Marc Allégret (1900-1973) was a French film director, screenwriter and photographer, who was known for his technical skills and elegant images. His best period was the 1930s, when he made such classics as Fanny (1932), Lac aux dames (1934), with Jean-Pierre Aumont, Gribouille (1937), with Michèle Morgan and Entrée des artistes (1938) with Louis Jouvet. He helped launch the careers of Simone Simon, Michèle Morgan, Gérard Philipe, Odette Joyeux and Brigitte Bardot. During his long career that spanned four decades, Allégret wrote numerous scripts and directed more than fifty films.
French postcard by Imprimerie A. Breger Frères, Paris, issued for the cinema Max-Linder Pathé, 24, Boulevard Poissonière, Paris, where the film was presented on 14-20 September 1934.
Jean-Pierre Aumont and
Rosine Dérean in
Lac au dames / Ladies Lake (Marc Allégret, 1934). The film is situated at Lake Konstanz. In Germany, the film was presented as
Hell in Frauensee ('Frauensee' was the title of the novel by Vicki Baum, on which the film was based).
French postcard in the Raimu series by MPC (Marcel Pagnol Com), no. 27.
Raimu and
Fernand Charpin in
Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932).
French postcard by Editions et Publications cinématographiques, no. 74. Photo: Films Roussillon.
Josephine Baker in
Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934).
French postcard by Ed. Chantal, Rueil, no. 91. Photo: Gray Film. An early postcard of
Louis Jourdan, still in his twenties in
L'Arlésienne (Marc Allégret, 1942).
East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 2105, 1964.
Brigitte Bardot in
En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956).
To Africa as the 'secretary' of André Gide
Marc Allégret was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1900. He was the fourth of five sons of
Élie Allégret, a Protestant missionary pastor. Marc's younger brother,
Yves Allégret, later also became a director and assisted Allégret on several of his early films, including
Mam’zelle Nitouche and
Lac aux Dames. His father had been the tutor of the young
André Gide. When Marc was 14, his father left to serve in Africa, and he asked Gide to oversee his sons' education. During World War I, the young Allégret became the lover and companion of the 30 years older author. Their relationship marked both their personal maturation. Thanks to Gide, Allégret met the artists and writers of France, such as
Paul Valéry,
Pablo Picasso,
Man Ray,
Jean Cocteau,
Erik Satie, and later
Saint-Exupéry.
Allégret studied law and, in 1925, graduated from Sciences Po. He then accompanied
André Gide as his 'secretary' on a ten-month expedition in French Equatorial Africa. French Equatorial Africa covered the modern nations of Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Chad. Allegret recorded the journey in film and photographs. He had no formal training in either job, though he had received some lessons from
Man Ray in photography. The result, his first effort as a director, was the documentary
Voyage au Congo / Travels in the Congo (Marc Allégret, 1927). Allégret and Gide carried out most of their journey on foot. Porters carried the film's negatives for months, through extreme heat and humidity. But the nitrate footage survived.
André Gide wrote two books about their time in Africa, 'Travels in the Congo' and 'Return from Chad', and went on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Allégret, despite having no prior training in cinema, proved to be a pioneer by creating a strictly ethnographically driven type of documentary.
Wikipedia: "The film depicts the daily lives of eight ethnic groups, focusing on their agriculture, hunting, and fishing practices. The architectural styles of their areas and several group rituals, athletic competitions, and dances are also covered. Allégret's primary interest in the project was ethnographic, and he was genuinely attempting to promote understanding of the cultures he depicted. His depictions managed to avoid the "sensationalism" and stereotyping of the newsreels of the time." The documentary was not commercially successful, but was well-received by critics. Today, Allegret's debut is considered a pioneering ethnographic film. Its methodology influenced the genre.
Allégret decided to pursue a career as a filmmaker. The African trip ended his decade-long relationship with Gide, although they remained friends. His first cinematic experiment was reportedly the famous Dada short film
Anémic Cinéma / Anaemic Cinema (Marcel Duchamp, 1926), on which
Man Ray and Allégret collaborated. The seven-minute film is composed of alternating static camera shots of spinning animated drawing disks — which
Marcel Duchamp called 'Rotoreliefs' — inscribed with puns and alliterations in French. The text, which spirals in a counterclockwise motion, suggests erotic scenarios, and the words, if read aloud, produce repetitive patterns of sounds that lead to scatological or obscene associations in reference to pulsating human sexual activity. The film premiered in a private screening in Paris in August 1926 and was acquired by MoMA in 1938, the first Duchamp work to enter a museum.
