Ten Milestones in French Cinema

1945 - "Les Enfants du Paradis" ("Children of Paradise")

Marcel Carné's epic three-hour love story set in the world of the theater is still considered by some to be the greatest French film of all time. Yet its notoriety has just as much to do with its creation as it does the finished product. Made semi-secretly during the Nazi occupation of France, the film was hit with financial woes, badly damaged sets and the risk of confiscation due to the Jews involved in its production. Completed reels of the film were hidden by director Carné and writer Jacques Prévert, and wasn't completed until after France's liberation.