Movies by Charles Vanel

To Catch a Thief
An ex-thief is accused of enacting a new crime spree, so to clear his name he sets off to catch the new thief, who’s imitating his signature style.

The Wages of Fear
In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.

Rififi in Tokyo
Van Hekken, an old gangster, arrives in Tokyo to direct a bank hold-up in order to get a very valuable diamond.

Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece
After the death of Captain Thémistocle Paparanic, Captain Haddock's old friend, he inherits a ship called the Golden Fleece. Once Tintin and the captain arrive in Istanbul, where the ship is anchored, they meet Mr. Karabine, a businessman who stubbornly insists on buying it even though it is in a dilapidated state.

Le Père Goriot
Jean-Joachim Goriot, a merchant who got rich during the Revolution, is obsessed with the love of his two daughters, whose social promotion he wants. He endows them richly, ruins himself to pay their debts, but Delphine and Anastasie do not return his affection and abandon him at the time of his death to run to a big ball.

Phroso
An Englishman, Lord Wheatley, purchases an island over which reigns the supremely beautiful Phroso, thus disposessing her of her land. Revolted, the islanders, supported by an adventurer who desires Phroso, rise against the new master. The English are saved by the British governor, also under the spell of gorgeous Phroso. The latter, for her part, is not wholly insensitive to Lord Wheatley's distinction. The imbroglio still worsens with the meddling of a dark horse : the neighboring sultan.

Diabolique
The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.

A Missionary
Dreaming of heroic deeds, a young missionary soon becomes disillusioned.

The Steppe
Based on a Anton Chekhov short story, this slight tale has some good moments as the drama of a young boy's journey unfolds. The lad comes from peasant stock, and one day his family decides it would be best for him to go live with his uncle in the city. The only problem is that the city is all the way across the Russian steppes, and at this time in history, that arduous journey could only be undertaken by horse and carriage. Reminiscent of the American pioneer wagon trains heading West, the tale lacks any attacks from hostile forces but is fi...

In the Name of the Law
A young, by-the-book judge is appointed to a Sicilian village controlled by corrupt leaders and the mafia.

The Lost Way
While the Easter holidays are over, a young woman named Cécile and her brother Pierre return to the family home. There they meet their grandfather Léon, an old communist militant who has shaken Lenin's hand.

No Escape
In Provence , Father Caillé runs a family pension backed by his daughter-in-law Cora and a maid. The old man persecutes Cora for her assiduity until the day when she, in a particularly violent confrontation, knocks him down before the eyes of Gino, an Italian pensioner of whom she is in love. The two accomplices will try to make up the murder.

Prisoner of the Volga
A vicious play of intrigue, about love, desire and betrayal, in the dress of the military at the Cossacks around 1890.

Michel Strogoff
The Czar charges a man to deliver a message to the Grand Duke behind enemy lines. On his way he encounters a number of adventures.

Symphony for a Massacre
A band of gangsters devise a plan to steal a game contested between two drug gangs of drug traffickers: the five fraudsters will face bigger problems than them.

Le Reflet dans la mer
Karl de Linken, an elegant young man, adventurous and unattached, arrives in the square of a small Corsican village perched in the mountains. His presence intrigues Baron Ucciani, who reigns supreme over Santa Lucia. The meeting with the baron and his young wife Maria could divert our hero from his original project: revenge ...