François Boyer (1920 - 24 May 2003) was a French screenwriter. He achieved considerable success with his first attempt at screenwriting, Forbidden Games (1952). Initially, he found no studio interested in his work, so he redesigned the screenplay as a novel and published it in 1947 under the title The Secret Game. Although the novel achieved little or no success in its native country, it became a huge commercial success in America. All of a sudden, Boyer's novel was a hot property, so director René Clément, in conjunction with two writers Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost, helped turn it into a screenplay. While Boyer receives story credit for the film, little is known of how much of his own screenplay made it to the screen. The film was a huge international success, and won an Honorary Oscar for the best foreign language film of its year. Although Boyer remained prolific throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, little of his subsequent work had as much impact as Forbidden Games. His 1962 film La Guerre des Boutons, however, was remade by producer David Puttnam in 1994 as The War of the Buttons. Source: Article "François Boyer" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Biography from TMDB.
- March 30, 1920
- May 24, 2003 (aged 83)
- Sézanne, Marne, France
- Writer, also actor
- 9 on MovieCove · 28 credits in all
What are François Boyer's films like?
Across their 9 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 9
A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 0 · Dark 6
Grounded 9 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 4
Steady 5 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 2
Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
A split, not a type: Casual 4 · Engaged 5 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 6
Resolved 8 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet6
- Tragic3
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch François Boyer's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 1 of their 9 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, on The Criterion Channel (1).
Subscription and free streaming for François Boyer's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
28 credits, 9 with a MovieCove page.
Nick Verlaine ou Comment voler la tour Eiffel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)
Don't Bite, We Love You (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)
Gross Paris (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1974)
Forbidden Priests(1973)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
The Woman in Blue (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
The Bar at the Crossing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)
Le Petit Bougnat (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1970)
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
The Most Beautiful Month (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1968)
The 25th Hour(1967)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
The Buddies (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1965)
Weekend at Dunkirk(1964)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
Bebert and the Train (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1963)
A Monkey in Winter(1962)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
War of the Buttons(1962)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
The Magician (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)
Green Harvest (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1959)
It Only Happens to the Living (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1959)
The Gambler (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
A Kiss for a Killer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1957)
Que les hommes sont bêtes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1957)
Élisa (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1957)
Des gens sans importance(1956)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
The Little Rebels (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1955)
The Scheming Women (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1954)
Wild Fruit (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1954)
Forbidden Games(1952)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 28 titles from 1952 to 1976.
Film career
- 1962Screen debut· War of the Buttons
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do François Boyer's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 80th percentile, the median of all 9; across their 9 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 79th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up6
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th2
Shape of the crowd
None of their 9 titles divides audiences: 4 are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved4
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the dialogue 60/100 and the plot and story 54/100 in their films, across 7 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does François Boyer work with?
People who share at least 2 of François Boyer's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Henri Verneuil shares the most, 4.
Directors
- Henri VerneuilShared titles: The 25th Hour (1967), Weekend at Dunkirk (1964), A Monkey in Winter (1962), Des gens sans importance (1956)See all 4 shared titles with Henri Verneuil
Writers
- Michel AudiardShared titles: Under the Sign of the Bull (1969), A Monkey in Winter (1962)See all 2 shared titles with Michel Audiard
Actors
- Jean GabinShared titles: Under the Sign of the Bull (1969), The Gardener of Argenteuil (1966), A Monkey in Winter (1962), Des gens sans importance (1956)See all 4 shared titles with Jean Gabin
- Pierre MondyShared titles: Forbidden Priests (1973), Weekend at Dunkirk (1964), Des gens sans importance (1956)See all 3 shared titles with Pierre Mondy
- Alfred AdamShared titles: Under the Sign of the Bull (1969), The Gardener of Argenteuil (1966)See all 2 shared titles with Alfred Adam
- Suzanne FlonShared titles: Under the Sign of the Bull (1969), A Monkey in Winter (1962)See all 2 shared titles with Suzanne Flon
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Claude DurandShared titles: Forbidden Priests (1973), Weekend at Dunkirk (1964)See all 2 shared titles with Claude Durand
- Walter WottitzShared titles: Under the Sign of the Bull (1969), The Gardener of Argenteuil (1966)See all 2 shared titles with Walter Wottitz
- Françoise BonnotShared titles: The 25th Hour (1967), A Monkey in Winter (1962)See all 2 shared titles with Françoise Bonnot
- Maurice JarreShared titles: The 25th Hour (1967), Weekend at Dunkirk (1964)See all 2 shared titles with Maurice Jarre
