A look back at "La Cage aux Folles", which ran non-stop for five years, from February 1973, on the stage of the Théâtre du Palais Royal in Paris. At a time when homosexuality was considered a crime by the law, Poiret and Serrault achieved great success in boulevard theater. Their success continued on the silver screen, with three Oscar nominations and a Broadway musical. Combining never-before-seen archives from the play, extracts from the film, confessions by Poiret and Serrault, and interviews with witnesses, this is the story of a wild epic.

Two business students hatch a perfect plan: buy their own school.

The immature young ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Joseph, was extremely shy around women but (according to this film) was constantly being propositioned, lewdly or otherwise, by ambitious courtesans. When he was finally married to his Empress, the teen-aged Bavarian princess Sisi (Elizabeth), it seems that his relief knew no bounds, for he was now sure that he would never have to think about sex ever again. According to the filmmakers, this is the true history of that marriage. This story is a complete reversal of the romantic legend depicted in the popular 1955 film Sissi, which helped brighten the emerging stardom of Romy Schneider.

On 9 January 1836, Pierre Lacenaire goes to the guillotine, a murderer and a thief. He gives Allard, a police inspector, his life story, written while awaiting execution. He also asks Allard to care for Hermine, a lass to whom he has been guardian for more than ten years. In flashbacks, from the prison as Lacenaire writes, from Allard's study as he and Hermine read, and from other readers' memory after the book is published, we see Lacenaire's childhood as he stands up to bullies, including priests, his youthful thieving, his first murder, his brief army career, his seduction of a princess, and his affair with Avril, a young man who dies beside him.

The Dossiers of Inspector Lavardin is a French television series in four 90-minute episodes, created by Dominique Roulet and Claude Chabrol and broadcast between September 15, 1988 and February 1, 1990 on TF1. It follows the two films Chicken in Vinegar and Inspector Lavardin directed by Claude Chabrol and already featuring Jean Poiret in the role of Lavardin. This short series depicts the investigations of Inspector Lavardin, a tongue-in-cheek policeman known for his bad manners.

Martin Morel wants to spend Sylvester with both his wife and family and his girlfriend Agnes. So he asks his clumsy friend Bertin to pretend she'd be his wife. But the two can't stand each other... at first.

The leader of a nudist colony enlists the help of left-wing militant when he mistakenly believes he should receive the Legion of Honor.

Charles and Emmanuelle organize as every year, the congress of perfumers who distribute their products in their castle. Garibaldi, their mutilated and somewhat disturbed son-in-law, will be the butler.

Faking an injury for insurance money, a peddler seeks out a cure to support his claims while a suspicious investigator tries to expose the scam.

A Hollywood studio is producing another spectacular when the top billed male stars suddenly show up as corpses, killed before the critics could ever put pen to paper. Under suspicion is a talent agent. Is he guilty or not? These macabre events have everyone off their feed, from the producers down to the lowest gofer.

Inspector Lavardin is called to a provincial village to investigate a murder – only to find that one of his ex-lovers is the victim’s widow.

A parody of the French Revolution, on Arabian Nights background. Bagdad Calif is in Paris in 1789, where he decides to visit the Executionner equipment exhibition.

Unorthodox detective Jean Lavardin is called to a provincial French town after a prank turns deadly.

Bastien Grimaldy, a man driven to heightened anxiety as the plot against him begins to take effect. Bastien's personal relationships give him enough cause for anxiety -- between his new lover Laura and a feisty mother, life provides its own insecurities. When he goes to the police with his problems, Bastien is assigned an off-beat inspector to protect him but is still faced with skepticism about his dilemma.

The cynical boss of a big insurance agency invites his top-salary employees to spend a week-end in his country house. A modest clerical worker, also invited, discovers the hidden reason for this party - and decides to take advantage of it.

In occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.

Martial Perrin is the president of a right-wing political party which is gearing itself up for a forthcoming election. When he learns that a notorious criminal named Kraus has escaped from prison, Perrin panics and goes into hiding. His deputy, Constant, hires Perrin’s cousin, Gilbert, an actor who is a perfect double of Perrin, to replace him. What Gilbert does no know is that the killer Kraus is bumping off the people who were implicated in the affair for which he was arrested, and that Perrin is next on his list.

