# The best French films of the 1940s

Children of Paradise, Le Corbeau, Quai des Orfèvres, Beauty and the Beast and Jour de fête: the French productions of the 1940s rated highest by AlloCiné viewers.

- 39 votes · 15 items
- Jun 5, 2024 · celine_episode
- https://even.best/en/l/4685/the-best-french-films-of-the-1940s

## Top 15

1. **Quai des Orfèvres (1947)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Henri-Georges Clouzot. Louis Jouvet investigates in the music-hall world.
2. **Le Corbeau (1943)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Henri-Georges Clouzot. Poison-pen letters in a small town.
3. **Who Killed Santa Claus? (1941)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Christian-Jaque. A Savoy village on Christmas night.
4. **Children of Paradise (1945)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert. Arletty and the Boulevard du Crime.
5. **The Well-Digger's Daughter (1940)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Marcel Pagnol. Raimu, Fernandel and Josette Day in Provence.
6. **Devil in the Flesh (1947)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Claude Autant-Lara. Gérard Philipe, from Radiguet.
7. **The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (1942)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Henri-Georges Clouzot. A boarding house and a serial killer.
8. **It Happened at the Inn (1943)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Jacques Becker. A peasant family and a hidden treasure.
9. **Jour de fête (1949)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Jacques Tati. François the postman and his 'American-style' round.
10. **Le Silence de la mer (1949)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Jean-Pierre Melville. A German officer billeted with an uncle and his niece.
11. **Panic (1946)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Julien Duvivier. Michel Simon as a lonely neighbour accused of murder.
12. **Beauty and the Beast (1946)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Jean Cocteau. Jean Marais and Josette Day.
13. **Carnival of Sinners (1943)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Maurice Tourneur. A pact with the devil and a severed hand.
14. **Gates of the Night (1946)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Marcel Carné. Yves Montand and 'Autumn Leaves'.
15. **Stormy Waters (1941)** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Jean Grémillon. Jean Gabin as a tugboat captain, and Michèle Morgan.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.