries to fulfill his duties even as he fights a mysterious stomach ailment.Best French Film of the year 1951
- DirectorGuy LefrancStarsLouis JouvetJean BrochardPierre RenoirSaint-Maurice, an ordinary peaceful village, lived healthily so much so that the local doctor's practice was scant. But that was before Dr. Parpalaid retired and was replaced by a charlatan by the name of Knock. A real genius this one, for he soon managed to persuade everyone that they were ill. And not only didn't they resent him but they even loved their physician, who made a fortune and brought prosperity to the village by turning it into a big hospital.
- DirectorJacqueline AudryStarsEdwige FeuillèreSimone SimonMarie-Claire OliviaLate nineteenth century in a finishing school for young girls near in France, the principal, the fascinating Miss Julie, sows confusion in the heart of the newcomer, Olivia.
- DirectorSacha GuitryStarsMichel SimonJean DebucourtJacques VarennesThrough a series of circumstances and plot twists an enterprising man manages to get away with murdering his wife, even though he cheerfully admits his guilt in court.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsBrigitte AuberJean BrochardRené BlancardFates of multiple otherwise disconnected characters intertwine miraculously under the sky of Paris. And it all happens in one day.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsGérard PhilipeMartine CarolGina LollobrigidaA young composer has vivid dreams of the past that reflect, yet conflict with his waking life.
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsSimone SignoretSerge ReggianiClaude DauphinThree gangsters and an ex-con carpenter all fall for the same beautiful golden-haired woman in Belle Époque France.
- DirectorChristian-JaqueStarsGérard PhilipeGina LollobrigidaMarcel HerrandSwashbuckling adventures of young army recruit Fanfan la Tulipe during the reign of King Louis XV in 18th Century France.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsDany RobinMichel AuclairHildegard KnefAfter the rejection of their latest--preposterous--scenario, two scriptwriters get back to basics to prepare a new movie. The new scenario centers on Henriette, a pretty, lively Parisian, and how she spends the 14th of July in Paris with her fiancé. We follow the tribulations of Henriette as various other characters enter the story and turn a traditional festive day into something more adventurous than expected.
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsGeorges PoujoulyBrigitte FosseyAmédéeA young French girl orphaned in a German air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.Best French Film of the year 1952
- DirectorAndré CayatteStarsMarcel MouloudjiRaymond PellegrinAntoine BalpêtréThe problem of the reasonableness of capital punishment.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJean GabinDanielle DarrieuxSimone SimonThree separate stories about the same thing: le plaisir (pleasure).
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsAnna MagnaniOdoardo SpadaroNada FiorelliThree men of varying social standing - a viceroy, a bullfighter, and a soldier - vie for the affections of an actress in 18th-century Peru.Release in France: 1953
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsCharles BoyerDanielle DarrieuxVittorio De SicaWhen an aristocratic woman known only as "Madame de . . ." sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair.
- DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsEdmond ArdissonHenri AriusAndré BervilTo avenge her father's death, Manon blocks the source of water for local villagers.Release in France: 1953
- DirectorYves AllégretRafael E. PortasStarsMichèle MorganGérard PhilipeVíctor Manuel MendozaLife in a small Mexican village where joy and misery, hope and pain, passion and guilt, love and decay, life and death are mixed in the peasants life and two French citizens who end up stranded in there, during a typhoid epidemic.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsYves MontandCharles VanelPeter van EyckIn a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.Best French Film of the year 1953
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsSimone SignoretRaf ValloneJacques DubyA truck driver kills the husband of the woman he loves, and becomes the object of blackmail.
- DirectorJacques TatiStarsJacques TatiNathalie PascaudMicheline RollaMonsieur Hulot comes to a beachside hotel for a vacation and accidentally, but good-naturedly, causes havoc.
- DirectorAndré CayatteStarsAntoine BalpêtréPaul BiscigliaBernard BlierSelf-centered parents of the 50's targeted by drama in which teenagers panicking after burglary supposed to finance the run from the Third World War.
- DirectorClaude Autant-LaraStarsEdwige FeuillèreNicole BergerPierre-Michel BeckBased on the novel by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. Friends since infancy, Philippe and Vinea have always regarded themselves as brother and sister. But as adolescence segues into puberty, the two youngsters fall in love.
- DirectorMarcel PagnolStarsAntonin FabreRellysFernand SardouConsists of four stories from the book of the same name by Alphonse Daudet: "The Three Low Masses", "The Elixir of Father Gaucher", "The Priest of Cucugnan" and "The Secret Of Master Cornille".