Pierre Braunberger, who produced
Voyage au Congo, hired him to work for his production company. He made several short films, comedies starring
Fernandel, such as
La Meilleure Bobonne / The Best Wife (Marc Allégret, 1930) and
J'ai quelque chose à vous dire / I have something to say to you (Marc Allégret, 1931).
Allegret also became assistant to directors
Robert Florey and
Augusto Genina. He even replaced Florey in 1930 on the set of the comedy
Le Blanc et le Noir / Black and White (Robert Florey, Marc Allégret, 1931), starring
Raimu and
Fernandel. The film was an adaptation of the 1922 play of the same title by
Sacha Guitry, who wrote the screenplay. Allégret was also the art director, designing the film's sets. He co-directed with Genina the French-German crime drama
Les amours de minuit / The Lovers of Midnight (Augusto Genina, Marc Allégret, 1931) starring
Danièle Parola,
Pierre Batcheff and
Josseline Gaël. It is a Multiple-language version with a separate German-language version,
Mitternachtsliebe, also produced.
Les amours de minuit was the first sound film to be made at the Billancourt Studios in Paris. In his feature film debut as a director, Allégret directed
Raimu in the Operetta
Mam'zelle Nitouche (Marc Allégret, 1931). He also directed
Raimu in
La Petite Chocolatière / The Chocolate Girl (Marc Allégret, 1932) and
Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932), also starring
Orane Demazis and
Pierre Fresnay.
Fanny, based on the 1931 play of the same name by
Marcel Pagnol, was the second part of Pagnol's Marseille Trilogy, which began with
Marius (Alexander Korda, 1931) and concluded with
César (Marcel Pagnol, 1936). Allegret and Pagnol did not get along very well during filming. However,
Fanny was a box office success in France and is still considered a classic of French cinema.
Marc Allégret went on to a long career.
French poster card by Editions F. Nugeron, no. E48. French affiche for
Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932), starring
Orane Demazis and
Pierre Fresnay.
French poster postcard by CPM / Jean Dubout, 1982. French re-issue affiche for
Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932), based on the play by
Marcel Pagnol with
Raimu,
Pierre Fresnay,
Orane Demazis, and
Charpin. Design:
Albert Dubout, 1950.
French postcard in the Raimu series by MPC (Marcel Pagnol Com), no. 2. Photo: Roger Foster.
Robert Vattier,
Marcel Maupi,
Raimu,
Paul Dullac,
Alida Rouffe and
Fernand Charpin in
Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932). Caption: A scene in front of the bar La Marine.
French poster postcard by Société des Amis de la Bibliothèque Forney, Paris. French affiche for
Lac aux dames (Marc Allégret, 1934), starring
Jean-Pierre Aumont. Design: Jean A. Mercier.
French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris, no. CF 40.
Josephine Baker and
Jean Gabin in
Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934).
The most beautiful film of the year
In the 1930s, what is considered his best period,
Marc Allégret directed such classics as
Lac aux dames / Ladies Lake (Marc Allégret, 1934),
Gribouille / Heart of Paris (Marc Allégret, 1937) and
Entrée des artistes / The Curtain Rises (Marc Allégret, 1938). Between 1931 and 1933, Allégret had an affair with actress
Simone Simon, who played the female lead in
Lac aux dames. The film was a unique effort by mega-rich Playboy, wine grower, and race-car driver
Philippe de Rothschild, then dabbling as a film producer. Based on
Vicki Baum’s 1927 Tyrolean-set novel 'Hell in Frauensee',
Lac aux Dames was written by Allégret and
La Revue du Cinéma editor
Jean-Georges Auriol.
The responsibility for the film’s dialogue fell to novelist
Colette. At the time, she was in her early 60s and had basically no film experience.
Colette was known for her knack for creating audience-pleasing youthful characters in novels like 'Chéri' and 'Le blé en herbe'. At
Alt Film Guide,
André Soares suggests that the author possibly received some input from
André Gide, who hung around during the location shoot. Despite
Marc Allégret’s previous credits and
Lac aux Dames’ good-looking, sensual performers – 23-year-old
Jean-Pierre Aumont’s impressive physique is displayed to advantage throughout the film, while second lead
Illa Meery’s breasts are bared in one scene –
Philippe de Rothschild had trouble finding a distributor for his production.
