It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...

Deneuve's first film, and winner of the 1964 Cannes Palme d'Or. Shopgirl Genevieve is left pregnant, when her mechanic boyfriend is sent to war, and marries the rich and honourable man who can give her a decent life. A blissful romance 'Umbrellas' makes escapist play with the stuff of kitchen-sink social realism and every line of dialogue is sung to Michel Legrand's melodious score. Essentially a story of true love lost, elevated by its magical simplicity.