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Robert Balpo
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Elevator to the Gallows
A self-assured businessman murders his employer, husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
Paris Vice Squad
Identite Judiciare stars Raymond Souplex as wily French police inspector Basquier. The villain is Berthet (Jean Debucourt), a high-ranking government official. Basquier suspects that Berthet is a vicious murderer, but is unable to prove anything thanks to bureaucratic interference. Thus, the good inspector plays a waiting game a la Columbo, hoping for that one fatal slip on the part of the killer. Certain portions of Identite Judiciare proved a bit too intense for American audiences, and were accordingly snipped by the censors.
Holiday for Henrietta
Two scriptwriters argue about the fate of Henrietta, a charming and gamine shopgirl. One favors a comical path for their heroine, who is overcome with sentimental love for a young photographer on Bastille Day. The other has a more thrilling and dastardly fate in mind for her. Among the film's irresistible conceits is Hildegarde Neff as an oversexed circus bareback rider.
The Murdered Model
Commissioner Malaise investigates a strange crime: a mannequin, stolen from the window of a tailor, is found stabbed... But his face of wax has the features of a certain Gilbert, who died a year earlier in a family, all of whose members will become more or less suspicious to the Commissioner. He thinks that, in spite of Dr. Furnelle's conclusions, Gilbert's death was not natural. But finding the cause of death and the identity of the possible culprit will require more than a mere intuition.
Jour de fête
Jour de Fête tells the story of an inept and easily-distracted French mailman who frequently interrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as inspect the traveling fair that has come to his small community. Influenced by too much wine and a newsreel account of rapid transportation methods used by the United States postal system, he goes to hilarious lengths to speed the delivery of mail while aboard his bicycle.
Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case
Police Commissioner Jules Maigret returns to the small village where he spent his childhood at the request of the Countess of Saint-Fiacre, who has received a disturbing anonymous letter.
The Gates of Paris
Juju, a drunken oaf who feels the need of being important to someone---anyone---and his friend The Artist are forced at gunpoint to house a fugitive, Pierre Barbier, in Juju's broken-down home. The urge for being needed is such in Juju that he gives up drinking and takes care of Pierre. But one day Juju finds out that Pierre has been making love to his girl Maria...
Thirty and Forty
The scene is set during the Second Empire. Captain Bitterlin watches jealously over his lovely daughter Madeleine but he cannot prevent nature from demanding its rights and Madeleine soon finds herself a suitor in the person of Mario, a dashing young songwriter. Bitterlin, who wishes his daughter to "evade the grip" of the young man, takes her away to Monte Carlo. There, the captain does what he had sworn he would never do, he gambles in a casino. And even more upsetting: Mario might well be hereabouts...
Sins of Madeleine
Malou, a prostitute from Montmartre, and her pimp, have found a well laid scheme : whenever she (or he) wants to get rid of a lover, she announces to him in a tearful voice that she is pregnant. The reaction of the fall guy-is invariable: he gives her compensation money and disappears. But there is always an exception to the rule. And, as it happens, the exception is a widowed insurer, Monsieur Archibald. Indeed when he is told by Malou that he is going to be a father, he is...elated!
The Baron of the Locks
Lucky Baron Jérôme Napoléon Antoine wins a boat in a card game and takes off with his former lover in search of new adventures. Adverse circumstances land them in a small town, where the Baron's seafaring companion departs for more attractive scenery offered by a wealthy local. Meanwhile, there's a certain charming café owner that the Baron finds irresistible – at least for awhile.
Beauties of the Night
A daydreaming French composer sees himself as a fine figure dashing through history.
The Grand Manoeuvre
Armand, a boastful womaniser, makes a bet that he can seduce any girl he wants. He soon crosses paths with a beautiful Parisian divorcee, who is nothing like anyone he has ever met before.
Three of the Canebière
Toinet, Girelle and Pénible fish for sardines in Marseille. To dazzle their conquests, they present themselves as rich can manufacturers, while the little flower girls play movie stars. A ridiculous suitor wants to discuss a business deal, a potential sponsor appears and the whole tohu-bohu reclaims the songs of Vincent Scotto.
The Temptation of Barbizon
Daniel Gelin and Juliette Faber star as a blissfully happy honeymooning couple. They are so happy that they arouse the jealous attentions of Satan. The Dark Prince sends an emissary to beak up the romance, but his advocate is promptly challenged by a representative from "up above."
Panique
Proud, eccentric, and antisocial, Monsieur Hire has always kept to himself. But after a woman turns up dead in the Paris suburb where he lives, he feels drawn to a pretty young newcomer to town and discovers that his neighbors are only too ready to suspect the worst of him.