Undaunted, he rented the (now defunct) Théâtre du Colisée on Paris’ Champs-Élysées to showcase
Lac aux Dames, using a gigantic billboard to lure spectators. French critics were enthusiastic. As reported by the
New York Times’
Herbert L. Matthews, a “majority” of them referred to
Lac aux Dames as “the most beautiful film of the year.” Matthews agreed, stating that
Marc Allégret’s effort “deserves a high place in any international compilation of ‘best’ pictures.” In addition to praise for
Jean-Pierre Aumont’s performance, he wrote: “In Mlle. Simon, Mme. Colette … has found the perfect medium to express her profound knowledge of the adolescent mind. It is an exquisitely ingenious part, played with unerring taste. …
Simone Simon is a moving, delicious Puck, so naturally played that the part seems made for her.”
During the 1930s, Marc Allégret also directed
Zouzou (Marc Allégret, 1934) with
Jean Gabin and
Josephine Baker, the drama
Sous les yeux d'Occident / Under Western Eye (Marc Allégret, 1936) with
Pierre Fresnay and
Michel Simon, an adaptation of
Joseph Conrad's 1911 novel 'Under Western Eyes', the comedy
Gribouille / Heart of Paris (Marc Allégret, 1937), in which
Michèle Morgan played her first leading role opposite
Raimu, and
Entrée des artistes / The Curtain Rises (Marc Allégret, 1938), in which
Louis Jouvet played a role similar to his own as a teacher at the Conservatoire.
Claude Dauphin,
Odette Joyeux and
Bernard Blier played his students.
On 18 October 1938, Allégret married actress
Nadine Vogel, from whom he divorced in 1957. In 1939,
Charles Boyer returned from Hollywood to appear in his film
Le Corsaire / The Pirate. The film would also mark the screen debut of
Louis Jourdan. The screenplay was based on a play by
Marcel Achard, and filming took place at Victorine Studios in Nice, in August and September 1939. However, production ceased on the declaration of World War II on 1 September 1939, and Boyer returned to America. The film was never completed, although some footage was later released, and a documentary about the making of the film was released in 1995.
French poster card in the series Encyclopédie du cinéma by Carterie artistique et cinématographique, Pont du Casse. Poster for
Gribouille (Marc Allégret, 1937), starring
Raimu and
Michèle Morgan. Design: Pierre Segogne.
French mini-poster (collector card) by Pathé-Cinema.
Raimu and
Andrex in
Parade en 7 nuits / Parade in 7 Nights (Marc Allégret, 1941).
French mini-poster (collector card) by Pathé-Cinema.
Elvire Popesco and
Victor Boucher in
Parade en 7 nuits / Parade in 7 Nights (Marc Allégret, 1941).
French poster postcard in the series Encyclopédie du cinéma by Carterie artistique et cinématographique, Pont du Casse. French affiche for
Maria Chapdelaine / The Naked Heart (Marc Allégret, 1950), starring
Michèle Morgan. Design: Duccio Marvasi.
Cover page of a special issue of the German
Progress Film Programm, no. 101/60.
Mai Zetterling and
Michael Gough in
Blackmailed (Marc Allégret, 1951). In the early 1950s, Allégret directed a handful of films in the UK.
Italian postcard by Bromofoto, Milano, no. 1034.
Erno Crisa in
L'amant de Lady Chatterley / Lady Chatterley's Lover (Marc Allégret, 1955).
A landmark film of great daring
During the Occupation,
Marc Allégret directed several comedies. His
Parade en 7 nuits / Parade in 7 Nights (Marc Allégret, 1941) starring
Raimu, is situated in a dog pound. One of the dogs tells stories about his former life, including adventures in a circus. Production commenced in 1940 at Francoeur Studios in Paris, but was interrupted by the war. It resumed almost a year later in the city of Nice at the Victorine Studios. The drama
L'Arlésienne (Marc Allégret, 1942) starring
Raimu and a young
Louis Jourdan, was based on
Alphonse Daudet's play 'L'Arlésienne'. Then followed
Félicie Nanteuil (Marc Allégret, 1943), starring
Micheline Presle, and
Les Petites du quai aux fleurs (Marc Allégret, 1944), in which
Odette Joyeux,
Louis Jourdan and
Bernard Blier appeared alongside
Gérard Philipe, who was just starting out.
After the war, he reunited with two of his earliest actors,
Fernandel and
Simone Simon, in the crime comedy
Pétrus (Marc Allégret, 1946). Then he directed three films in Great Britain.
