Three (or More) Decades of French Cinema Quiz

Answer: Georges Méliès

The photo of the moon was meant to make one think of his earlier work "A Trip to the Moon" (1902), which was featured in the 2011 Martin Scorsese film "Hugo" in which Ben Kingsley played Méliès.

Though he lived until the age of 76, in 1938, due to a number of questionable business decisions, his film-making career was virtually over by the beginning of the First World War. He had directed over 500 films, mostly short subjects and many of them in the realm of fairy tales. Even 1912's "Conquest of the Pole", though inspired by real events of recent years, contained elements of the fantastic.

Answer: On the railway track

The movie's alternate title was "Sur les rails", and Jacques and Pierre were railway workers. Both were in love with the same woman, but she preferred Pierre. Jacques' plan was to leave his rival's body on the tracks to be obliterated by a freight train, but everything did not go to plan when Pierre revived and was able to avoid being crushed. Considering that this was a fourteen-minute long short film, there certainly was a lot of action.

Though the photo might have caused you to think of choosing the church tower option, the tracks are more prominent. The road is neither lonely nor in the woods, so those options could be eliminated.

Answer: Jean Forest

The boy, Jean Amsler, took his stepsister Arlette's toy doll and lost it in the snow (on purpose). Later he sent her out to look for it and she was endangered by an avalanche, causing the boy to feel remorse. Reviews of the film have praised Forest for his work as the grief-stricken Jean Amsler. Forest, born in Paris in 1912 made at least a dozen movies between 1922 and 1935, then went on to work in French radio. He died in 1980.

The photo, while not quite a forest, might have helped you choose the correct answer.

Answer: The Little Match Girl

"The Little Match Girl" told of a poor street urchin who tried to survive the winter by selling matches to passersby. In the flame of a lit match she found solace and hope of love and a better life to come, in the images she imagined there.

All four of the choices have been filmed with credit given to Andersen, but only "The Little Match Girl" shared credit with Renoir, and only it was from 1928. Jean Renoir was the son of the artist, Pierre Auguste Renoir.

The photo is of a clay pipe, to suggest the need of a match to light it.

Answer: Quebec

Based on the novel by Louis Hemon, himself a transplant from France to Quebec, Duvivier's version of the story has been critically acclaimed as an example of poetic realism. Part of the movie was shot on location in Canada, while the rest was studio bound and less impressive.

Maria (Madeleine Renaud) loved the trapper Francois (Jean Gabin) but fate dictated that they would not have a happy ending. After his death, she had to choose between two other suitors, Eutrope, a lumberjack (Alexandre Rignault) and Lorenzo, a businessman (Jean-Pierre Aumont), with her choice having implications for her community as well as herself.

The photo is of an excavation in Quebec City, of one of the earliest European structures in the province.

Answer: Prisoner of war camp

The main characters in the movie, Lt. Marechal (Jean Gabin) and Capt. de Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay) were airmen who had been shot down and captured during the First World War. Because of persistent escape attempts they were eventually sent to a supposedly escape proof camp.

Director Renoir had himself been an aviator during the Great War, and was able to make a strong anti-war statement with this work, made as it was barely two years before the outbreak of the next great war. Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels was said to have thought the film "dangerous".

The photo is of a former air base in Picton, Ontario, used in the hope that the "guard tower" and barbed wire would suggest a POW camp.

Answer: Bad weather kept them away

This film was significant in that it was the first film produced in France after the Nazi occupation of the country in 1940, by the German-financed Continental Films.

The plot involved the murder of a townsman dressed as Father Christmas (Harry Baur), and the attempts of the local population to discover who had done the deed, while bad winter weather kept the nearest police from reaching the mountain village. Although approved for release by the Nazi regime, commentary on good vs evil was woven into the plot by the French director, Christian-Jaque, which apparently got past the censor.

The photo is of a snowy day, meant to point you in the right direction.

Answer: Jacqueline Audry

Ms Audry's directing credits also included "No Exit" (1954) based on the work of Jean-Paul Sartre, "Les petits matins" (1962) and "Bitter Fruit" (1967). She was married to the writer Pierre Laroche, and her sister Colette Audry wrote for the screen; both collaborated with Jacqueline on some of her projects. Jacqueline died in 1977 at age 68.

The story of "Gigi" (1949) is very similar to that of the later musical, in that the heroine is a young girl being groomed by her grandmother to be a mistress to an older man, who eventually falls in love with her.

The photo of a pink rose was chosen to point you in the direction of the female choice.

Answer: Le Dindon

"Le Dindon" (The Turkey) was a fast moving almost farcical comedy about infidelity, both real and perceived, and the attempts of the various characters to catch their respective mates in the act of cheating on them. The hotel manager portrayed by Louis De Funès has been described as a possible model for John Cleese's Basil Fawlty.

The incorrect choices all featured Louis De Funès, but were not directed by Barma.

The photo is of a roast turkey, which would have been helpful to anyone who spoke French.

Answer: Bastille Day

Henriette (Dany Robin) was, in fact, a character in a screenplay devised by two writers (Louis Seigner and Henri Cremieux) who had felt the sting of rejection yet again. Their plot had Henriette celebrating her birthday on July 14th, Bastille Day in France, whilst pursuing a relationship with a young man who was not completely faithful to her. She in turn began seeing another man, and getting involved in some less than legal shenanigans. Director Julien Duvivier seemed to have enjoyed this exploration of the creative process.

Bastille Day is the pre-eminent holiday in France, equivalent to the Fourth of July in the US or Canada Day in Canada. As far as I know, Charles De Gaulle's birthday is not a national holiday in France.

The photo is of Canada Day fireworks, masquerading as Bastille Day ones. This one was chosen for its approximation of the French tricolor - if you were to squint a bit.