Les enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise)

This film has been called France's answer to Gone With the Wind and the greatest movie ever made. It's been hailed by most and damned by some. The story takes place in Paris in the 1820s and '30s. The Children of Paradise are the poor people who inhabit the topmost balconies of the theatre along the Boulevard du Temple. A curtain rises and we are in Paris in spring. Garance (Arletty), a gorgeous woman of the area, is accused of pickpocketing a watch. She is innocent, and the whole incident has been witnessed by Baptiste Debureau (Jean-Louis Barrault). Arletty watches as Barrault gets her off the hook, then she rewards him with a tossed rose.