Films that have utilized Paris

The many films that have utilized Paris as a historical backdrop, from the middle ages to the Second World War, include: Trilby ( 1913), The Two Orphans ( 1915), Camille ( 1915), Camille ( 1917), A Tale of Two Cities ( 1917), A Tale of Two Cities ( 1921), Camille ( 1921), The Three Musketeers ( 1921), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ( 1921), Orphans of the Storm ( 1922), The Three Must-Get-Theres ( 1922), Scaramouche ( 1923), Trilby ( 1923), Zaza ( 1923), The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( 1923), The Phantom of the Opera ( 1925), Madame Sans-Gêne ( 1925), La Bohème ( 1926), Beloved Rogue ( 1927), Napoleon ( 1927), Camille ( 1927), Marie Antoinette ( 1929), Du Barry, Woman of Passion ( 1930), Svengali ( 1931), The Scarlet Pimpernel ( 1935), A Tale of Two Cities ( 1935), Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel ( 1937), Camille ( 1937), Marie Antoinette ( 1938), La Marseillaise ( 1938), The Three Musketeers ( 1939), The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( 1939), The Moon and Sixpence ( 1942), The Phantom of the Opera ( 1943), Les enfants du paradis/Children of Paradise ( 1945), Bel Ami ( 1947), The Three Musketeers ( 1948), Moulin Rouge ( 1952), French Cancan/Only the French Can ( 1955), The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( 1957), A Tale of Two Cities ( 1958), The Phantom of the Opera ( 1962), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ( 1962), Jules et Jim/Jules and Jim ( 1962), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines ( 1965), The Great Race ( 1965), La Bohème ( 1965), Is Paris Burning? ( 1966), The Madwoman of Chaillot ( 1969), The ThreeMusketeers Musketeers ( 1973), Le Dernier Métro/The Last Métro ( 1981), and Swann in Love ( 1985).
The 1922 British feature, Squibs Wins the Calcutta Sweep, reaches its climax in Paris. Also set in Paris are the three British silent features-- The Rat ( 1925), The Triumph of the Rat ( 1926), and The Return of the Rat ( 1929)--featuring Ivor Novello as the apache of the title--and the one British sound film-- The Rat ( 1937)--with Anton Walbrook as the same character. Other British films that utilize a Paris background include Paris Plane ( 1934), It Happened in Paris ( 1935), Old Mother Riley in Paris ( 1938), This Was Paris ( 1942), Idol of Paris ( 1948), Innocents in Paris ( 1953), The Lyons in Paris ( 1955), and To Paris with Love ( 1955).
The British film industry has generally taken a jaundiced look at Paris and the French. The French themselves adopted a similar approach in the 1955 feature Les carnets du Major Thompson/The French They Are a Funny Race. American filmmakers have viewed Paris more as a city of romance, and among the dozens of American features with a Parisian backdrop are A Woman of Paris ( 1923), Young April ( 1923), While Paris Sleeps ( 1923), Open All Night ( 1924), The King of Main Street ( 1925), Kiki, ( 1926), Paris ( 1926), Paris at Midnight ( 1926), A Gentleman of Paris ( 1927), 7th Heaven ( 1927), The Cohens and Kellys in Paris ( 1928), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ( 1928), The Battle of Paris ( 1929), Lady of the Pavements ( 1929), The Love Parade ( 1929), Paris ( 1929), Remember the Night ( 1932), Love Me Tonight ( 1932), Paris Interlude ( 1934), Paris in Spring ( 1935), History Is Made at Night ( 1937), Ninotchka ( 1939), Paris Underground ( 1945), Arch of Triumph ( 1948), An American in Paris ( 1951), April in Paris ( 1952), The Last Time I Saw Paris ( 1954), Funny Face ( 1957), Paris Does Strange Things ( 1957), Love in the Afternoon ( 1957), A Certain Smile ( 1958), Can-Can ( 1960), Paris Blues ( 1961), Gigot ( 1962), Gay Pur-ree ( 1962), What a Way to Go! ( 1962), Irma La Douce ( 1963), Charade( 1963), Paris When It Sizzles ( 1964), What's New Pussycat? ( 1965), Boeing Boeing ( 1965), How to Steal a Million ( 1966), Two for the Road ( 1967), Topaz ( 1969), and "The Aristocats" ( 1970).

As far as French filmmakers are concerned, no one has shown Paris more perfectly on screen than René Clair in such films as Paris qui dort/The Crazy Ray ( 1924), Sous les toits de Paris/Under the Bridges of Paris ( 1930), Le Million/ The Million ( 1931), À Nous la liberté" ( 1931), Quatorze Juillet/July 14th ( 1933), and Porte des lilas/Gates of Paris ( 1957). Other memorable French films set in Paris include Boudu sauvé des eaux/Boudu Saved from Drowning ( 1932), L'Atalante ( 1934), Rififi ( 1955), Le ballon rouge/The Red Balloon ( 1956), Mon Oncle/My Uncle ( 1958), Les quatre cents coups/The Four Hundred Blows ( 1959), Zazie dans le mêtro ( 1960), Cleo de 5 à 7/Cleo from 5 to 7 ( 1961), Belle de Jour ( 1967), Playtime ( 1968), La vie devant soi/Madame Rosa ( 1977), and Diva ( 1981).

The Italian film industry's best-known contribution to Parisian films is, of course, Ultimo tango a Parigi/Last Tango in Paris ( 1972).