"Actor: Jean Gabin"

• World Noir Vol 4 | Unknown | (15/09/2025) from £46.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  While the United States can indisputably lay claim to being the birthplace of film noir, arguably France and French cinema is almost as important to the development of the genre. The term ˜film noir' - literally, ˜dark film' - was first applied to the Hollywood crime movies of the 40s and 50s by French critic Nino Frank, who was believed to have been inspired by the French publishing imprint Serie Noire, which published translated editions of American hardboiled fiction to great commercial success. It was the French who would popularise the use of the term and in turn, create the genre framework that has become so important and influential to the history of cinema.Arguably, the story of noir is one of the cinema of France and the USA in conversation with one another, and presented in this set are three classic French noirs from the 50s and 60s that clearly take their inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood noir: Henri Decoin's Chnouf (1955), Édouard Molinaro's Back Against The Wall (1958), and Marcel Bluwal's Paris Pick-up (1962).CHNOUFHenri (Jean Gabin, Touchez pas au grisbi) is brought in following a successful stint in the US to head up operations by gang boss Lisky. Tasked with increasing sales and reforming the drugs distribution network, he unpicks every aspect of the business, but pushers don't want to change and the cops are on his tail. From the creator of Rififi, Auguste Le Breton, and brought to the screen by Henri Decoin (Not Guilty), the influence of American noir is given a French translation as we see the then-nascent drugs trade depicted in remarkable detail. Out of the inky shadows scenery chewing support is given by a rich cast of wonderful character actors including Lino Ventura (Illustrious Corpses), Albert Rémy (The Train) and Magali Noël (Rififi).BACK TO THE WALLJacques, a rich industrialist, sneaks around an apartment where he bundles up and disposes of a dead body. His troubles started three months ago, his wife, Gloria, was having an affair... To get his revenge he sends Gloria anonymous letters in a scheme to turn her against her lover, a scheme that leads to murder. Ingeniously plotted, this methodical noir by Édouard Molinaro (Witness in the City) bathes in atmospheric chiaroscuro while its pulpy thrills, adapted from the novel by Frédéric Dard (Paris Pick-up), keeps the audience guessing until the final moments. Starring Jeanne Moreau (The Bride Wore Black) as the adulterous wife, this twisty noir is made available in the UK for the first time.PARIS PICK-UPRecently released ex-convict Robert Herbin (Robert Hossein, Rififi) meets Marthe (Lea Massari, L'Avventura), a beautiful Italian woman and her daughter. They share some flirtatious glances and then she invites him back to her home where they discover her husband's dead body. Unable to bear witness to a crime due to his parole Robert flees. Guilty about her situation Robert stays close by where he discovers the body has inexplicably disappeared. With its tender depiction of character and relationships director Marcel Bluwal engineers gripping tension with the expertise of Hitchcock or Clouzot. Adapted from the novel by celebrated crime writer Frédéric Dard (Back to the Wall), Paris Pick-up is released for the first time outside of France.BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:2K restorations for each film by GaumontOriginal uncompressed mono PCM audio for all filmsNewly improved optional English subtitles for all filmsNewly designed artwork based on original postersLimited edition 80-page perfect bound book featuring archival pieces and new writing by critics and experts including Imogen Sara Smith, Farran Nehme, Jake Cole and moreLimited Edition of 3,000 copies presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases for each film and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markingsCHNOUFAudio commentary by Nick Pinkerton (2019)Archival interview with Henri Decoin on Jean Gabin (1960)New visual essay on Chnouf and drugs in film noir by Frank Krutnik (2025)TrailerBACK TO THE WALLNew audio commentary by Daniel Kremer (2025)Archival onset interview with Édouard Molinaro and Gerard Oury (1958)Archival retrospective interview with Édouard Molinaro (2011)TrailerPARIS PICK-UPNew audio commentary by Tim Lucas (2025)Archival interview with director Marcel BluwalArchival behind-the-scenes report on Paris Pick-up (1962)Archival interview with actor Robert Hossein and writer Frédéric Dard about their play (1963)Inspector Leclerc Investigates: The Grey Jackets - episode of 1962 TV crime serial directed by Marcel Bluwal

• La Grande Illusion 75th Anniversary | DVD | (23/04/2012) from £8.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (122.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  During WWI, three French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life. They meet other prisoners from various backgrounds, as Rosenthal, son of wealthy Jewish bankers. They are separated from Rosenthal before managing to escape. A few months later, they meet again in a fortress commanded by the aristocrat Van Rauffenstein. De Boeldieu strikes up a friendship with him but Marechal and Rosenthal still want to escape... One of the very first prison escape movies, La Grande Illusion is hailed as one of the greatest films ever made.

