Essential Cult Cinema Drawn from the Same DNA as Le torrent: Cult G...

Dir: René Hervil

A mother loses first her son and then her husband in the trenches of France during the First World War. She devotes herself to the French cause and to helping those wounded in the war.

Dir: René Hervil

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Le secret de Polichinelle perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: René Hervil

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: René Hervil

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Le mystère de la villa rose perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Jeanne Doré's profligate husband is hopelessly addicted to gambling, and is threatened with expulsion from his club because of his heavy indebtedness to another gambler member. Confessing his disgrace to his wife (Mme. Bernhardt), she offers to save him from disgrace by selling her jewels. With the money thus obtained he goes to his club, determined to pay his debts and live up to the pledge he has made to his wife to gamble no more. However, the lure of the roulette wheel overcomes his resolve; he loses all his money on "just one more turn of the wheel," and rather than face his disgrace, commits suicide. Left with her young son to support, Jeanne Doré is forced to sell her remaining possessions and live as best she can until her husband's uncle takes pity upon her and buys for her a small stationery shop in Paris. Here mother and son prosper until the boy reaches early manhood. One day he falls suddenly and violently in love with a married woman, who comes to his mother's shop to make purchases. An intrigue with the unscrupulous female leads the young man to murder the same uncle who had befriended himself and mother. The youth, with the assistance of Jeanne Doré, makes good his escape. Well clear of immediate capture, the boy comes back to the scene of his crime and succeeds in his efforts to once more affect a liaison with his mistress. By accident he is discovered and captured, thrown into jail, is tried and convicted of the murder and sentenced to the guillotine. Even in these desperate straits he seeks to gain some response to his affection for the woman, who promptly spurned and repudiated him. He prevails upon his devoted mother to become a messenger in his service and her appeals, likewise, fall upon deaf ears. Instead of telling the boy that her quest has been fruitless, Jeanne Doré goes to the prison herself, on the evening before the boy's neck is to be given to the knife, and poses as the woman he had expressed himself, to his own mother, as the one he most wished to see. The boy goes to the guillotine, and the final scene depicts the devoted mother in the extreme agony of watching, from a window across the street, the execution of her son.

Dir: René Hervil

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: René Hervil

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Jeanne Doré perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: René Hervil

Jean Fleury, a young engineer who has designed a revolutionary engine for the Revoil motor company, is engaged to Aimée Valois, a seamstress, his neighbor across the hall. But the charming young lady is hired one day by a nightclub and lets herself be lured by the easy life in Paris. So much so that, to Jean's great distress, she breaks up with him. But, along with time, Aimée gets tired of her vain and frivolous lifestyle and comes back to Jean.

Dir: René Hervil

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Azaïs perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: René Hervil

There is a rivalry between the top part and the lower part of the village of Murcie because of water. Pancho, Maria del Carmen's fiancé, hurts Xavier, son of the rich Domingo, so he has to leave the country. Maria proposes to take care of Xavier in exchange for Pancho's freedom. Unfortunately, Xavier falls in love with her and Domingo forces her to marry his son. Pancho reappears, ready to defy Xavier, but the two overhear a conversation and learn that Xavier's days are numbered. So he asks Pancho to elope with Maria.

Dir: René Hervil

A Paris night club proprietor falls from grace and is reduced, after going away for a while, to working there in a menial position.