Editor's Top Picks Sharing the Atmosphere of Les Amoureux: Cult Guide

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

Claire Lescot is a famous first lady. All men want to be loved by her and among them is the young scientist Einar Norsen. When she mocks at him, he leaves her house with the declared intention to kill himself.

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

Ludivine Bucaille stupidly wishes that Leherg and his son Delphin both die at sea. Amazingly, Leherg actually is lost at sea but his son somehow survives. His mother subsequently dies of sorrow. Remorseful, Ludivine gets her parents to take Delphin in their care. She makes sure the house is nice and tidy. Delphin and Ludivine grow to love each other and eventually get engaged. But father Bucaille, a drunk, wants Ludivine to marry Lauderin, the owner of a bar. Ludivine, in a moment of jealousy, thinking that Delphin has cheated on her, accepts. As Delpin plans on leaving the country the day after the engagement, Ludivine takes a boat to meet him. Lauderin sneaks into the boat and, as a storm hits it, he attempts to rape her. Delphin comes to the rescue. The two lovers can now unite.

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

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

The illegitimate son of a music-hall star and an ambitious politician has grown up to become a journalist. He decides to get back at his father by using blackmail.

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

Rouletabille comes to the aid of a recently remarried lady whose late criminal husband turns out to be still alive.Her honeymoon is at a fantastic art deco villa perched above the Riviera.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of L'enfant de l'amour perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

A lieutenant of the French navy, ready to kill himself in despair, renounced his project after spending a night with a beautiful stranger.

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

In Petrograd, at the beginning of the revolution, General Svirsky shot his wife's lover, Dimitrieff. Emigrating to Nice, Natacha Svirsky meets Henri de Cassel, a living portrait of the deceased. Full of fear, she becomes his mistress.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Le parfum de la dame en noir perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

Sibilla is a single mother, working as a gypsy dancer in a lousy cafe in the south of Spain. Unable to keep with the costs of his son's medical bills, she asks for help to Estiria, her son's biological father and one of the richest men in town. After being rejected, Sibilla vows to save her son's life by any means necessary - even at the cost of her own life.

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of La femme d'une nuit perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

In this symbolist drama of truth and falsehood, a countess and her lover try to seduce and blackmail a rich man living near them who is fond of a naïve young friend of theirs. The plot does not go as well as planned.

Dir: Marcel L'Herbier

From a Futurist play the director had staged, this update of Greek tragedy features a modern banker chained to his desk as punishment for having stolen gold.