A French variety show.

A talk show presented by Michel Drucker

La Cage aux Folles "The Cage of Madwomen") is a 1973 French farce by Jean Poiret centring on confusion that ensues when Laurent, the son of a Saint Tropez night club owner and his gay lover, brings his fiancée's ultraconservative parents for dinner.

To replace Hector Grofenol, the tyrannical boss of the "Tout pour le camping" factory, who has been put out of action, a group of employees call on his cousin Achille, a Provençal shepherd, thinking they can use him. But Achille is quick to take his role as CEO seriously, and becomes very enterprising. Fortunately, young secretary Martine uses her charms to calm this man with a thirst for power.

1944. Léon Duchemin owns a restaurant with his sister. His clients are Germans, Résistance et black marketeers. Léon unwillingly joins the Résistance when a British pilot is shot down and hides in his attic and, through a series of mishaps, he accidentally steals the plans for Hitler's V1 missiles.

Gabriel Pelletier's life is no bed of roses. Not because of his job: he is a successful sales manager. But on account of the various wrongdoings committed by his kin. First, there is his daughter Nicole, who has just developed an infatuation with a young man who is not only a revolutionary student but the the son of a Sicilian mobster as well. Then he has to cope with Bernard, his brother-in-law, a ladies'man who has been vamped by one of the sexy daughters of the Sicilian. Let's not forget Albert, his own brother, an avant-garde filmmaker also in trouble with Lombardi, the omnipresent gangster. To crown it all, Maryse, his domestic worker, is a Maoist militant!... In the end, poor Gabriel can't take it anymore. He hits the road and calls it quits.

A man has found a way to win any bet he places on a horse. However, he himself must never be the person to place the bet.

The Eloi family, who have just won the "model family" competition, set off for winter sports. Also on the trip are Aunt Gabrielle and Dagobert, the village warden. For the eccentric little group, the initiation to the joys of skiing begins with a lot of excitement. The vacation gets complicated when a Hindu prince has a precious diamond stolen from the local hotel.

Sickened to see his students always sleeping in class, a teacher with a colleague and an anarchist start a war against the television. They climbed on Paris roofs to coat the T.V. antennas with a special product cutting the signal reception.

A scientist from the East happens in France where it is supposed to improve one of his inventions. But it is much more interested in the fact to enjoy it and have fun ...

Gabriel Pelletier, sales manager for a major industrial firm, would be the happiest of men if he didn't have a family of rare originality. The day Gabriel Pelletier is asked by the firm's management to welcome and accommodate an important American industrialist who has come to Paris to handle a major contract, he realizes the difficulties that lie ahead. How will Mr. Strumberger, who has the reputation of a fierce puritan, react to the behavior of the various members of the family?

At Theater tonight is a TV show broadcasted from 25th August 1966 to 21st September 1985. The show is broadcast plays recorded in two or three days, during public performances at the Théâtre Marigny on the Champs-Élysées, or sometimes Edouard VII theater.

At Theater tonight is a TV show broadcasted from 25th August 1966 to 21st September 1985. The show is broadcast plays recorded in two or three days, during public performances at the Théâtre Marigny on the Champs-Élysées, or sometimes Edouard VII theater.

Pétepan learns that his money has been lost by Robinhoude brothers.He asks his assistants to withdraw his amount from the bank.

An illegal gambling den where players can lose millions... and the owners make their fortune.

Robert's peaceful existence as a manufacturer of beauty creams is suddenly disrupted by the arrival of little Zizi, whose upbringing is entrusted to him in his will.

The eccentric Comtesse de Saint-Plâs sells a black Citroën DS to car dealer Paul Souflé. He sells it to the young mathematics teacher Jacques Denzac who is about to marry.

A precious work of art from the Italian Renaissance is stolen and passes through many hands before ending up in the shed of the farmhouse of Mr. and Mrs. Dujardin, fishmongers, who are inaugurating their luxury fish shop that very day. But the antique dealers, the free-riders and the bargain-hunters are there. They are jealously careful not to pass on the fruit of their clever investigations to their rivals, for all of them, after a picturesque treasure hunt, know that the Dujardin family own the famous Duranti altarpiece. But where have they hidden it themselves?

