Directed by Jean Grémillon

Directed by Jean Grémillon

5 Episodes

Though little-known outside of France, Jean Grémillon was a consummate filmmaker from his country’s golden age. A classical violinist who turned to directing, he went on to make almost fifty films—from documentaries to avant-garde works to melodramas with major stars—in a thirty-year career. Some of his richest came during a dire period in French history: the apprehensive years leading up to World War II, and the time of the German occupation. These character-driven dramas—including collaborations with screenwriter Jacques Prévert and acting legend Jean Gabin, as well as two newly restored classics (LADY KILLER, STRANGE M. VICTOR)—are humane, entertaining, and technically brilliant, proving Grémillon to be one of cinema’s true hidden masters.

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Directed by Jean Grémillon

5 Episodes

  • Lady Killer
    1:34:14
    Lady Killer
    Episode 1

    Lady Killer

    Episode 1

    Directed by Jean Grémillon • 1937 • France, Germany
    Starring Jean Gabin, Mireille Balin, Pierre Etchepare

    The first collaboration between filmmaker Jean Grémillon and legendary actor Jean Gabin, this adaptation of a novel by André Beucler features the young Gabin as a Casanova of the French Fore...

  • Strange M. Victor
    1:42:40
    Strange M. Victor
    Episode 2

    Strange M. Victor

    Episode 2

    Directed by Jean Grémillon • 1938 • France, Germany
    Starring Raimu, Madeleine Renaud, Pierre Blanchar

    In this moody crime thriller, the well-respected shopkeeper Monsieur Victor (Raimu)—who clandestinely does business with a gang of criminals in the French port town of Toulon—holds onto a terrib...

  • Le ciel est à vous
    1:47:16
    Le ciel est à vous
    Episode 3

    Le ciel est à vous

    Episode 3

    Directed by Jean Grémillon • 1944 • France

    In this uplifting romantic drama, the wife of a mechanic and former fighter pilot falls in love with the idea of flying herself. This soon becomes an obsession, and she undertakes a lofty feat: the longest solo flight ever made by a woman. A warm look a...

  • Remorques
    1:24:27
    Remorques
    Episode 4

    Remorques

    Episode 4

    Directed by Jean Grémillon • 1941 • France

    Jacques Prévert co-wrote this atmospheric tale of the romantic trials of a tugboat captain, played by the iconic French star Jean Gabin. For André and the other members of the Cyclone's crew, existence is harshly divided between the danger of the stormy...

  • Lumière d’été
    1:50:12
    Lumière d’été
    Episode 5

    Lumière d’été

    Episode 5

    Directed by Jean Grémillon • 1943 • France

    A shimmering glass hotel at the top of a remote Provençal mountain provides the setting for a tragicomic tapestry about an obsessive love pentangle, whose principals range from an artist to a hotel manager to a dam worker. Scripted by Jacques Prévert an...

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