Jusqu'à plus soif (1962)
Directed by Maurice Labro

Film Synopsis

One evening, a young teacher named Marie-Anne arrives from Paris at St. Front, eager to take up her new post at a small primary school in the Normandy countryside.  She is blissfully unaware that nearby distilleries of illicit alcohol are bustling with activity, as they do every night.  At Father Soulage's farm, six hundred litres of strong liquor are ready to be collected and delivered to various gastronomic outlets in the region, under the careful eye of Monsieur Bardin.  The young Pierre Soulage agrees to join Marcel Rousseau in his illegal bootlegging operation.  Once she has taken up her duties, Marie-Anne is appalled to discover that her young pupils make a habit of bringing in coffee laced with a generous dose of alcohol.  But when she confiscates the bottles and empties their contents she incurs the wrath of the school's principal, as well as some indignant parents.  Augereau, a customs inspector, confides in the idealistic young teacher that it will be a thankless struggle to fight against the ancestral customs that have long been established in this part of Normandy...