Charles Blavette

The works of Marcel Pagnol are a veritable monument of French cultural heritage. Based on previously unseen archive material, film extracts, novels, plays, interviews and letters, the film pays tribute to the major author and popular filmmaker, who made his life a work and his work a life's project.

The first of three documentaries by Rivette on Jean Renoir.

Tulipe, is an old man who lives alone in an old railway carriage in the Argentueil region of Paris. His main passions are gardening and oil painting, but he also has a secret source of income. His godson discovers that Tulipe is actually a master forger, producing perfect copies of 10 franc notes. His godson’s girlfriend sees this as an opportunity to get very rich – but she must persuade Tulipe to forge 500 franc notes. Assuming Tulipe’s agreement, his godson and his girlfriend buy an expensive new car and luxury villa in provincial France – but there is a cruel turn of fate in store for them when Tulipe strikes up a friendship with a millionaire playboy.

On the Côte d'Azur, a beautiful adventuress and a strange German tourist set themselves the courteous challenge of discovering a war treasure lying at the bottom of a bay. But Basta, an old original who alone knew the location of the wreck, is murdered. And Pitou, the jovial nightclub owner, is determined to get his hands on all the loot.

Moïse, a foundling, is raised by the inhabitants of a village and grows good and strong, well-liked by everyone, loved in silence by Agnese, a girl in the same conditions. One day, however, four graceful Parisians come to the village for a short vacation, and with their light-hearted behavior, they upset Moses and the villagers, who are quick to make the unwelcome guests return to the capital.

Three young men are suspected of kidnapping and murdering a little boy. Most likely, two of them are really involved, but one is not. All of their pasts are questionable, riddled with violence and controversy. Neither the police nor the court can decide how to solve that puzzle.

Arbella is a charming village in Corsica. It's such a pleasant place to live that Monsieur Lauriston has decided to spend his old age there with his wife Marthe. Encouraged by Giuseppe, the owner of the Napoleon bar, he is promoted to mayor. This brings him the wrath of Captain Bartoli, owner of the Café Bonaparte, a self-styled pirate and navigator who has long aspired to this honorable position. Further complications arise when Lauriston's nephew romances Antonia, the daughter of Amoretti, the last bandit of honor in the area and the town's main tourist attraction.

In 1911, Arnolphe Combalette left his corner of Provence to seek his fortune in the Americas. Fifty years later, a letter from him arrived in the village: "No, I'm not dead yet, but it won't be long now. A Combalette should be sent here to settle a question of big money". The family took counsel and delegated their youngest son, Dieudonné, a cook by trade. Dieudonné arrived safely in New York, but soon found himself short of money. Somehow, he managed to reach that prodigious corner of Texas where, he thought, his uncle's many factories would be built. Neither the factories nor his uncle, who died in poverty a week ago, welcome him there. Dîeudonné can't imagine returning to his native village to announce this new family disgrace; for one thing, he hasn't got a penny in his pocket. The owner of a modest saloon hires him as a cook.

Therese, a café owner, mourns the mysterious disappearance of her husband sixteen years earlier. A tramp arrives in the town and she believes him to be her husband. But he is suffering from amnesia and she tries to bring back his memory of earlier times.

Dr. Génessier is riddled with guilt after an accident that he caused disfigures the face of his daughter, the once beautiful Christiane, who outsiders believe is dead. Dr. Génessier, along with accomplice and laboratory assistant Louise, kidnaps young women and brings them to the Génessier mansion. After rendering his victims unconscious, Dr. Génessier removes their faces and attempts to graft them on to Christiane's.