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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 78 movies from Société Française des Films Éclair
Émile Durand, an insecticide manufacturer, is appalled to learn that his son Gérard has fallen in love with Suzy, the daughter of a travelling theatre company. Realising his father will never favour the union, Gérard joins the company on their next tour. In an attempt to heal the rift, Durand’s wife goes after Gérard and ends up performing in their next play…
Dec 1960
Early adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story
Nov 1912
A Nick Carter serial
Sep 1909
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.
Jan 1916
Nick Carter, the famous detective, is ordered to prosecute the gang of Zigomar. Carter gets into various thorny situations but manages to escape every time, helped by Olga, a former girlfriend of Zigomar. Carter finally manages to trap Zigomar and Zigomar is arrested. However, Zigomar avoids going to court by apparently poisoning himself.
Mar 1912
Drama in which the love between Claude and Germaine is tested when Claude is falsely accused and Germaine's father doesn't approve of their relationship.
May 1912
A sensational detective story, founded on the romance of Leon Sazie. The noted criminal who terrorized all Europe is shown in these three Zigomar reels in a dramatic and intense struggle for supremacy with Paulin Broquet, the celebrated detective, who takes the two in the most varied and finest resorts.
Jan 1911
Eugenie Grandet has discovered where her father, a miserable old miser, keeps his treasure. Eugenie's cousin, Charles, is the bearer of a letter from his father to his uncle, Eugenie's father. The letter informs the miser that Charles' father, his only brother, is reduced to a state of utter ruin, and unless he can obtain immediate help, he contemplates suicide.
May 1910
The story of the children of Captain Grant.
Apr 1914
Paulin Broquet, the great Parisian detective, has brought the notorious bandit, Zigomar, to justice. Determined not to let the law punish him, he had taken poison in the Hall of Justice. Then he was brought to a hospital where he lay motionless and was visited by hundreds of persons. Among the visitors was a slender woman, dressed in black, who secreted herself in the hospital, and, when all the others had gone, went to the bedside of Zigomar and administered an antidote for poisoning.
Jan 1913
Mar 1909
Some naughty business is going down and there is footprints in the kitchen.
Feb 1913
The film based on the novel of the same name by Alexandre Duma, is concerned with fraternal royal strife at the court of Henri III. Tragically caught between the millstones of history are the gallant Count de Bussy and the woman he adores, la Dame de Monsoreau.
Nov 1913
Protéa is the last film directed by Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset, one of the early film pioneers in France. The hero of this film is a female spy, an acrobatic Mata-Hari, played by his favorite actress, Josette Andriot, who wore a characteristic costume of a close-fitting black jersey, two years before Musidora achieved cult status with her similar appearance as Irma Vep. This final masterpiece reflects Jasset's popular style: rhythmic action, fantastic realism, rich visuals, an anarchistic philosophy, a disdain for psychology, and an attention to lighting that earned him the nickname “the Rembrandt of the cinema". Although Jasset died shortly after completion, the film had considerable success and Andriot went on to make four more films in the series with other directors.
Sep 1913
Jul 1917
An adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes story about a father trying to gain control of his daughter's inheritance does not include Watson.
A visitor to an insane asylum realises that the inmates have taken control.
Dec 1913
Hortense Fauvel, the wife of a village postmaster, takes Aimée, a young shepherdess, under her wing. Aimée soon becomes engaged to François, the Fauvel’s loyal servant. At a fête hosted by the Count of Granval, Aimée gives her fiancé a knife, telling him that he should kill her if ever she ceases to be faithful to him. That same day, the Count is planning to have an amorous liaison with Hortense, but Aimée intervenes. To save her mistress from a scandal, Aimée tells the postmaster that it is she, not Hortense, who has been seeing the Count. Disgraced, Aimée is dismissed by the postmaster. François contemplates his revenge and recalls what Aimée said to him.
Jul 1913
Based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.
A female fortuneteller examines the sole of a man's foot to see his future.
Jan 1914