Les guichets du Louvre (1974)

U.S. title: Black Thursday

In 1942, the French effect a round-up of Jews; they would later be deported to Germany. A Gentile young man unsuccessfully tries to save some Jews until he encounters Jeanne, a Jewish young woman, and decides to protect her from being caught by the police.

Interesting but a little monotonous fictional dramatization of the Vel d'Hiv incidents. I had watched a movie based on the same historical event called Elle s'appelait Sarah (2010). 

Rating: 43

Day of Triumph (1954)

 In Judea, a group of rebels plots against the Roman rule. When Jesus becomes a mass following phenomenon, the rebels see in him a potential leader of their movement. But Jesus has another agenda.

This is an original take on the Gospel story, with Judas Iscariot being given a different role than what is established in the canonical version. I have come to see the Jesus story and teachings as rather funny in themselves; this merging of that story with elements from a real political movement is a fictional exercise which has some amount of entertaining value, but not much consequence. The acting here is good all around, and the production values are just passable.

Rating: 45

Le franc-tireur (1972)

Alternative French title: Les hasards de la gloire

English title (according to IMDB): Chinese Glory

A group of French Resistance fighters in 1944 flee the Germans in a contryside region. One of them has joined the group with the sole purpose of getting away from that place and from the German threat.

Well done war movie which resembles a stretched out episode of the TV show Combat!. It's repetitive because of the situation it depicts, but keeps the viewer interested all the same. It was banned for thirty years, for reasons which no one seems to understand quite well nowadays; perhaps the reedited version has eliminated the problematic portions, or perhaps the emotional attachment to the issues which the film tackles is gone.

Here's a review in French: Le Franc-tireur (1972) de Jean-Max Causse & Roger Taverne – L'Oeil sur l'écran (oeil-ecran.com)

Rating: 50

Juno and the Paycock (1929)

 An Irish family in the midst of the Irish Civil War. The father is averse to work; the son lost an arm in the Independence War. Mother and daugher support the family. News of an upcoming inheritance causes them to start spending the money they think they are about to receive.

Men are women's burden in this bleak yet also funny film which show the Irish in an unforgiving light. It is well staged and well acted.

Rating: 54