Jean Renoir directs this musical comedy drama set amidst the glittering nightlife of late 19th-century Paris. Jean Gabin stars as theatre impresario Henri Danglard, who plans to base his new club - the Moulin Rouge - around a modern reinvention of traditional cancan dancing. To this end, he hires pretty young washerwoman Nini (Francoise Arnoul) with a view to harnessing her natural talents and making her the star of the show. But Henri's attentions to Nini soon ignite the jealousy of his bellydancer lover Lola (Maria Felix).

Marcel Carné directs this 1930s drama starring Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan. Army deserter Jean (Gabin) pitches up in Le Havre, looking for a new identity and passage to foreign parts. His progress is halted when he falls in love with Nelly (Morgan), an idealistic 17-year-old who finds herself oppressed by her supposed protector, Zabel (Michel Simon), and hoodlum Lucien (Pierre Brasseur). Jean attempts to rescue Nelly from their grasp but will it mean missing his own chance at freedom?

Jacques Beckers co-writes and directs this classic film noir based on the novel by Albert Siminon. The film follows ageing underworld figure Max (Jean Gabin), who, with his colleague Riton (Rene Dary), has stolen 50 million francs in gold bars. When Riton's girlfriend decides to take up with rival gang boss Angelo (Lino Ventura), the whereabouts of the stolen money becomes clear, prompting Angelo to kidnap Riton and demand the money as ransom.

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.