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsGérard PhilipeValerie HobsonJoan GreenwoodA philanderer fakes suicide with unexpected consequences.Best French Film of the year 1954
- DirectorClaude Autant-LaraStarsDanielle DarrieuxGérard PhilipeAntonella LualdiIt's no holds barred for Julian in pursuit of upward mobility. Although expected to channel career aspirations into the Church of the post- Napoleonic era, his intensely romantic liaisons propel him forward at a pace he cannot control.
- DirectorSacha GuitryStarsMichel AuclairJean-Pierre AumontJean-Louis BarraultThe history of the palace of Versailles from its founding to the present.
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsJean GabinRené DaryDora DollAn aging, world-weary gangster is double-crossed and forced out of retirement when his best friend is kidnapped and their stash of eight stolen gold bars demanded as ransom.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.Best French Film of the year 1955
- DirectorJules DassinStarsJean ServaisCarl MöhnerRobert ManuelFour men plan a technically perfect crime, but the human element intervenes...
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJean GabinFrançoise ArnoulMaría FélixThis comedy drama from Jean Renoir chronicles the revival of Paris' most notorious dance as it tells the story of a theater producer who turns a humble washerwoman into a star at the Moulin Rouge.Release in France: 1955
- DirectorRené ClairStarsMichèle MorganGérard PhilipeJean DesaillyA French lieutenant makes a bet that he can seduce any woman in town in the two weeks before his regiment leaves for maneuvers, but his chosen target (a Parisian divorcée) isn't like other girls he's known.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsMartine CarolPeter UstinovAnton WalbrookWhen she is reduced to appearing in a circus, a notorious beauty thinks back on her past loves.
- DirectorAlexandre AstrucStarsJean-Claude PascalAnouk AiméeGaby SylviaA woman tells her life story to a police investigator after a doctor's suicide.
- DirectorHenri DecoinStarsJean GabinMarcel DalioLino VenturaHenri, the Man from Nantes, comes back to his country after a successful stay in the United States, where he was working for Liski, the drug dealer. With the fame of being a tough guy preceding him, he sets himself to the task of knowing why the French operations were not so profitable - and soon he is master of all links of the organization. He can now get it honed to perfection - or destroy it. Only... the Police is following his every step! Is Henri what he says he is, or an undercover detective from the French police?
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsRoger DuchesneIsabelle CoreyDaniel CauchyAfter losing big, an aging gambler decides to assemble a team to rob a casino.
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsJean GabinFrançoise ArnoulPierre MondyMid-aged married truck driver falls in love with a young waitress he meets while making a break on a long trip. They try to make it work, but she can't get a decent job or place to stay in his town. Things get worse when the man gets fired and his family find out. And there's more complications to follow for both of them...
- DirectorRené ClémentStarsMaria SchellFrançois PérierJany HoltA poor laundrywoman tries to cope with a depressing burden of society.
- DirectorJacques-Yves CousteauLouis MalleStarsFrédéric DumasAlbert FalcoJacques-Yves CousteauA documentary about the undersea explorers and how they penetrate into the underwater world.
- DirectorClaude Autant-LaraStarsJean GabinBourvilLouis de FunèsTwo men carry at night four suitcases of contraband meat across German-occupied Paris during WWII. Their opposite personalities and strange encounters provoke different adventures - until they are arrested by the police.Best French Film or the year 1956
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsFrançois LeterrierCharles Le ClaincheMaurice BeerblockA captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsJean GabinDanièle DelormeRobert ArnouxAndré Chatelin is a restaurant owner in Les Halles in Paris. One morning, a girl named Catherine asks to see him. She happens to be the daughter of his estranged wife, Gabrielle, that André left more than twenty years before. As Gabrielle has just died, André accepts to accommodate Catherine first, then gives her a job in his restaurant before finally marrying her. But the angel-faced young lady might well be a devil in disguise.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsRichard BurtonCurd JürgensRuth RomanA commander receives a citation for an attack on Erwin Rommel's headquarters, which is actually undeserved, as the commander is unfit for his job. On top of that, unbeknownst to him, his wife is having an affair with one of his officers.
- DirectorSacha GuitryStarsJean PoiretMichel SerraultMagali NoëlA man becomes the lover of his former persecutor's wife.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsJean ServaisCarl MöhnerGrégoire AslanAfter WW1,ordinary citizens of a small Greek village plays the Passion Play in order to rebel against Turkish rulers during Turkish-Greek relations in 1920's.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsCurd JürgensPeter UstinovO.E. HasseShort of cash for his private clinic, a French psychiatrist accepts money from a NATO Intelligence agent to shelter a defecting Soviet-bloc scientist but enemy spies are closing-in.