• Touchez Paz Au Grisbi | DVD | (13/08/2007) from £11.55   |  Saving you £6.44 (55.76%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Jean Gabin is at his most wearily romantic as aging gangster Max le Menteur in the Jacques Becker gem Touchez pas au grisbi (Hands Off the Loot!). Having pulled off the heist of a lifetime Max looks forward to spending his remaining days relaxing with his beautiful young girlfriend. But when Riton (Ren Dary) Maxs hapless partner and best friend lets word of the loot slip to loose-lipped two-timing Josy (Jeanne Moreau) Max is reluctantly drawn back into the underworld. A

• Le Plaisir | DVD | (18/09/2006) from £19.75   |  Saving you £0.24 (1.22%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Le Plaisir based on the stories of Guy du Maupassant takes a gently wistful approach to the subject of love and desire through its three tales. Le Masque is the melancholy story of an old man as a veritable dancing wax museum figure hopelessly grasping for his lost youth in a nightly masquerade. La Maison Tellier ""a fairy tale for adults "" in the words of the narrator (Jean Servais playing Maupassant) is a delightful tale of a local brothel that closes for a night for a visit to the country where the ladies have gone to celebrate a young girl's first communion. Jean Gabin is delightful as the charming country bumpkin who plays host to the troupe and becomes sweetly smitten with flirty Danielle Darrieux. The finale Le Modele stars Daniel Glin and Simone Simon as young lovers whose imminent breakup heads toward tragedy but takes a fateful turn both sad and sweet. Le Plaisir is a delicate portrait of love and desire. A favourite film of Jean-Luc Godard who called it ""the greatest film made in France since the liberation"".

• Essential Becker Collection | Blu Ray | (28/11/2022) from £51.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jacques Becker was an important and influential French filmmaker who was admired by the directors that led the French New Wave movement. He made his directorial debut in 1942 after a year in a German prisoner-of war camp. The entire output of his working career was only 13 films including some of the greatest French masterpieces. Becker had a very strong presence in French cinema and constantly tried to create something different which is noticeable in his films as each is unique and very different in style and genre. This essential collection includes 5 films of the prestigious filmmaker: Falbalas (1944), Edward and Caroline (1951), Casque d'Or (1952), Touchez pas au Grisbi (1954) and Le Trou (1960). Product Features FALBALAS (1944) Falbalas: A Family Affair Fashion and Clothing: Jean Paul Gaultier Interview with Micheline Presle Auditions Falbalas: Restored Version EDWARD AND CAROLINE (1951) Interview with Ginette Vincendeau Edouard et Caroline on AU CINEMA CE SOIR © Ina - 1974 Jacques Becker on LE JAZZ ET JEUNESSE © Ina - 1956 CASQUE D'OR (1952) Alex and Marie: Once upon a time there was Casque d'Or In the heart of hearts: the legend of Casque d'Or Trailer TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI (1954) Interview With Ginette Vincendeau Interview With Jean Becker Interview With Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau On Gros Plan © Ina - 1957 LE TROU (1960) Interview with Ginette Vincendeau Interview with Jean Becker Interview with Philippe Leroy L'Envers du décors : A Behind The Scenes Featurette Interview With Jean Keraudy

• Le Jour Se Leve - 75th Anniversary Edition | DVD | (27/10/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Marcel Carné directs this classic French romantic drama starring Jean Gabin. François (Gabin), a factory worker, has love affairs with a flower girl, Françoise (Jacqueline Laurent), and a performer, Clara (Arletty), both of whom have been involved with seedy, older man Valentin (Jules Berry). When the two men come face-to-face a jealous François ends up killing Valentin. As the police close in on him, François barricades himself in a small room, going over the events which led him into such desperate straits.

• La Bete Humaine | DVD | (07/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Severine and her husband Roubaud kill their former employer in a train. Engineer Jacques watches them but doesn't tell the police because he's in love with Severine. But in an epileptic attack he kills her.....

• La Grande Illusion | Blu Ray | (25/01/2021) from £14.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  One of the most acclaimed films of all time, and a powerful anti-war statement, Jean Renoir's profoundly humanist La Grande Illusion remains as vibrant, exciting, and wise today as it was when it was released in 1937. Set in the German prison camps of WWI, the film stars Jean Gabin as Maréchal, and Marcel Dalio as Rosenthal. Like the charming aristocrat Captain de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay), these two French aviators were shot down and now spend most of their time escaping from German prison camps before inevitably being recaptured. Between escapes, they do what they can to amuse themselves, but after a tunnel they've dug is discovered, the three are sent to Wintersborn, a forbidding fortress of a prison commanded by former ace pilot Von Rauffenstein (Erich Von Stroheim). Von Rauffenstein cannot help but strike up a friendship with Captain de Boeldieu, a kindred spirit from the doomed nobility. Extras: Introduction by Jean Renoir The original negative of La Grande Illusion : An exceptional story Introduction by Professor Ginette Vincendeau Success and Controversy by Olivier Curchod John Truby talks about La Grande Illusion Trailer (1937) Trailer (1958)

• Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence - Double Play (Blu-ray + DVD) | Blu Ray | (12/09/2011) from £31.03   |  Saving you £8.96 (28.88%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Director actor and screenwriter Jean Renoir is one of the most original filmmakers in the history of French cinema. A true pioneer Renoir always sought to push the boundaries of cinema. He made neo-realist films ten years before Rossellini and experimented with cinma vrit twenty years before Godard. His films have influenced generations of subsequent film makers - including Franois Truffaut Luchino Visconti and Satyajit Ray. Considered one of the first auteurs he is a cinematic master whose unique poetic style combined a vibrant humanism with a passion for beauty and nature. With his trademark use of deep-focus and a moving camera Renoir's work is rich with energy exuberance and the joy of life. This collection brings together an overview of Renoir's work spanning over 25 years including his anti-war masterpiece La Grand Illusion which is often voted one of the greatest films ever made. Funny moving true and still as fresh now as when they were made Jean Renoirs films are essential viewing. La Grande Illusion (1937): During the First World War two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German POW camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are sent to a seemingly impenetrable fortress which seems impossible to escape from. Le Dejeuner Sur Herbe (1959): Etienne Alexis a candidate for president of the new Europe is a scientist promoting artificial insemination for social betterment and therapy to eliminate passion. Le Caporal Epingle (1957): An upper-class corporal from Paris is captured by the Germans when they invade France in 1940. La Marseillaise (1938): A news-reel like movie about early part of the Frensh Revolution shown from the eyes of individual people. Le Testament Du Docteur Cordelier (1959): A lawyer Joly (Teddy Bilis) is disturbed when his friend the eminent psychiatrist and researcher Dr Cordelier (Jean-Louis Barrault) makes out a Will leaving everything to a mysterious stranger Opale. La Bete Humaine (1938): Severine and her husband Roubaud kill their former employer in a train. Engineer Jacques watches them but doesn't tell the police because he's in love with Severine. But in an epileptic attack he kills her...

• French Cancan | DVD | (07/11/2011) from £8.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (122.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The legendary Jean Gabin plays Danglard, mentor to, and lover of, the stage stars of 1890s Paris. When he discovers a nave young laundress (Francoise Arnoul) dancing in a nightclub he is inspired by her talent to revive the forgotten cancan in a show that the whole of Paris, rich and poor, will never forget. Based on the true story of Moulin Rouge founder Charles Zidler, Jean Renoir’s exuberant tale of an impresario’s commitment to his art is a masterpiece of Technicolor brilliance, which features luminaries of the 1950s Parisian caf-concert scene, Edith Piaf and Patachou, as period artistes.

• The Sicilian Clan | DVD | (18/06/2007) from £4.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (50.10%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The murders in Paris! The robbery in Rome! The double-cross in New York! Two criminals join forces to steal millions of pounds worth of jewellery which are to be shown to the public in Venice. The heist is to take place on an aircraft.

• Pepe Le Moko | DVD | (02/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The notorious Pepe Le Moko is a wanted man: women long for him rivals hope to destroy him and the law is breathing down his neck at every turn. On the lam in Algiers' labyrinthine Casbah Pepe is safe from the clutches of the police until a Parisian playgirl compels him to risk his life and leave its confines once and for all... Julien Duvivier's 'Pepe Le Moko' is one of the most influential films of the 20th century and a landmark of French poetic realism.

• Quai Des Brumes (StudioCanal Collection) | DVD | (10/09/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a smoky French port city.

• Touchez Pas Au Grisbi | Blu Ray | (21/08/2017) from £12.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jacques Becker's Touchez Pas au Grisbi occupies a significant part in French cinema history. Max (Jean Gabin, La Grande Illusion) and Riton (René Dary) are two ageing gangsters who manage to pull off their final heist, a spectacular gold bullion robbery at Orly airport. All is well until Max's former girlfriend Josy (Jeanne Moreau, Jules et Jim) tips off a rival gangster, Angelo (Lino Ventura). The latter kidnaps Ritton and threatens to kill him unless Max hands over the spoils from his robbery Helping to birth the French policier, a European transposition of the fantastic American gangster films of the 1940s, Touchez Pas au Grisbi exerted a huge influence on subsequent directors such as Jean-Pierre Melville.

• Le Jour Se Leve - 75th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (27/10/2014) from £12.56   |  Saving you £10.43 (83.04%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Marcel Carné directs this classic French romantic drama starring Jean Gabin. François (Gabin), a factory worker, has love affairs with a flower girl, Françoise (Jacqueline Laurent), and a performer, Clara (Arletty), both of whom have been involved with seedy, older man Valentin (Jules Berry). When the two men come face-to-face a jealous François ends up killing Valentin. As the police close in on him, François barricades himself in a small room, going over the events which led him into such desperate straits.

