01 A retired French president reflects on decades of political manoeuvring while advising his successor.
Directed by Henri Verneuil · 1h 50m
6 Best Jean Gabin Movies
By Vlad Zakh · January 15, 2026
Drama intensethought provoking
Jean Gabin was the defining leading man of French cinema for decades, bringing weary, working-class gravitas to prewar poetic realism and postwar crime dramas. Le Jour se leve barricades a murderer in his flat as he recalls a doomed romance, Touchez pas au grisbi disrupts an ageing gangster’s retirement, French Cancan puts a Parisian impresario’s cabaret plans in tangled romance, and Le President advises an ambitious politician. Grand Illusion and Pepe le Moko round out the list.
01 
02 A Parisian impresario's ambitious plan to open a new cabaret is complicated by tangled romances among his performers.
Directed by Jean Renoir · 1h 42m
Where to watch
Stream: Criterion Channel
Stream: Criterion Channel
03 Jean Gabin plays an ageing gangster whose plans for retirement are disrupted when rivals learn about his hidden gold.
Directed by Jacques Becker · 1h 35m · Rated NR
Where to watch
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
04 A factory worker barricaded in his apartment after a murder recalls the doomed romance that led there.
Directed by Marcel Carné · 1h 33m
Where to watch
Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Rent or buy: Amazon Video
Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
05 French prisoners of war form an unexpected bond with their aristocratic German captor during the First World War.
Directed by Jean Renoir · 1h 54m · Rated NR
Where to watch
Stream: Darkroom
Stream: STUDIOCANAL PRESENTS Apple TV Channel, Studiocanal Presents Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Sky Store, YouTube
Rent: JustWatch TV
06 A charismatic gangster hiding in Algiers's Casbah is drawn out by his fatal attraction to a visiting Parisian woman.
Directed by Julien Duvivier · 1h 34m
Where to watch
Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.
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