- DirectorRené ClairStarsPierre BrasseurGeorges BrassensHenri VidalAn old bum becomes infatuated with a pretty young girl who gets entangled with a young gangster.Best French Film of the year 1957
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsGérard PhilipeDany CarrelJacques DubyYoung, handsome, dashing but cynical, Octave Mouret arrives in Paris, determined to conquer the belles of the capital. His first attempts are not too successful though as he is rebuffed by Valérie Vabre, the neurotic wife of the landlord of the block of flats he is accommodated in. As for the affair he starts with Caroline Hédouin, the married owner of "Au Bonheur des Dames", the shop where he works, the least we can say is that it lacks passion. But he does seduce Berthe, a girl he refused to marry when her mother tried to force her on him, now that she is married with another. He will finally achieve his end when Caroline, now widowed and needing a man to help her manage her business, asks him... to marry her!
- DirectorRaymond RouleauStarsSimone SignoretYves MontandJean DebucourtSalem 1692. The young Abigail, seduced and abandoned by John Proctor, accuses John's wife of being a witch in revenge. It will be the beginning of a series of witchcraft trials and a dark moment in American history.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsJeanne MoreauMaurice RonetGeorges PoujoulyA self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
- DirectorDenys de La PatellièreStarsJean GabinAnnie DucauxJean DesaillyNoël Schoudler is the head of a wealthy and powerful family in France. He manages his financial and commercial concerns with an iron grip, leaving little room for his son François to prove himself.
- DirectorJean DelannoyStarsJean GabinAnnie GirardotOlivier HussenotA serial killer is targeting women in the seedy district of Le Marais.
- DirectorJean-Paul Le ChanoisStarsJean GabinBernard BlierRené FleurJean Valjean, convicted of a minor crime, spends the rest of his life being pursued by a cruel and unrelenting policeman, Javert.
- DirectorJacques TatiStarsJacques TatiJean-Pierre ZolaAdrienne ServantieMonsieur Hulot visits the technology-driven world of his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, but he can't quite fit into the surroundings.Best French Film of the year 1958
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsPascale PetitAndréa ParisyJacques CharrierBob Letellier, a good looking rich kid who studies science, makes the acquaintance of Alain, a cynical and immoral young man. The latter introduces him to the existentialist circles of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Bob is invited to a party and becomes Clo's lover, a rich heiress.
- DirectorAlexandre AstrucStarsMaria SchellChristian MarquandPascale PetitNormandy, second half of the nineteenth century. Jeanne Dandieu lives in a manor house with her parents and their servant Rosalie. She gets to know Julien, a handsome man, whom she soon marries. Her happiness is short-lived as she finds out that not only has Julien married her for her money but he cheats on her as well, with Rosalie to crown it all. The latter gives birth to a baby girl before leaving the house. Six years later, Julien has a new mistress, Gilberte de Fourcheville. Jeanne puts up with this new ordeal bravely. However Gilbert's husband surprises the two lovers in a caravan and, in a rage, hurls them over the edge of a cliff.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsGérard BlainJean-Claude BrialyJuliette MaynielA pair of cousins share a flat, but animosity begins to build between the two when a woman gets involved.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsEmmanuelle RivaEiji OkadaStella DassasA French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.
- DirectorRoger VadimStarsJeanne MoreauGérard PhilipeAnnette StroybergJuliette Merteuil and Valmont is a sophisticated couple, always looking for fun and excitement. Both have sexual affairs with others and share their experiences with one another. But there is one rule: never fall in love. But this time Valmont falls madly in love with a girl he meets at a ski resort, Marianne.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsDanielle DarrieuxBernard BlierRobert DalbanFifteen years after WWII, a group of ex-resistance fighters are brought together by Marie-Octobre, so that the former members of the network can finally relive one fateful night and find out who betrayed their murdered leader, Castille.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudAlbert RémyClaire MaurierA young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.Best French Film of the year 1959
- DirectorHenri VerneuilStarsFernandelPierre-LouisEllen SchwiersIn 1942, a French prisoner of war in Germany decides to escape to France using a cow held by a lunge as a decoy. He crosses all Germany in this way.
- DirectorFrançois VilliersStarsPierre DuxDany SavalJacques PerrinIn 1943, a group of high school students decide to take action against the Nazi occupying forces. Showing courage and imagination, they manage to blow up the Kommandantur and to release hostages. But after the killing of a German soldier the Nazi police apparatus strikes back. The young resisters are arrested and two of them are condemned to death.