Five unemployed Parisian workers (Jean, Charles, Raymond, Jacques and Mario) Spanish refugees threatened with expulsion, win the jackpot of the national lottery. Jean has the idea of investing this money in common, in the purchase of an old ruined suburban washhouse, which they will transform into a cheerful tavern and of which they will be co-owners. They get down to work with confidence. On opening day, only Charles and Jean are left of the “great team”; the day is a success, until Gina, with whom they are both in love, causes a misunderstanding between them.

From our customer: "Apparently, for years the only available copies of the film had an absurd tacked-on happy ending. See the piece on it in the French Films.org website. Like Renoir and Prevert’s “La Crime de Monsieur Lange” from the same year of 1936, it was an allegory for the Popular Front, the new government headed by the Jewish socialist Leon Blum that was a coalition of various left-wing parties, including the communists, that was meant to present a solid counter to the fascist movements that then seemed to be in the ascendancy in Europe. But it seems that Duvivier and his co-writer Charles Spaak were far more prescient than their optimistic left-wing colleagues Renoir and Prevert. For the Popular Front was doomed to fail, and fail it certainly did, just three years later. The unfortunate happy ending may be the reason “La Belle Equipe” isn’t better known over here. It was never part of the Janus Collection that for so many years were supposed to represent the masterpieces of world cinema. Anyway, your copy is not only fully intact but GORGEOUS to boot. It looks like a digital restoration. And I couldn’t be more pleased with it".

Cinq ouvriers parisiens au chômage, Jean, Charles, Raymond, Jacques et Mario, réfugié espagnol menacé d'expulsion, gagnent le gros lot de la loterie nationale. Jean a l'idée de placer cet argent en commun, dans l'achat d'un vieux lavoir de banlieue en ruine, qu'ils transformeront en riante guinguette et dont ils seront copropriétaires. Ils s'attellent à la besogne avec confiance. Le destin s'acharne sur eux. Le jour de l'ouverture, il ne reste plus de la « belle équipe » que Charles et Jean ; la journée est un succès, jusqu'à ce que Gina, dont ils sont tous deux amoureux, suscite entre eux un malentendu. 

DVD-R is in French with switchable English subtitles. Approx. 103 mins.  See film samples for sound and video quality!