Jean Epstein

Jean Epstein

Jean Epstein (French: [ɛp.ʃtajn]; 25 March 1897 – 2 April 1953) was a French filmmaker, film theorist, literary critic, and novelist. Although he is remembered today primarily for his adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, he directed three dozen films and was an influential critic of literature and film from the early 1920s through the late 1940s. He is often associated with French Impressionist Cinema and the concept of photogénie. Epstein was born in Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland (then a part of Russian Empire) to a French-Jewish father and Polish mother. After his father died in 1908, the family relocated to Switzerland, where Epstein remained until beginning medical school at the University of Lyon in France. While in Lyon, Epstein served as a secretary and translator for Auguste Lumière, considered one of the founders of cinema. Epstein started directing his own films in 1922 with Pasteur, followed by L'Auberge rouge and Coeur fidèle (both 1923). Film director Luis Buñuel worked as an assistant director to Epstein on Mauprat (1926) and La Chute de la maison Usher (1928). Epstein's criticism appeared in the early modernist journal L'Esprit Nouveau. During the making of Coeur fidèle Epstein chose to film a simple story of love and violence "to win the confidence of those, still so numerous, who believe that only the lowest melodrama can interest the public", and also in the hope of creating "a melodrama so stripped of all the conventions ordinarily attached to the genre, so sober, so simple, that it might approach the nobility and excellence of tragedy". He wrote the scenario in a single night. Epstein had been much impressed by Abel Gance's recently completed La Roue, and in Coeur fidèle he sought to apply its techniques of rapid and rhythmic editing as well as the innovative use of close-ups and superimpositions of images. These techniques are most apparent during the first half of the film: the opening sequence establishing Marie's situation in the harbour bar through a series of close-ups of her face, her hands, the table and glasses that she is cleaning; the use of images of the sea and the port, either intercut or superimposed, to convey the yearnings of Jean and Marie; and the film's most celebrated sequence at the fairground in which a highly complex series of rhythmically assembled images charts the tension of the relationship between Marie and Petit Paul. The later scenes of the film are relatively conventional in the techniques employed and depend more upon situation and action than upon photography and processing of the images. In the 1920s, Epstein's works would display influences from German Expressionism. Epstein also made several documentaries about Brittany. Chanson d'Armor is known as the first Breton-speaking film in history. His two novels also take place in Breton isles: L'Or des mers in Ouessant and Les Recteurs et la sirène in Sein. Epstein died in 1953 from a cerebral hemorrhage.

  • Title : Jean Epstein
  • Popularity : 2.366
  • Known For : Directing
  • Birthday : 1897-03-25
  • Place of Birth : Warszawa, Russian Empire [now Poland]
  • Homepage :
  • Also Known As : Жан Эпштейн
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Jean Epstein Movies

  • 1978
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    Jean Epstein or Cinema by Itself

    Jean Epstein or Cinema by Itself

    6 1978 HD

    From the French television series Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma, the episode uploaded here, Jean Epstein ou le Cinéma...

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  • 2011
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    Jean Epstein, Young Oceans of Cinema

    Jean Epstein, Young Oceans of Cinema

    1 2011 HD

    This portrait of the French film theorist and avant-garde director Jean Epstein (1897-1953) concentrates on the period when he filmed in Brittany,...

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  • 1928
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    The Fall of the House of Usher

    The Fall of the House of Usher

    7 1928 HD

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  • 1928
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    The Fall of the House of Usher

    The Fall of the House of Usher

    7 1928 HD

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  • 1928
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    The Fall of the House of Usher

    The Fall of the House of Usher

    7 1928 HD

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  • 1923
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    Cœur fidèle

    Cœur fidèle

    7.2 1923 HD

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  • 1923
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    Cœur fidèle

    Cœur fidèle

    7.2 1923 HD

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  • 1927
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    The Three-Sided Mirror

    The Three-Sided Mirror

    6.6 1927 HD

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  • 1927
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    The Three-Sided Mirror

    The Three-Sided Mirror

    6.6 1927 HD

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  • 1924
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    The Lion of the Moguls

    The Lion of the Moguls

    6.7 1924 HD

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  • 1924
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    The Lion of the Moguls

    The Lion of the Moguls

    6.7 1924 HD

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  • 1947
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    The Storm-Tamer

    The Storm-Tamer

    6.7 1947 HD

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  • 1929
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    Finis Terræ

    Finis Terræ

    7.048 1929 HD

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  • 1930
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    The Sea of Ravens

    The Sea of Ravens

    7.2 1930 HD

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  • 1929
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    His Head

    His Head

    6 1929 HD

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  • 1923
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    The Red Inn

    The Red Inn

    5.5 1923 HD

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  • 1924
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    La Belle Nivernaise

    La Belle Nivernaise

    6.2 1924 HD

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  • 1933
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    Gold of the Seas

    Gold of the Seas

    6.2 1933 HD

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  • 1926
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    Mauprat

    Mauprat

    6.5 1926 HD

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  • 1922
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    Pasteur

    Pasteur

    6.2 1922 HD

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  • 1932
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    The Cradles

    The Cradles

    6.6 1932 HD

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  • 1925
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    The Adventures of Robert Macaire

    The Adventures of Robert Macaire

    8 1925 HD

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  • 1925
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    Photogenies