Blanche Fury (Marc Allégret, 1948) is a Technicolour drama starring
Valerie Hobson,
Stewart Granger and
Michael Gough.
Variety wrote: "It is a morose, moody tale of sex and unabashed villainy. The picture has been well produced, although cool calculation is visible in every move of the picture. French director
Marc Allegret makes his English debut, and his technique is evident throughout. He has used color fo great advantage, while his settings and outdoor scenes have immense beauty. This should help put it over, although principal B.O. pull will be
Stewart Granger." His next film, the Film Noir
Blackmailed (Marc Allégret, 1951), starred
Mai Zetterling and Dirk Bogarde. His third British production was the British-French historical drama
Maria Chapdelaine / The Naked Heart (Marc Allégret, 1950) starring
Michèle Morgan,
Kieron Moore and
Françoise Rosay. It tells the story of a convent girl in a remote Northern Canadian village at the beginning of the 20th century. The script was written by Allégret,
C.K. Jaeger,
J. McLaren-Ross,
Hugh Mills and
Roger Vadim based on the novel 'Maria Chapdelaine' by
Louis Hémon. The film was released in separate English and French versions.
Back in France, he made the documentary
Avec André Gide / With André Gide (Marc Allégret, 1952), which was narrated by
Gérard Philipe and competed for the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion. Then he directed
Dany Robin,
Jean Marais and
Jeanne Moreau in the romantic comedy
Julietta (Marc Allégret, 1953). The film was important in the career of Allégret's assistant,
Roger Vadim. A week before filming, star
Jean Marais refused to do the film as he was unhappy with the script. Vadim rewrote the script to the star's satisfaction. Vadim and Allégret tried to have Vadim's wife,
Brigitte Bardot, cast as the female lead, but the producer went with the better-known
Dany Robin. The film was a big success, and this led to Vadim being given the job of rewriting
Cette sacrée gamine / Naughty Girl (Michel Boisrond, 1956), which turned
Brigitte Bardot into a star.
Marc Allégret travelled to Italy to direct
Hedy Lamarr in the anthology film
L'amante di Paride / Loves of Three Queens (Marc Allégret, Edgar G. Ulmer, 1954). Lamarr played a woman WHO IS going to a costume party and tries to work out which Queen she will dress up as. The film follows scenes from the lives of each of the queens. Genevieve, Josephine, and Helen. Then Allégret directed
Brigitte Bardot and
Jean Marais together in the drama
Futures vedettes / School for Love (Marc Allégret, 1955). The screenplay, written by
Marc Allégret, was based on a novel by
Vicki Baum. The film performed poorly at the French box office. More successful was the comedy En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956) starring
Daniel Gélin and
Brigitte Bardot.
The Los Angeles Times called it "a most delightful, naughty and very funny comedy... Bardot strikes pure gold... It's strictly a fun show that doesn't try to prove a thing.
Danielle Darrieux and hunky Italian film actor
Erno Crisa starred in the drama
L'Amant de Lady Chatterley / Lady Chatterley's Lover (Marc Allégret, 1955). Allégret co-wrote the screenplay with
Philippe de Rothschild and
Gaston Bonheur, based on
D.H. Lawrence's classic risqué novel about an aristocratic wife who has a passionate affair with her gamekeeper, Oliver. Darrieux plays Lady Chatterley, and her first glimpse of Oliver naked from the waist upwards sets the sexual tone.
Leo Genn as Lord Chatterley urges his wife to have sex with another man to produce a noble, honourable heir. He does not, of course, have his gamekeeper in mind. In 1955, the film was banned in New York because it "promoted adultery", but it was released in 1959 after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court's decision. The American public flocked to see the film.
J. Roman Baker at
IMDb: "It is the best version of
D.H. Lawrence's book, and no other version since this one has been able to be as sexually explicit as the book. So for me, this is a landmark film of great daring in its ability to bring to the screen a banned book in the best way that it could."
Vintage postcard.
Isabelle Pia and
Brigitte Bardot in
Futures Vedettes / School for Love (Marc Allégret, 1955).
West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. T 614. Photo: Pallas-Film.
Isabelle Pia in
Futures vedettes / School for Love (Marc Allégret, 1955).
French poster postcard in the series Encyclopédie du cinéma by Carterie artistique et cinématographique, Pont du Casse. French affiche for
En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956), starring
Brigitte Bardot. Design: Clément Hurel.
