Hotel Du Nord

The Hotel du Nord is a family-run hotel on the edge of the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris. As the family is celebrating a first communion, a young couple checks in, planning a double suicide. Only one shot is fired, and the man, Pierre, flees leaving his lover, Renee, to die in the room. But, he leaves the gun behind and she survives. A series of convoluted affairs between hotel patrons and staff, as well as passion-fuelled travels across France, ensue - all to end the story in perfect symmetry.

From the director of Le Enfants du Paradis (1945), Hotel du Nord (1938) was inspired by the award-winning book (1928) by Eugene Dabit, whose parents owned the real Hotel du Nord.