French drama directed by Max Ophuls and based on the novel by Louise de Vilmorin. The film revolves around an 18th century Countess named Louise (Danielle Darrieux) who sells off the earrings given to her as a wedding gift from her officer husband in order to clear some debts. This action sets in motion a number of events that jeopardise her social position and threaten to destroy her marriage while the earrings pass through several hands, travelling as far as Constantinople before coming full circle and returning to Paris and Louise in the possession of Baron Donati (Vittorio De Sica).

Jean Renoir's classic prison escape movie, often seen as a humane and pacifist indictment of war, offers an ambiguous perspective on class differences. In a WWI German prisoner-of-war camp, three French soldiers, working-class Lieutenant Marechal (Jean Gabin), middle-class Jew Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio) and aristocratic senior officer Captain de Boieldieu (Pierre Fresnay), are held prisoner by Commandant Von Rauffenstein (Erich von Stroheim). The film shows how a bond of sympathy exists more between the German Commandant and the senior French officer than between the three Frenchman of different classes. Even though de Boieldieu sacrifices himself for the two others to escape, the film makes no attempt to conceal what they are returning to once their role as war heroes is over.