Two police inspectors pursue a dangerous counterfeiter on the run.

Henri has a beautiful wife, Sophie. Unfortunately, suffering from an unhealthy jealousy, he spends much of his time watching his wife's every move, and a few domestic scenes often ensue.

A playwright has to murder if he does not want to be murdered.

On prize-giving day, a few dunces recall various incidents that marked their school year.

An automobile tribute

Bad financial conditions compel an aristocratic family to do strange work.

The story of five girls that lose their virginity.

"Les quatre vérités" aka "The Four Truths" is a movie anthology that consists of four segments, all loosely parodying fables from the 17th-century French poet Jean de la Fontaine. The US cut usually features only 3 segments.

Bernard, a young, serious publisher of religious books, finds himself embroiled in amusing and eventful adventures with Sophie, a wacky twist dancer. Having lost his own situation, he joins Editions du Soleil thanks to his friend Marcel's manuscript "Comment réussir en amour". Freed of his shyness, he succeeds brilliantly in his career; and having put to good use the teachings of the manuscript, Bernard ends up marrying Sophie. But he soon finds himself confronted by the impetuous young woman's fantasies.

A small-scale cabaret troupe is touring the provinces. One afternoon while canoeing, Monique Darzel, one of the troupe's singers, spots an angler whose resemblance to Fernand Raynaud strikes her. She discusses this with Jean Duroc, the troupe's director, who laments the meagre revenues his show is raking in. He then had the idea of meeting this fisherman to convince him to imitate Fernand Raynaud in his shows. It turns out that the Fernand Raynaud impersonator is in fact Fernand Raynaud himself, who has come for a week's incognito vacation in the provinces. Raynaud is finally persuaded to play the novice comedian, in order to further develop the script for his next film, Les cabotins à travers les âges.

The Dance is a 1962 French comedy film directed by Norbert Carbonnaux and starring Jean-Pierre Cassel, Françoise Dorléac and Arletty. The film is based on the French comic strip 13 rue de l'Espoir.

A film made up of four sketches. In Marc Allégret's Sophie, a naive high-school girl invents a love affair with her mother's lover. But it's a guitarist with whom she falls in love. In Françoise, by Claude Barma, a young woman returning to France after living in the United States has an affair with her best friend's lover. In Antonia, by Michel Boisrond, a middle-aged woman tries to convince her ex-lover that she still has many assets to seduce. In Ella, by Jacques Poitrenaud, a Pigalle dancer meets a man in a cab.

Auguste is about an eponymous bank clerk who finds fame and fortune. Auguste happens to be in the right place at the right time to save young starlet Francine from killing herself -- or more accurately, pretending to kill herself. His supposed heroism hits the news, and before Auguste knows what is happening, a Machiavellian publicist is using him for his own ends. The bank clerk is no fool and soon thinks of a way to come out on top.

During an evening in a bar, Roger, a friendly cognac salesman and connoisseur, overhears a telephone conversation that intrigues him, then worries him: "... a few bullets to the head and she'll be dead in a minute...". Distraught, Roger follows the stranger who has taken his car. A relentless pursuit ensues. Roger arrives at a mysterious property where the "assassin" disappears to commit his crime. Knocked unconscious by the killer he fought and prevented from carrying out his crime, Roger regains his senses, comfortably installed in the living-room of an old colonel, Colonel Van Booren.

Mr. Follavoine plans to supply the French army with chamber pots. In preparation for this lucrative contract, he invites a doctor from the Ministry of War. The business dinner takes a different turn when Mme Follavoine appears, obsessed by their son Toto's constipation.

Charming and innocent, Candide is vigorously chased away by the Baron, for his close encounters with the pretty Cunégonde. World War II breaks out, and when he is drafted and taken prisoner, he is forced to take German nationality and ends up guarding the camp where he was imprisoned. He crossed into Switzerland, but as he had no bank account, he was incarcerated for eight days for trespassing. Hunted by the Gestapo, he kills two men to free Cunégonde, who has finally been found. They both flee to Argentina, and their world tour begins. In Paris, Moscow, New York, Borneo and Alexandria. They try to follow Dr. Pangloss' optimistic rule of life. Tossed about, separated, they find themselves grown old and wiser, thinking only of cultivating their garden on the shores of the Mediterranean.

