Tristan Bernard

Aux abois

Paul, a former insurer, is struggling to make ends meet. He agrees to meet Sarrebry, a loan shark introduced to him by his friend Daubelle. Paul mortally knocks out the disgusting crook and steals a large sum of money from him.

Teuf-teuf

An automobile tribute

Girls in Distress

Jeune Filles en Detresse (Young Girls in Distress) was director G. W. Pabst's last French production before his (ill-timed) return to Nazi-occupied Austria in 1941. Somewhat reminiscent of Maedchen in Uniform, the story is set in a private girl's school, populated almost exclusively by children from broken homes. Among the few students who can claim family stability is Micheline Presle, but even her happiness is threatened when her lawyer father Andre Luguet inaugurates an affair with stage actress Jacqueline Debulac. With the help of Debulac's daughter Louisa Carletti, Presle is able to break up her father's romance and deliver him into the open arms of her mother Marcelle Chantal. On the whole, the performance by the younger cast members are more convincing than those rendered by the film's so-called adults.

Le Voyage imprévu

A husband orders his wife to recover a lost slipper. The wife enlists the aid of her friend, Beatrice (Betty Stockfield) to bring the slipper to her in Switzerland, and Georges (Roger Treville) follows Betty.

Lilac

Also known as Lilac, this early Anatole Litvak-directed talkie was based on a play by Tristan Bernard and Charles Henry Hirsch. The story bears traces of the Bertold Brecht-Weill piece The Threepenny Opera, with heroine Lilac (Marcelle Romeo) consorting with the criminal scum of Paris. Lilac falls in love with a handsome detective (Andre Luguet), but he doesn't let his emotions stand in the way of his duty, and in the end he reluctantly turns her over to the authorities. At $120,000, Coeur de Lilas was one of the most expensive movies to come out of France in 1931, but it more than made back its cost at the box-office.

The Champion Cook

Le Cordon Bleu doesn't refer to a ham-and-veal delicacy, though there is plenty of ham in this Gallic comedy. The scene is a posh Parisian hotel-restaurant, which ends up a hotbed of infidelity and mistaken identity. Hotel cook Regina is romantically involved with her boss Octave, the husband of Irma. Mistaken for another woman, Irma is passionately pursued by Bernereau, whose wife gets involved with someone else's husband, whose wife gets involved with.

The Champion Cook

Le Cordon Bleu doesn't refer to a ham-and-veal delicacy, though there is plenty of ham in this Gallic comedy. The scene is a posh Parisian hotel-restaurant, which ends up a hotbed of infidelity and mistaken identity. Hotel cook Regina is romantically involved with her boss Octave, the husband of Irma. Mistaken for another woman, Irma is passionately pursued by Bernereau, whose wife gets involved with someone else's husband, whose wife gets involved with.

The Malay Dagger

Lucien asks his father for money to support his girlfriend. The father refuses. Lucien's GodMother is found dead.

The Little Cafe

Yvonne, daughter of Philibert, a Paris café owner, is in love with dreamy, blundering Albert, a waiter, though he pays little attention to her. Philibert plans to marry his daughter to a wealthy Parisian, but upon learning that Albert is to come into a large inheritance, he conspires to place him under a longterm contract, confident that he willingly will pay a forfeit to break it....

Playboy of Paris

Yvonne, daughter of Philibert, a Paris cafe owner, is in love with dreamy, blundering Albert, a waiter, though he pays little attention to her. Philibert plans to marry his daughter to a wealthy Parisian, but upon learning that Albert is to come into a large inheritance, he conspires to place him under a longterm contract, confident that he willingly will pay a forfeit to break it.

Triplepatte

Robert de Houdan is indecisiveness itself. He keeps hesitating, shilly-shallying and never reach any decision in any way. So much so that he finds himself on the verge of ruin and falls prey to Boucherot, a greedy loan-shark who puts pressure on him to marry Yvonne Herbelier. Boucherot is assisted in his undertaking by baroness Pépin, a typical matchmaker. But Robert, who does not know the young lady, shies away from her.

The Love Cheat

Henry, a struggling Greenwhich Villiage artist, accidentally finds an invitation to Louise Gordon's coming out party. He goes to the party, falls in love with the pretty socialite, but soon decides to leave as he realizes his financial situation is not up to standards. An old friend recognizes him and encourages Henry into lying that he is a successful businessman.

Le Petit Café

Max is a millionaire who is forced to lead a double-life as a waiter, the result of having lost a wager.