    Photogenies

    1 1925 HD

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  • 1925
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    Photogenies

    Photogenies

    1 1925 HD

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  • 1934
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    The Lady of Lebanon

    The Lady of Lebanon

    1 1934 HD

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  • 1930
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    The Sea of Ravens

    The Sea of Ravens

    7.2 1930 HD

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  • 2016
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    Song of Armorica

    Song of Armorica

    5.9 2016 HD

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  • 1925
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    Double Love

    Double Love

    5.6 1925 HD

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  • 1927
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    Six and a Half by Eleven

    Six and a Half by Eleven

    6.3 1927 HD

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  • 1922
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    Les vendanges

    Les vendanges

    1 1922 HD

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  • 1926
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    In the Land of George Sand

    In the Land of George Sand

    1 1926 HD

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  • 1930
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    Le pas de la mule

    Le pas de la mule

    1 1930 HD

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  • 1931
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    Notre-Dame de Paris

    Notre-Dame de Paris

    1 1931 HD

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  • 1931
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    Le vieux chaland

    Le vieux chaland

    1 1931 HD

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  • 1932
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    Le Cor

    Le Cor

    1 1932 HD

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  • 1932
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    La chanson des peupliers

    La chanson des peupliers

    1 1932 HD

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  • 1932
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    The Villanelle of Ribbons

    The Villanelle of Ribbons

    1 1932 HD

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  • 1934
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    La Vie d'un grand journal

    La Vie d'un grand journal

    1 1934 HD

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  • 1936
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    La Bourgogne

    La Bourgogne

    1 1936 HD

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  • 1937
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    Vive la vie

    Vive la vie

    1 1937 HD

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  • 1938
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    Eau vive

    Eau vive

    1 1938 HD

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  • 1938
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    La relève

    La relève

    1 1938 HD

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  • 1953
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    Efforts de productivité dans la fonderie

    Efforts de productivité dans la fonderie

    1 1953 HD

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  • 1931
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    Le vieux chaland

    Le vieux chaland

    1 1931 HD

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  • 1932
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    The Villanelle of Ribbons

    The Villanelle of Ribbons

    1 1932 HD

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  • 1932
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    La chanson des peupliers

    La chanson des peupliers

    1 1932 HD

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  • 1932
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    Le Cor

    Le Cor

    1 1932 HD

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  • 1938
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    Eau vive

    Eau vive

    1 1938 HD

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  • 1926
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    Mauprat

    Mauprat

    6.5 1926 HD

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  • 1927
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    Six and a Half by Eleven

    Six and a Half by Eleven

    6.3 1927 HD

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  • 1924
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    La Belle Nivernaise

    La Belle Nivernaise

    6.2 1924 HD

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  • 1926
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    Mauprat

    Mauprat

    6.5 1926 HD

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  • 1925
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    Double Love

    Double Love

    5.6 1925 HD

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  • 1933
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    The Man with the Hispano

    The Man with the Hispano

    1 1933 HD

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  • 1948
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    Lights That Never Fail

    Lights That Never Fail

    5.3 1948 HD

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  • 1947
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    The Storm-Tamer

    The Storm-Tamer

    6.7 1947 HD

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  • 1934
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    The Lady of Lebanon

    The Lady of Lebanon

    1 1934 HD

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  • 1933
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    The Man with the Hispano

    The Man with the Hispano

    1 1933 HD

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  • 1923
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    The Infidel Mountain

    The Infidel Mountain

    1 1923 HD

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  • 1929
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    His Head

    His Head

    6 1929 HD

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  • 1938
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    The Builders

    The Builders

    1 1938 HD

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  • 2021
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    Tempest

    Tempest

    10 2021 HD

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  • 1938
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    The Woman at the End of the World

    The Woman at the End of the World

    5.7 1938 HD

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  • 1923
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    The Red Inn

    The Red Inn

    5.5 1923 HD

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  • 1924
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    La Belle Nivernaise

    La Belle Nivernaise

    6.2 1924 HD

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  • 1939
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    Artères de France

    Artères de France

    1 1939 HD

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  • 1924
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    The Lion of the Moguls

    The Lion of the Moguls

    6.7 1924 HD

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  • 1925
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    The Poster

    The Poster

    1 1925 HD

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  • 1938
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    The Woman at the End of the World

    The Woman at the End of the World

    5.7 1938 HD

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  • 1936
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    Heart of Tramp

    Heart of Tramp

    1 1936 HD

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  • 1935
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    Marius and Olive in Paris

    Marius and Olive in Paris

    1 1935 HD

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  • 1935
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    Marius and Olive in Paris

    Marius and Olive in Paris

    1 1935 HD

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  • 1924
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    The Drop Of Blood

    The Drop Of Blood

    1 1924 HD

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  • 1936
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    La Bretagne

    La Bretagne

    1 1936 HD

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  • 1936
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    La Bretagne

    La Bretagne

    1 1936 HD

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  • 1925
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    The Poster

    The Poster

    1 1925 HD

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  • 1929
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    Finis Terræ

    Finis Terræ

    7.048 1929 HD

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  • 1947
    imgMovies

    The Storm-Tamer

    The Storm-Tamer

    6.7 1947 HD

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  • 1978
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    Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma

    Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma

    1 1978 HD

    Produced for television by Claude-Jean Philippe, the « Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma », recounts the history of...

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