Produced for television by Claude-Jean Philippe, the « Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma », recounts the history of French cinema from its birth to the beginning of the 1960s. With commentary read by Jean Rochefort.

In an isolated community on a mythical island, a pompous dictator holds public executions and lets criminals fight in the streets.

A teenage girl accuses her primary schoolteacher, Jean Doucet (Jacques Brel), of trying to rape her. The police and the mayor investigate, but Doucet denies the charges. Two other students come forward to reveal more of Doucet's misconduct – one confessing to be his mistress. Doucet faces trial and hard labor if convicted.

Maroîs, the fairground bon vivant, spends most of his time around a bottle of wine, in the company of his friend Michaux, with whom he was once a sailor. He neglects his wife Monique, a pretty girl much younger than himself. Suffering from this indifference, she seeks imperfect and fleeting consolation, first from Michel, their friend's son, then from Jean-Louis, a young mechanic who has helped out with Maroîs' truck and won his trusting friendship. Michel, jealous, tells the showman of his misfortune. He leaves to kill his wife's lover. The latter, wishing to separate the antagonists, seriously burns herself by knocking over an autogenous welding block, which explodes. Taken to hospital, she asks for and receives her husband's forgiveness.

Antonin is a young French soldier who returns home from World War I to recover from his wounds. When he falls in love with a young widow, Antonin questions his role in battle and contemplates desertion as he recalls the horrors of war. He is pressured by his patriotic father to honor his military commitment even if it means he will die.

Based on Sébastien Japrisot's novel, the story revolves around a young girl who suffers from amnesia after surviving a terrible fire.

The daughter of a foreign diplomat in Paris is courted by two men. One of them entrusts her with a harmless commission for Poland, as she has a diplomatic passport. But it's a trap, and the girl is forced to work for Eastern spies.

Four episodes chronicle a mysterious phantom who appears in the Musée du Louvre in Paris at night. Neither guards nor police are able to make an arrest. But a curious young man tries to break the ice and discover what drives the creature and its activities.

Bryant, an American, arrives at the Gare de Lyon after serving a sentence of hard labor at the Baumettes prison for stealing gems (which, incidentally, have not been found). He was immediately spotted and followed by individuals with knowledge of his past activities. One of them, in particular, pursues him mercilessly and, after a series of twists and turns, kills him, without ever finding the treasure.

A young teacher arrives in Normandy, where she intends to put an end to illegal alcohol trafficking and consumption.

The story of Napoleon 1st's long-awaited son, born in 1911. He spent his childhood in the Tuileries, before being separated from his father and taken in and raised by his grandfather, Emperor Francis, who made him an Austrian prince.

Convicted of murdering his wife, a crime of which he declares himself innocent, Jacques Mazur is serving a long sentence in a prison where his presence causes disruption.

Daniella, a fashion model, goes to Rome to replace a model who's been murdered. Once there, she meets two men, Count Castellani, whose clothes she'll model, and Karl Bauer, a reporter in the hotel room next to hers. Castellani gives Daniella the spotlight, which prompts jealousy from another model. Is he merely trying to seduce her? It's soon apparent that he has other plans as well: the line of clothes is a cover for smuggling and perhaps espionage. Daniella may be in danger - one model is dead already. Is Bauer to be her protector, or is he after something too? Is anyone who they seem?

Paris, at the start of the German Occupation, five men plan to sabotage a factory.

Hercules decides to avenge the death of his wife, murdered at the hands of Éurito, king of Ecalia, but everything is a plot of an ambitious courtier. Hercules ends up falling in love with Deyanira, who is now a good queen.

Jean-Pierre, who has escaped from prison, tries to reintegrate into society with the help of workers at a construction site.

In Antwerp, Belgium, in 1959, a succession of Interpol agents are gunned down without obtaining what they're looking for: a list of all the influential crooks. Only one remains, Larry Laine, who is about to show them what he's made of.

In a small provincial town, the boarding-house is run by Mathilde Belin, the overindulging and over-demanding mother of Paul. When she is told by her envious sister Charlotte that her son is having a secret affair with Catherine, a salesgirl, she becomes furious and starts doing everything in her power to separate the lovebirds.

Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.

