French Comedy on Screen: A Cinematic History

271 Pages·2014·11.054 MB·English

by  Rémi Fournier Lanzoni (auth.)

French Comedy on Screen
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French Comedy on Screen
A Cinematic History
Rémi Fournier Lanzoni
FRENCH COMEDY ON SCREEN
Copyright © Rémi Fournier Lanzoni, 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014978-1-349-34143-6
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United
States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the
world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers
Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN978-1-349-34143-6 ISBN 978-1-137-10019-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-10019-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lanzoni, Rémi Fournier.
French comedy on screen : a cinematic history / Rémi Fournier Lanzoni.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-230-33842-5 (alk. paper)
1. Comedy films—France—History and criticism. I. Title.
PN1995.9.C55L37 2014
791.43’6170944—dc23 2014020180
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by SPi Global.
First edition: October 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 The Early Comedies of the Sound Era 15
I. Forerunner Comedies in the 1930s:
Chansonniers and Musical Comedies 15
II. From Military Vaudeville to Comique Troupier 24
III. Sacha Guitry and the Auteur Theory 34
IV. Period Comedies: When Humor Challenged History 40
V. Regional Comedies: The Provence of Marcel Pagnol 49
VI. Verbal Comedy Meets Parisian Slang 59
2 The Comedies of Postwar France 69
I. Social Satires in Postwar France 70
II. Comedies and World War II 80
III. Gangster Comedies as Popular Cinema 97
IV. From Regional to National Stardom:
The Case of Fernandel 104
V. Jacques Tati and Burlesque Humor 110
3 Comedy in the Modern Era 121
I. The Spirit of the Times: The 1970s and 1980s 121
II. The Early Development of Race-Based Satires 127
III. Comedies on Nonconformity and Homosexuality 139
IV. Gender Roles and Comedies of Manners 152
V. The Newcomers of French Comedy: Le Splendide 156
VI. When Comedy Challenges French Institutions 162
VII. Pierre Richard and the Renewal of Burlesque Comedy 168
vi ● Contents
4 French Comedy Today 175
I. Communitarian Humor: Ethnic Diversity
and Cinematic Space 175
II. From Stand-Up to Big Screen Comedy:
Les Inconnus’ Social Satire 198
III. Screening New Sexual Encounters: Gazon Maudit 207
IV. Comedy as a Social Phenomenon 213
Appendix: Box Office in France (in Million Entrances) 229
Notes 231
Bibliography 247
Index 253
List of Figures
1.1 Raimu in Les gaîtés de l’escadron (The Cheerful
Squadron, 1932) by Maurice Tourneur 32
1.2 Sacha Guitry in Le roman d’un tricheur
(The Story of a Cheat, 1936) by Sacha Guitry 39
1.3 Jean Témerson, Louis Jouvet, and Harry Baur in Volpone
(1941) by Maurice Tourneur 42
1.4 Fernand Charpin and Fernandel in Le schpountz
(Heartbeat, 1938) by Marcel Pagnol 52
1.5 Michel Simon in Boudu sauvé des eaux (Boudu Saved from
Drowning, 1932) by Jean Renoir 60
1.6 Arletty, Michel Simon, and Fernandel in Fric-Frac (1939)
by Maurice Lehmann and Claude Autant-Lara 64
2.1 Michel Simon in La poison (1951) by Sacha Guitry 76
2.2 Jean Gabin and Bourvil in La traversée de Paris
(Four Full Bags, 1956) by Claude Autant-Lara 84
2.3 Fernandel in La vache et le prisonnier (The Cow and I, 1959)
by Henri Verneuil 90
2.4 Bourvil and Louis de Funès in La grande vadrouille
(Don’t Look Now! We’re Being Shot At, 1966) by Gérard Oury 96
2.5 Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, and Francis Blanche
in Les tontons flingueurs (Monsieur Gangster, 1963)
by Georges Lautner 100
2.6 Jacques Tati in Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot
(Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, 1953) by Jacques Tati 110
viii ● List of Figures
3.1 Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi in La cage aux folles
(1978) by Edouard Molinaro 140
3.2 André Dussollier, Michel Boujenah, and Roland Giraud
in Trois hommes et un couffin (Three Men and a Cradle, 1985)
by Coline Serreau 152
3.3 Michel Blanc in Les bronzés (French Fried Vacations, 1978)
by Patrice Leconte 159
3.4 Philippe Noiret and Thierry Lhermitte in Les ripoux
(My New Partner, 1984) by Claude Zidi 164
4.1 José Garcia, Vincent Elbaz, Bruno Solo, Gilbert Melki,
and Richard Anconina in La vérité si je mens III
(Would I Lie to You III, 2012) by Thomas Gilou 187
4.2 Franck Gastambide, Jib Pocthier, and Medi Sadoun
in Les Kaïra (2012) by Franck Gastambide 193
4.3 Pascal Legitimus, Didier Bourdon, and Bernard Campan
in Les rois mages (The Three Kings, 2001) by Didier Bourdon
and Bernard Campan 202
4.4 Josiane Balasko, Victoria Abril, and Alain Chabat
in Gazon maudit (French Twist, 1995) by Josiane Balasko 208
4.5 Jean Reno and Christian Clavier in Les visiteurs
(The Visitors, 1993) by Jean-Marie Poiré 213
4.6 Anne Marivin, Guy Lecluyse, Dany Boon, Zoé Félix,
Kad Merad, and Philippe Duquesne in Bienvenue chez
les ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks, 2008) by Dany Boon 222
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to my friend and film historian Raymond
Chirat who allowed me access to some invaluable materials, especially in the
Bibliothèque Raymond Chirat at the Institut Lumière in Lyon. I truly bene-
fited from the many afternoons spent at his home in Lyon, discussing French
comedies during the summers of 2012 and 2013. My sincere thanks to Armel
Bourdoulous from the Institut Lumière in Lyon who was able to assemble
press kits on many French movies, filmmakers, and actors. I am most grate-
ful to Lauren Corbett and Mary Reeves from the Wake Forest University
Library for their kind assistance in acquiring numerous audiovisual titles on
my behalf, thus allowing me to view a very large number of French films,
some of them for the first time. I am indebted to Wake Forest University for
granting me research leave in France during the fall of 2013 which gave me
the necessary time to finish the writing of this book. Many thanks to Swathi
Padmanabhan and her team from Palgrave Macmillan for the very thorough
copy-editing services. I am also grateful to Alan Singerman for his excellent
advice on translating into English some of the French dialogues included in
this book. My everlasting thanks also go to Peter Bondanella who endorsed
the book project as well as several of my previous publications on Italian
cinema. As always my friends Vincent Rodet in Lyon and Linda Alexander
at Clemson University have supported me with their thoughtful suggestions.
Finally, many thanks to my brother, Jérôme Fournier-Lanzoni, who helped
in the digital processing of the illustrations of this book.