Fun! I hope you share your progress. For inspiration you might check our International Poster Gallery. Here's a search for French Posters after WWII.

You could also try Antique Olive.

Yes, or Peignot. Thanks for the poster link, it's got some great stuff.

Vendôme is a great idea. Less obvious. But the best type has a lot to do with the tone of the film. Can you tell us more about that?

Tiff's poster search link broke. Here it is.

Yep, found the path to the French posters, thanks.

The film is a story about how and why many of Morocco's Jews left for Israel in 1963. I actually don't know much about the plot (poster designers don't always get a full screening, unfortunately).

In that case I'm not sure I'd use anything too flashy or literal. This sounds like something serious and dramatic. Too literal and it might seem kitschy. Vêndome used judiciously with another sans would probably be best. IMHO

Yep. With Univers.

> Morocco’s Jews

This makes Olive particularly suitable, since
its reverse-contrast echoes the Hebrew script.

hhp

Since Antique Olive has been mentioned, I'll chime in with Quimera, which is inspired by Antique Olive. I happen to like that it's not quite as smooth as Antique Olive.

I have a few copies of Paris Match from the 60s.
Nothing on your topic, but this, from 1964, is how they would have handled it.

This can't be our Jacques, can it?
http://typophile.com/user/829 _
Spooky.

hhp

You could also look at some posters by Savignac, one of the best known french poster designers from this period.
http://www.museedelapub.org/virt/affi/middlesavignac.html

I would also look at the Nouvelle Vague movie posters, because there's was an important shift in the esthetics from the style of the previously mentioned posters to the new wave realism, end of 50's, beginning of 60's. There's a lot of material on the site, but you should maybe search for Truffaut, Godard, Alain Resnais or Agnes Varda for the most iconic posters.

When I think of French movie poster layouts of the time, I think of something like the Paris Match example Nick posted, with a similar typeface and the one-sided layout. Like this:

But Antique Olive seems to catch the feeling too, although I don't think this is the original poster (I hope I ID'd the face correctly):

I'm way way late thanking folks here, but I'm thanking them anyway.

Thanks, folks. Tholks.

Miss T's suggestion of Antique Olive is a great one, and Quimera, while a different idea, might work, too. Please, don't settle for Peignot ...