Austerlitz 1960  N/R, 180 min.
Genre: Action
aka: The Battle of Austerlitz
Director: Abel Gance
Cast: Pierre Mondy, Martine Carol, Leslie Caron, Vittorio De Sica, Jean Marais, Jack Palance, Orson Welles, Ettore Manni, Claudia Cardinale, Elvire Popesco, Michel Simon, Georges Marchal, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Rossano Brazzi
At the beginning of this film, the private life of Napoleon Bonaparte (Pierre Mondy) unfolds–showing his family life with wife Josephine (Martine Carol)–before the story moves on to the battlefields of the Napoleonic War and Napoleon proclaiming himself Emperor of France.
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Bizarre Bizarre 1937  N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
Director: Marcel Carne
Cast: Michel Simon, Francoise Rosey, Louis Jouvet, Jean-Louis Barrault, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Nadine Vogel, Pierre Alcover, Henri Guisol, Annie Carriel, Jeanne Lory
Irwin Molyneux (Michel Simon) is a successful writer of mystery novels–with the ideas coming from his daughter. His cousin (Louis Jouvet) arrives unexpectedly and, with the servants gone, Irwin's embarrassed wife (Francoise Rosay) must take on cooking duties while hiding in the kitchen. The cousin thinks that Irwin is acting suspiciously and tells the police that he thinks Irwin has murdered his wife. The mix-up gets resolved in this comedy.
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 The Head 1959  N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Foreign / Horror
aka: A Head for the Devil
The Screaming Head
Director: Victor Trivas
Cast: Horst Frank, Michel Simon, Paul Dahlke, Karin Kernke, Helmut Schmid, Christiane Maybach, Dieter Eppler, Kurt Muller-Graf, Maria Stadler, Otto Storr
Now here's a bizarre story. Dr. Abel (Michel Simon) invents a serum to keep the severed head of a dog alive. When he dies of a heart attack, his crazed associate, Dr. Ood (Horst Frank), preserves Abel's head in hopes of learning how to make the secret serum and to have Abel's head advise him while he places the head of his hunchback nurse onto the body of a stripper in order to get the "perfect" woman. Meanwhile, the head pleas for death, which it finally gets.
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La Chienne 1931  N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Foreign / Thriller
aka: The Bitch
Director: Jean Renoir
Cast: Michel Simon, Janie Mareze, Georges Flamant, Magdeleine Berubet, Roger Gaillard, Jean Gehret, Alexandre Rignault, Lucien Mancini, Romain Bouquet, Max Dalban, Courme, Pierre Destys, Henri Guisol, Sylvain Itkine, Jane Pierson
Painfully shy Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon) paints pictures as an escape from his miserable home life with his nagging wife, Adele (Magdeleine Berubet). One night, he meets Lulu (Janie Mareze) and becomes her lover, but Lulu is really a manipulative prostitute working for her pimp, Dede (Georges Flamant). Together, Lulu and Dede contrive to sell Maurice's paintings for their own financial benefit. Finally, Maurice lashes out and kills Lulu. Police question him but believe he does not fit the pattern of a murderer. In an intriguing twist, it is Dede who is charged with, and convicted of, Lulu's murder.
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L'Atalante 1934  N/R, 89 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Jean Vigo
Cast: Michel Simon, Jean Daste, Dita Parlo, Gilles Margaritis, Louis Lefebvre, Fanny Clar, Raphael Diligent, Maurice Gilles, Rene Bleck, Charles Goldblatt
French Surrealism combines for the first time with French Poetic Realism in this fantasy about a sea captain, Jean (Jean Daste), and his bride, Juliette (Dita Parlo), who begin married life aboard Jean's ship. They soon find that the close proximity and Juliette's boredom bring out more than a few problems.
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The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928 N/R, 110 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Cast: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, Andre Berley, Maurice Schutz, Michel Simon, Antonin Artaud, Jean d'Yd, Louis Ravet, Armand Lurville, Jacques Amna, Alexandre Mihalesco, Leon Larive
In this, one of the all-time great silent films, the story of the Maid of Orleans (Maria Falconetti), heroine of France, is told. Young Joan led her countrymen against their English conquerors in 1431 and was burned at the stake for her efforts.
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Port of Shadows 1938  N/R, 91 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Marcel Carne
Cast: Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Michele Morgan, Pierre Brasseur, Rene Genin, Marcel Peres, Roger Legris, Robert Le Vigan, Edouard Delmont, Raymond Aimos
A French Army deserter (Jean Gabin) arrives in the port of Le Havre where he meets and is attracted to young Nelly (Michele Morgan). As he gets involved with Nelly, he realizes how morally corrupt her "friends" are and tries to protect Nelly, but loses his own life in the process.
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The Train 1964 N/R, 133 min.
Genre: Action / Thriller
Director: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Michel Simon, Suzanne Flon, Wolfgang Preiss, Paul Bonifas, Albert Remy, Jacques Marin, Howard Vernon, Charles Millot, Richard Munch, Jean Bouchaud, Donald O'Brien, Jean-Pierre Zola
During World War II, Col. Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) orders that art works at the Jeu de Paume Museum be moved to Nazi Germany. In an effort to save the priceless works of art, the head of the museum (Suzanne Flon) convinces railway official and member of the French Resistance Labiche (Burt Lancaster) to delay the train's departure until after the Allied Forces arrive. Using sabotage and deception, Labiche and his colleagues try to find a way to delay the train.
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| 1. Austerlitz (1960)
aka: The Battle of Austerlitz
2. Bizarre Bizarre (1937)
3. Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932)
4. The Head (1959)
aka: A Head for the Devil
aka: The Screaming Head
5. La Chienne (1931)
aka: The Bitch
6. L'Atalante (1934)
7. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
8. Port of Shadows (1938)
9. The Train (1964)
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