• Quai Des Brumes (DVD) (Digitally Restored) | DVD | (04/06/2012) from £10.95   |  Saving you £5.04 (46.03%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Based on the novel by Pierre Mac Orlan, the inimitable team of director Marcel Carne and writer Jacques Prevert deliver a quintessential example of poetic realism, one of the classics of the golden age of French cinema.Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean (Jean Gabin), an army deserter looking for another chance to make good on life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, when acts of both revenge and kindness turn him into front-page news.Also starring the blue-eyed phenomenon Michele Morgan in her first major role, and the menacing Michel Simon, Port Of Shadows (Le Quai des brumes) starkly portrays an underworld of lonely souls wrestling with their own destinies.

• Le Jour Se Leve | DVD | (30/04/2007) from £17.53   |  Saving you £0.46 (2.62%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Francois (Jean Gabin) sits locked in his room a gun in his hand having just committed the murder. As he contemplates his fate he reflects as to how events conspired to bring his life to this conclusion - starting with falling in love with a young florist whose attentions are soon distracted by the arrival of a Machiavellian dog trainer Valentin...

• La Grande Illusion - Special Edition | DVD | (13/11/2006) from £13.48   |  Saving you £6.51 (48.29%)   |  RRP £19.99

  During WWI two French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life. They meet other prisoners from various backgrounds as Rosenthal son of wealthy Jewish bankers. They are separated from Rosenthal before managing to escape. A few months later they meet again in a fortress commanded by the aristocrat Van Rauffenstein. De Boeldieu strikes up a friendship with him but Marechal and Rosenthal still want to escape... One of the very first prison escape movies La Grande Illusion is hailed as one of the greatest films ever made.

• Jean Renoir Collection | DVD | (04/06/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £44.99

  La Grande Illusion (1937): During WWI three French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life. They meet other prisoners from various backgrounds as Rosenthal son of wealthy Jewish bankers. They are separated from Rosenthal before managing to escape. A few months later they meet again in a fortress commanded by the aristocrat Van Rauffenstein. De Boeldieu strikes up a friendship with him but Marechal and Rosenthal still want to escape... One of the very first prison escape movies La Grande Illusion is hailed as one of the greatest films ever made. Le Crime De Monsieur Lange (1936): A man and a woman arrive in a cafe-hotel near the belgian frontier. The customers recognize the man from the police's description. His name is Amedee Lange he murdered Batala in Paris. His lady friend Valentine tells the whole story : Lange was an employee in Batala's little printing works. Batala was a real bastard swindling every one seducing female workers of Valentine's laundry... One day he fled to avoid facing his creditors and the workers set up a cooperative to go on working. But the plot is less important that the description of the atmosphere just before the Popular Front. La Bete Humaine (1940): Severine and her husband Roubaud kill their former employer in a train. Engineer Jacques watches them but doesn't tell the police because he's in love with Severine. But in an epileptic attack he kills her... Boudu Saved From Drowing (1932): Michel Simon stars as Boudu a vagabond who attempts suicide by throwing himself into the Seine grieving over the loss of his dog. But Eduaord Lestingois (Charles Granval) a humane bookseller rescues him and takes him into his home hoping to reform the shaggy bum. Shortly thereafter anarchy reigns as the household is turned upside down by the antics of this large three-year-old. Spitting in first editions using silken sheets to polish his shoes sleeping in the hallway and similar breaches of etiquette do little to endear Boudu to Lestingois. However once Boudu has had a bath and shave in order to please the maid Mrs. Lestingois (Marcelle Hainia) becomes surprisingly responsive to his overtures. The maid (Severine Lerczinska) who is Lestingois's mistress also seems to feel the tramp's mysterious charm. Granval an exemplary bourgeois now has more than one reason to envy the man he saved from drowning.

• Touchez Pas Au Grisbi | DVD | (21/08/2017) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jacques Becker's Touchez Pas au Grisbi occupies a significant part in French cinema history. Max (Jean Gabin, La Grande Illusion) and Riton (René Dary) are two ageing gangsters who manage to pull off their final heist, a spectacular gold bullion robbery at Orly airport. All is well until Max's former girlfriend Josy (Jeanne Moreau, Jules et Jim) tips off a rival gangster, Angelo (Lino Ventura). The latter kidnaps Ritton and threatens to kill him unless Max hands over the spoils from his robbery Helping to birth the French policier, a European transposition of the fantastic American gangster films of the 1940s, Touchez Pas au Grisbi exerted a huge influence on subsequent directors such as Jean-Pierre Melville.