Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

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The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.

Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.

Two thieves, Hugo Sennart and Yan Kuq, wanted by the same police inspector, cross paths by chance.

Danielle Darrieux stars as Arabella Delvaire in this baroque adaptation of Pierre Benoit's novel Bethshabee. Arabella is a woman of the world who arrives at a remote Foreign Legion outpost for a rendezvous with her current lover, Captain Duveuil. It so happens that one of Arabella's previous amours, Captain Somerville (Paul Meurisse), is also serving at the same post. So much for joining the Foreign Legion to forget. A climactic knife duel "solves" the film's various plot complications. Despite its Foreign Legion background, Bethsabee has next to no action, which must have made things difficult when the film was distributed to the U.S.

An aging gangster, Fernand Naudin is hoping for a quiet retirement when he suddenly inherits a fortune from an old friend, a former gangster supremo known as the Mexican. If he is ambivalent about his new found wealth, Fernand is positively nonplussed to discover that he has also inherited his benefactor’s daughter, Patricia. Unfortunately, not only does Fernand have to put up with the thoroughly modern Patricia and her nauseating boyfriend, but he also had to contend with the Mexican’s trigger-happy former employees, who are determined to make a claim.

A group of ex-resistance fighters are brought together by Marie-Octobre, the code name of Marie-Helene Dumoulin. The former members of the network have carried on with their lives after the war, but this evening they are going to have to live again a fateful night – the night their leader was killed. He had been betrayed, his name given to the Germans. The search for the traitor puts each personality in the spotlight – and also that of the killed leader, Castille.

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.

"Le septième ciel" became Raymond Bernard's last film; a black comedy about a female brewery owner who donates vast amounts of money to charitable causes. The funds to do this, she raises through her liaisons with wealthy gentlemen... who just "happen" to end up dead!

As Dominique Marceau is being tried for the murder of Gilbert Tellier, accounts by different witnesses paint a picture of the kind of relationship the two used to share.

Alfred Mullanet, an unlucky player who lives on his wife's income, becomes in a few moments the object of interest of two thugs, Kruger and Mister K.

The Marquis de Villemaur reunite strange visitors in his Castle, to meet a survivor of the Third Reich. There is an Italian fascist, Heinrich; a German, Matthias; a Russian; and Dromard, a blind French war hero with a black monocle.

Inspector Sergil is a detective comedy. Sergil, inspector of the P.J., investigates three crimes, helped by two pretty women, Bijou and Nadège.

Maurice loves Juliet and Michael loves Lily. Romance blossoms on the hill. They are workers, artisans, and Lily has a real talent as a singer. But Claude's arrival brings trouble to their relationships. Maurice, jealous, approaches Lily. Singing in the streets, Lily quickly becomes a cabaret star.

In the south of France, the body of a 22-year-old American tourist, Candice Strasberg, is discovered in the middle of the scrubland. Two days of rain prior to the discovery of the body made it difficult to collect evidence at the scene, as the rain had washed away the footprints. Using the victim’s diary, the police are attempting to piece together her movements. The investigation is entrusted to Gaston Delarue, the public prosecutor of Tarascon; Gérard Souffries, the investigating judge; Commissioner Bonetti of the Marseille police; and Divisional Commissioner Bretonnet of the Paris police. Among the six suspects is Bernard Vauquier, the son of the President of the Senate. The investigation proves to be as complicated as it is sensitive. But who murdered or killed Candice Strasberg? Screenplay adapted from ‘La Pieuvre’, a novel by Paul Andreota, published in 1970.

After resolving to start a new life with his girlfriend Jacqueline, Bastien Sassey decides to give up working as a courier for drugs traffickers. So that he and Jacqueline can make a fresh start he agrees to take on one more job for a large sum of cash, but he betrays his employer.

A priest gets a little hot under the collar when the wife he thought was dead unexpectedly returns.

New Europe presidential candidate Etienne Alexis is a scientist promoting artificial insemination for social betterment and therapy to eliminate passion. To celebrate his engagement to a cousin, he hosts an aseptic picnic, where Mother Nature asserts herself. A shepherd's flute conjures a windstorm throwing Alexis together with the luscious Nénette, a farm lass who, although unimpressed with men, wants to have a baby.

Just released from prison after serving a six-month sentence, Fernand Bastia goes into hiding. He has indeed double-crossed his gang by keeping part of the product of a robbery for himself. Thanks to his sister Marcella, Fernand has taken refuge in a small circus where she works. There, he falls in love with Gina but also arouses the jealousy of Quedchi, a fairground stall-holder who has seen him hiding the stolen money. After a while, Fredo Riccioni, the boss of the gang and his men, manage to trace him...