French poster postcard by Éditions Zreik, Paris, in the Collection Télérama, la mémoire du cinéma, no. 149. German poster for
En effeuillant la marguerite / Plucking the Daisy (Marc Allégret, 1956), starring
Brigitte Bardot.
East German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 1975, 1963.
Brigitte Bardot in
En effeuillant la marguerite / Mademoiselle Striptease (Marc Allégret, 1956).
A sharp eye for new talent
In 1962,
Marc Allégret directed a young
Catherine Deneuve and the hot Yé-yé star
Johnny Hallyday in
Sophie, one of the four sketches of the anthology film
Les Parisiennes / Tales of Paris (Marc Allégret, a.o., 1962).
Allégret was noted for his sharp eye for new talent.
Fernandel,
Raimu,
Jean-Louis Barrault and
Josephine Baker all made their film debuts in a
Marc Allégret film. He was the first to give important roles to
Simone Simon and
Michèle Morgan, whom he brought to prominence.
Roger Vadim was his assistant. He cast up-and-coming actors in his films, such as
Bernard Blier,
Louis Jourdan,
Danièle Delorme,
Gérard Philipe,
Daniel Gélin, Brigitte Bardot,
Jean-Paul Belmondo,
Alain Delon, and
Patrick Dewaere.
Shunned, like other French directors of his generation, by New Wave filmmakers and critics, Allégret went on to make documentaries. He directed and produced one last feature film, Le Bal du comte d'Orgel / The Ball of Count Orgel (Marc Allégret, 1970). Based on
Raymond Radiguet's book of the same name, posthumously published in 1924, the film concerns a ball hosted by the Comte d'Orgel (
Jean-Claude Brialy). The film premiered at the opening of the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. The 1970 audience was not able to relate to this story of the Belle Epoque people who live in luxury and do not seem to be aware that there's a world outside.
Three years later, in 1973,
Marc Allégret died of natural causes at his home at 11bis rue Lord-Byron in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. He was 72 years old. Allégret was interred in the Cimetière des Gonards in Versailles, France. He was the uncle of actress
Catherine Allégret, the daughter of his brother
Yves Allégret and
Simone Signoret, who were married from 1944 till 1949.
In 2018,
Voyage au Congo / Travels in the Congo (Marc Allégret, 1927) was restored and digitised by Les Films du Panthéon in collaboration with Les Films du Jeudi, with the support of CNC and the Cinémathèque française, and with the help of the British Film Institute. This restored version also includes a newly commissioned instrumental score.
IMDb: "Unusual for its time
Voyage au Congo / Travels in the Congo (Marc Allégret, 1927) is a largely observational documentary (with one dramatized sequence) showing aspects of the lives, culture, and built environments of diverse groups in the region, amongst them the Baya, Sara and Fula peoples, and without trying to shoehorn them into a dramatic narrative.
Travels in the Congo does, of course, retain a certain colonial gaze; in writing about the film, Allégret referred to its subjects as 'a humanity without history'. But overall it remains steadfast in its approach, presenting its subjects on their own terms."
Italian postcard by Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze, no. 3780.
Mylène Demongeot in
Sois belle et tais-toi / Be Beautiful But Shut Up (Marc Allégret, 1958). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.
Cover page of a special issue of the German
Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4684.
Henri Vidal and
Mylène Demongeot in
Sois belle et tais-toi / Be Beautiful But Shut Up (Marc Allégret, 1958).
The retro of the cover page of a special issue of the German
Illustrierte Film-Bühne, no. 4684.
Henri Vidal,
Alain Delon,
Mylène Demongeot and
Darry Cowl in
Sois belle et tais-toi / Be Beautiful But Shut Up (Marc Allégret, 1958).
French poster card in the series Encyclopédie du cinéma by Carterie artistique et cinématographique, Pont du Casse. Spanish poster for the episode film
Les Parisiennes / Tales of Paris (Marc Allégret a.o., 1961). Design: Mexique. Allégret directed the episode
Sophie, with
Catherine Deneuve and
Johnny Hallyday.
French postcard by Jean Dubout, Paris, 2009, D 49. Poster design by Albert Dubout (1950) for a re-issue of
Fanny (Marc Allegret, 1932).
Sources:
James Travers (French Films),
Andre Soares (Alt Film Guide),
J Roman Baker (IMDb), Wikipedia (
Dutch,
French and
English),
Encyclopaedia Britannica and
IMDb.