Pierre Chambrac, a French industrialist, and Canadian Paul Laforêt, two former brothers in arms, meet again by chance in Paris five years after the end of World War II. Pierre is engaged to a beautiful foreign young lady by the name of Helen Bering. He introduces her to his friend, which seems to trouble him. To his amazement, Helen and Paul disappear without notice. Pierre, who was beginning to feel jealous, sees his suspicion confirmed. He decides to fly to Montreal where he thinks the couple has taken refuge. Once there, he learns that his dear Helen is actually a criminal and that Paul is a policeman whose duty was to arrest her.

Documents relevant to National Defence have been concealed in a certain vase by a dangerous gang of robbers. To neutralize the criminals, a seasoned police commissioner and his clumsy assistant, young inspector César, join forces with a colorful trio of thieves nicknamed Le Pouce (Thumb), L'Index (Index Finger) and Le Majeur (Middle Finger)...

While investigating the world of Parisian tramps, journalist René Savary, himself disguised as a poor beggar, notices the strange behavior of a little boy. He follows the brat after he has sneaked out of a barge, catches up with him and takes him to his home. There, the kid tells him about himself : his name is Jean, his mother has disappeared and since then he has been left to fend for himself. Moved by the lot of the wretched boy, Savary, with the aid of his friend Pierrot, undertakes to solve the mystery.

Suzanne is a lawyer, she's just got her degree and she is married to a cop. We follow her through three investigations.

During the Tour de France, five riders are found murdered with a red tulip near their bodies. A journalist and a police inspector lead the investigation to unmask the murderer.

The City of Hope is the place where left-behind artists subsist by scraping by. When one of them is accused of murder, all try to find the real culprit.

For fun and to dazzle his wife, the novelist Morgan steals a ring and gets rid of it in the costume jewelry section of a supermarket. Sophie buys the diamond, which forces the novelist to embark on crazy adventures to recover the jewel.

Fred Maubert, an innocent convicted of a crime he did not commit, escapes from prison and goes in search of the real culprit. He begins by looking for his former mistress, Simone, who has since married Doctor Bréville and lives in Canada.

On the verge of death, a man entrusts Inspector Burma with an address. Burma conducts a difficult investigation with many twists and turns, which takes him from Lyon to Paris, following in the footsteps of the members of a mysterious business firm.

Two hitch-hikers are on the way to Marseilles pursued by her husband.

An officer, two of his comrades and a social worker want to create the "Carrefour", a place for lost children and teens to give them a chance not to fall by the wayside and spend most of their life in jail.

It's a sailors' story; they often sail away and when they return, the first thing they do is searching girls in the harbor. One of them -Jean- is shy and he does not know how to go with women. One day, he meets Yvonne and falls in love with her. But, alas, she prefers his good friend René. Another suitor, Pierre, owns the "À la Belle frégate" a café where Yvonne works as a waitress. Madam(e )Juliette, pretends she helps Yvonne and tries to make her an "entraineuse"(hostess) for less-than -handsome guests. But the girl knows better and will choose one of her suitors.

A discharged seaman winds up on an old man's farm: his children left the place for the broader horizons of the evil city; the walls are near decay ,the fields lie fallow.

The Paladines write crime novels together. In a cinema, they happen to see a report on the consequences of a shipwreck in which Lieutenant Dupuis tells about the death of an old man in the lifeboat carrying the survivors. Husband and wife agree that this could be the starting point of a new story and go and see Dupuis to get more details about the drama. When they come to his hotel Dupuis is dead with a bullet in his head. Police characterizes the death as suicide but Paladine has found a train ticket in the dead man's pocket. With his wife he takes the train to the specified destination, somewhere in the provinces...

Famous singer, René Sartène, falls in love with a young bourgeois, Marie. Irène, her stage partner and the director of the show combine their efforts to annihilate this budding happiness.

René, a bank employee, is suspected of theft and fired from his job. It borders on the worst by following in the footsteps of a misfit, Alexandre. A series of circumstances lead him to save little Gérard, the bank manager's grandson, from a fire. The child becomes attached to René, who manages to discover the real culprit of the theft.

