
Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

A young composer is forced to work as a bar pianist. One night he gets hit by a car and is brought to a hospital. Severely injured he is injected with morphine. He becomes addicted.

A young couple: Victor is a musician, Claire is a secretary in a publishing house. Their daily life seems so disappointing, so monotonous, that they begin to spend their time daydreaming, both creating their own imaginary world. At the office, she writes the story of an heroine's imaginary life. He collects material to compose an opera which glorifies the conquistadors.

In 1930, Louis Martinet, a peaceful sexagenarian, no longer has a long life to live according to the words of his doctor, Leon Galipeau, who sees to take advantage of the very interesting situation of the "future deceased". This one indeed has a small house in Saint-Tropez. Galipeau sniffs the windfall. Following his advice, Martinet agrees to give it in life to the brother of the doctor, Emile, and then rushes back to a health of iron. Worse, he even survives the war. Galipeau, exhausted, decide to use the great means to get rid of the importunce who persists in thwarting their project ...

An artist grows hateful of commercial demands on his questionable talents when his friend and artist commits suicide. He puts the blame for his friend's death on an art critic and a shady art dealer. He is able to take out his frustrations on the pretentious critic at a party. When an elderly man moves into the boarding house, he brings a machine he invented that can make people realize their subconscious dreams...

Celestine has a new job as a chambermaid for the quirky M. Monteil, his wife and her father. When the father dies, Celestine decides to quit her job and leave, but when a young girl is raped and murdered, Celestine believes that the Monteils' groundskeeper, Joseph, is guilty, and stays on in order to prove it. She uses her sexuality and the promise of marriage to get Joseph to confess -- but things do not go as planned.


A fashionable singer makes a stopover in the harbor of Cannes, while a radio journalist investigates the fauna of the festival.

Back from a stay in the Far East, a woman who knew the names of the chiefs of a drug ring is murdered. Georges Masse, the famous reporter, decides to investigate, accompanied by his faithful photographer P'tit Louis. He will come across some unappetizing characters like M. Dubois, a killer, Luigi Costelli, a dangerous trafficker and a beautiful but dubious lady, Suzanne Wilson. After being himself suspected, Masse will make the truth triumph.

Soon after her latest husband death, the King himself (Louis XIV) meets with our heroine and begs her to help convince the Persian Ambassador to agree to a treaty. However, what they didn't realize was that the handsome Persian was in fact a sexual sadist. So, it is up to the King's half- brother, some Hungarian prince, to save Angélique from the evil troll's clutches.

A French two-parter about a famous American trial - that of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who became the first people in American history to receive the death penalty for espionage.

"La neige était sale" is based on a novel and play by the phenomenally prolific Georges Simenon. Upon learning that his mother was a prostitute, Frank (Daniel Gélin) dejectedly vows that he, too, will live a life of debauchery. Part of his self-degradation program is to kill someone, and since the story takes place during the Nazi occupation of France, he chooses a German officer as his victim. His steady descent into psychosis and depravity becomes his ultimate undoing.

A young, talented and ambitious journalist, Louis heads off to try his luck in Paris. He's spotted by Walter, editor-in-chief for a major daily newspaper, who takes to him and furthers his career. What he doesn't realise is that Louis is ready to betray anyone to achieve his ends...

The story takes place in the racecourses around Paris. A so-called major sells his tips to naive characters.