The best Robert Manuel’s drama movies

Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend Mado has become the lover of local gangster Pierre Grutter during Tony's absence. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean, but their actions after the job is completed threaten the lives of everyone involved.

The Gangster Macheath secretly marries the daughter of beggar king Peachum. When Peachum finds out, he instructs the police chief Brown to arrest and hang Macheath. If not, all the beggars of Soho will disturb the upcoming coronation.

A film about the early part of the French Revolution, shown from the eyes of the citizens of Marseille, counts in German exile and, of course, the king Louis XVI, each showing their own small problems.

The film follows the life of Napoleon from his early life in Corsica to his death at Saint Helena. The film is notable for its use of location shooting for numerous scenes, especially at the French estates of Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles, and sites of Napoleonic battles including Austerlitz and Waterloo.

Historical film directed and written by Sacha Guitry follows the the history of Paris from its founding through the significant events in the city's history.

In Les Halles, in the heart of Paris, the restaurateur André Chatelin (Jean Gabin), leads an uneventful life until the arrival from Marseille of Catherine (Danièle Delorme), the daughter of his ex-wife Gabrielle (Lucienne Bogaert). She tells him her mother is dead and that she is without resources. Chatelin welcomes her under his roof - then marries her. Gérard (Gérard Blain), a young student that Chatelin looks upon as a son, becomes Catherine's lover, and she sets him at odds with Chatelin. She asks him to kill the restaurateur. He refuses. She kills him. Having discovered that Gabrielle is still alive, declined and drug addicted, Chatelin realises the darkness of Catherine's soul who has always lied to him.

In this whimsical fable, Resnais deftly interweaves three story lines: the creation of an early-20th-century utopia; romantic high jinks at a school conference; and a fantasy sparked by F/X pioneer Georges Méliès.

Young actors drift around Paris looking for job opportunities in pursuit of their happiness. The Finnish film, made with a French cast, follows the paths signaled by nouvelle vague and cinéma vérité.

The mistress of an engineer meets the man's pregnant wife and decides to give up the liaison.