The seven stages in the life of the modern Frenchwomen are disclosed by seven directors in a witty way: 1 - Childhood, 2 - Adolescence, 3 - Virginity, 4 - Marriage, 5 - Adultery, 6 - Divorce, 7 - The Single Woman.

Married against her will to the Comte de Trivelin, Paulette Dupont shares her anxieties with her childhood friend Labaule. Warned too late to prevent the ceremony from taking place, Labaule follows the couple on their honeymoon and prevents the consummation of the marriage by repeatedly intruding on the couple's privacy. Put on notice by Paulette's parents to consummate the marriage, Trivelin - who believes himself to be at fault - consults a psychiatrist. The latter advises him to visit a lady of lesser virtue: Gloria. But Gloria's clientele includes Dupont himself - Paulette's father - and Labaule!

The gifts and bequests department is particularly eccentric, including Lahrier, a fervent absentee and songwriter in his spare time.

Miguel foils a bank robbery and becomes a successful nightclub singer, but he doesn't know that his wife is being courted by an Italian fitness instructor.

A husband plans to shoot the man having an affair with his wife, but both come to realise their desire to escape the tyrannical woman in their lives.

A rich kid, the daughter of an oil tycoon, lives a life of luxury. Bad guys kidnap the heiress.

Jean-François Robignac, a teacher, arrives at a provincial college to teach literature to ninth-graders. He quickly wins over the children with his youthful way with words. But his parents want to have him expelled when they learn that Jean-François uses slang words to rejuvenate writers' texts.

Annibal Onnis, a good man and major laundry manufacturer, has his wife's necklace stolen by a young starlet, Regina Rex, who has tried to seduce him. He hires two private detectives, Willis Sr. the father, and Willis Jr. the son, to track down the young woman. Tracking her down in La Baule at a beauty contest, Willis Jr. falls in love with Liliane, known as Régina Rex, and sets out to clear her name, convinced as he is of her innocence. After several comic twists and turns (including the temporary loss of the necklace), we learn that the starlet was hired by Mrs. Onnis to have her husband caught in the act of infidelity, a contract between the spouses stipulating that the unfaithful member of the household would pay 100 million francs to the other. Willis's dedication enables Annibal to catch his wife in the act. The Onnis are happily reunited, and Liliane and Willis Jr. look to the future with a smile.

Aimé Morin, a good-natured bookseller, is also one of the candidates in the local elections of his small town. He is well-liked by most but he also has political enemies. Among them is Lagarde, a journalist close to the latter. Lagarde takes advantage of Morin being on holiday in Paris to try and tarnish his reputation. His machination unfortunately works and poor Aimé finds himself mistaken for a sex maniac.

A man becomes the lover of his former persecutor's wife.

Paris, 1956. Everything is going smoothly for Roger, married to Denise, and Paul, married to Monique, until the day they win a house in a radio contest. The difficulties of living together and the intrusion of their parents-in-law lead to a falling out.

Nightclub entertainer Jean Clery discovers too late that the 'baby' he agreed to take care of is a wild, shapely sex kitten.

Clarisse cheats on her husband with a vain insurance agent. Zamore, the cuckold (and a magician) wouldn't let his wife be stolen so easily. Poiret and Serrault play the rivals in this twisted love story. A poetic absurd fantasy.

The umpteenth adaptation of Dumas' novel finds d'Artagnan and his friends promoting the love affairs of Anne of Austria and the Duke of Buckingham, incurring the wrath of the Cardinal and exposing themselves to the cold cruelty of Milady de Winter. Also featured are the tender Mme Bonacieux, the hilarious Planchet, the Queen's ferrets and Bethune's executioner, against a backdrop of clanging swords.

An accordionist playing in disreputable halls is mistaken for a gangster by a special envoy from the American crime syndicate in charge of investigating the French milieu. The American will prepare a hold-up with a gang of women specialized in scamming tourists. But the accordionist will make the hold-up fail and all the criminals will end up behind bars.