René Sabin, engineer, disappointed by failures, leaves his village in the South to go to Paris with friends. In the capital, he befriends dubious people, in particular Alex Krakow who does not disdain shady business. Then comes the war. René is mobilized then returns to the country, and finds with joy his fiancée.

A poor wretch, who has just been hired as a music-hall artist, in spite of himself becomes the tenant of a particular Parisian building.

Following a heartbreak, Aimée, a young girl is taken in by the owners of a café for whom she starts working, and falls in love with René, a sailor who gave her a taste for life.

In the thirties, a Chasseur Alpin commander is accused of spying and sentenced to death. At the last minute, he is saved from the firing squad by a female spy's confession.

Barnes, the mate of the 'Portland', is the object of the hate of the whole ship's crew. His mistress is murdered shortly before the departure and suspicion naturally falls on him. Some time later, Jeff Cooper, the skipper, falls to his death in the middle of the night. Once again Barnes is suspected and the mate has to resort to force to maintain his authority on board. During the stopover, Barnes is interrogated and finally cleared. He is even appointed captain of the 'Portland' in replacement of Jeff and can marry his best friend's daughter.

Pimaï, the strong-headed anarchist, joined the navy out of bravado. But the sweet influence of a young girl leads him to prove that he is worthy of the profession he has chosen and the flag he serves.

Because of the escapades of Alexis, the Crown Prince of Vodenia, the kingdom is likely to lose the loan lent to them by a rich foreign banker. Baron Patcheff, a minister, decides then to replace the Prince by a double. The man chosen is Castin, a Parisian haberdasher, who looks like Alexis feature for feature.

At a North Africa desert outpost threatened by Arabs, the French commander has added trouble when his wife visits and is captivated by a younger officer.

A small town postal official allows a military officer to sweep his lovely daughter away to St. Petersburg, assuming the man will do the right thing and marry her.Instead, a future of scandal and tragedy awaits her.

Two bank employees like Lucie, their colleague. They steal money from the cash register to gamble. Jean wins and Paul ends up in prison for five years. When he leaves, he discovers that Jean has become a businessman and that he has married Lucie.

Helene is based on Helene Wilfur, a novel by Vicki (Grand Hotel) Baum. Madeleine Renaud essays the title role, a young medical student in love with aspiring musician Pierre Regnier (Jean-Lous Barrault). Pierre's father, a noted surgeon, puts pressure on his son to give up music in favor of medicine. Unable to withstand his father's remonstrations, Pierre kills himself, prompting the grieving Madeleine to forget all about romance and dedicate her life to the cause of healing others. Wilfur avoids the usual soap-opera goo by offering realistic performances and credible dialogue (the English-language subtitles were composed by erudite film critic Herman G. Weinberg).

In 1842, during the conquest of Algeria Sidonie Panache disguised as a Soave runs away with her lover who is doing his military service there.

Bébé's mother and her friends conduct a spiritualist session. They feel the presence of evil and get panic attacks, before they find the truth.

At the front, Bébé meets two Russian soldiers.

A mischievous child feeds his father a laxative, leading to disruptive bouts of intestinal disorder—and an unexpected reward. (MoMA)

Short comedy for the Gaumont film company

A short from Feuillade's Bébé series

Bébé's nanny reads to him the exploits of Saint Martin, who gave half of his coat to a poor man at the gates of the city of Amiens, so that he could protect himself from the cold. Bébé, marveled by this story, then plays in the park and meets a poor man and his son who are both freezing. Bébé decides to imitate Saint Martin, removes his coat and tears it in two pieces. He gives one piece to the poor boy. Bébé returns to his nanny and tells her his good action. She explains that half a coat is not very useful. Bébé understanding his stupidity starts crying. The nanny takes him by the hand to see the two poor. She mends the coat with safety pins. The poor boy now has a whole coat. After the departure of Bébé and his nanny, the poor boy can now play the lord with his beautiful coat.

On the street, Bébé has his pocket watch stolen. He sets off to find the thief himself.

On the street, Bébé has his pocket watch stolen. He sets off to find the thief himself.

Bébé's father is attacked by the "apaches", a group of hooligans. Bébé and his sister decide to avenge him by gaining the group's trust and bringing them into a trap.

Directed by Louis Feuillade.

A child painter sells one of his paintings to an adult who appears to be surprised.